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Santa Catalina and Bahía del Duque lead the Culinary Hotel Awards, which in just two editions have consolidated themselves as references in distinguishing hotel gastronomy
Saint Catherine, a Royal Hideaway Hotel, He was one of the great protagonists of the Culinary Hotel Awards 2026, celebrated this Monday 19 October in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The host establishment won the award for Best Gastronomic Hotel, while Poems by Hermanos Padrón, located in the hotel itself, received recognition for Best Restaurant. The second edition of these awards distinguished twelve establishments and professionals in hotel gastronomy in the Canary Islands..
The winners also left important recognitions for the Tenerife hospitality industry.. Blazing Holly, linked to M.B., Amalur and Lava, was chosen Best Chef, while Juan Miguel Cabrera, from Bahia del Duque, received the award for Best Executive Chef. This last complex added two other awards: Best Hotel Management, for Cristina de Juan, and Best International Cuisine, granted to Kensei.
The representation of Lanzarote also obtained its recognition with Kamezi Boutique Villas, distinguished as Best Boutique Hotel.
The awards thus recognized different specialties of the hospitality industry, from the kitchen and management of the establishments to the sommelier, room service and other gastronomic proposals linked to hotel activity.
A night of gastronomy, music and celebration
Nearly 250 guests attended the ceremony, held in the interior garden of the Santa Catalina, conditioned with a tent to protect attendees from the rain. The dim lighting, The illuminated trees and the tables prepared for dinner set the stage for an evening that combined the awards ceremony with musical performances and shows.
The journalist Wendy Fuentes led the event, accompanied at different times by the actress Delia Santana, in charge of bringing humor to the ceremony. A jazz quartet enlivened the dinner, while the Tenerife singer Esther Ovejero He starred in several musical interventions, including an interpretation of The Llorona. The artistic program was completed with an exhibition of acrobatics by the Paradise Duo.
Gastronomy also had its place during the ceremony. The attendees tasted, among other elaborations, an ingot of foie micuit with almond praline and a loin of cherne with candied artichoke and emulsion of its juice.
The names of the winners were revealed throughout the dinner, maintaining the expectation among the 60 nominees who were competing for awards in the twelve categories.
A recognition of the work of the hotel teams
During his intervention, the president of Prensa Ibérica, Javier Moll, highlighted the collective effort that sustains the gastronomy of the Canarian hotels. In his speech he wanted to recognize not only the best-known professionals, but also to those who perform less visible functions, from the kitchen teams to the room staff and those responsible for hotel management.
«An extraordinary hotel is not built only with good facilities. It is built with extraordinary people », Moll stated., who defended the ability of the Canarian hotel sector to innovate without losing its connection with the identity and gastronomy of the Islands.
The president recalled that the awards seek to recognize professionals whose contribution is decisive for the quality of service, although their work does not always achieve the same public projection as that of the great chefs.
Iberian Press is firmly committed to gastronomic journalism through Flavor reigns, title under which the journalist José Luis Reina coordinate information.
Institutional and business representation
The gala also brought together a wide political representation, institutional and business of the Canary Islands. Among the attendees were the mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Carolina Darias; the president of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales; the president of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, Astrid Perez; and the Government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana.
The advisors of the regional Executive also attended Candelaria Delgado, Esther Monzón and Matilde Asián, the counselors Pablo Rodríguez and Hipólito Suárez, and the president of the Cabildo of La Gomera, Casimiro Curbelo, in addition to municipal representatives, judicial and military.
The business representation counted, among others, with the president of Binter Canarias, Rodolfo Nunez, and the president of the Satocan Group, Juan Miguel Sanjuán, in a ceremony that brought together a good part of the tourist and gastronomic sector of the archipelago.
PHOTOS: José Carlos Guerra and José Pérez Curbelo /Prensa Ibérica
The twelve winners of the Culinary Hotel Awards 2026
These are the establishments and professionals awarded in the twelve categories:
Best Gastronomic Hotel: Saint Catherine, a Royal Hideaway Hotel.
Best Restaurant: Poems by Hermanos Padrón (Saint Catherine).
Best Chef: Blazing Holly (M.B. / Amalur / Lava).
Best Executive Chef: Juan Miguel Cabrera (Duke's Bay).
Best Sommelier: Joan Casajuana (M.B.).
Best Head of Room: Mari Pino Pérez (The Guayres).
Best Hotel Management: Cristina de Juan (Duke's Bay).
Best Breakfast: Royal Hideaway Corales.
Best Kitchen Km 0: Taste 1973.
Best International Cuisine: Kensei (Duke's Bay).
Best Boutique Hotel: Kamezi Boutique Villas.
Best Rooftop: Rooftop Faro (Lopez).
