Magnolia Hotel & Spa’s Bill Lewis named Hotelier of the Year

Bill Lewis, general manager of Victoria’s Magnolia Hotel & Spa has been named Hotelier of the Year, one of several categories in the 2024 BC Hotel Association Awards of Excellence. 

Announced at the annual BC Hotel Association annual conference, which took place in Whistler last week, Bill Lewis celebrated his outstanding achievement with industry colleagues, fellow leaders and peers. 

“A truly proud and grateful moment to be named 2024 British Columbia Hotel Association Hotelier of the Year,” shared Bill Lewis following the news. “I would like to thank our entire Magnolia Hotel & Spa team and our amazing local owners for their support, passion and encouragement to dream big, deliver bigger, and serve guests at our award-winning boutique hotel as we do. My appreciation also goes to Ingrid Jarrett and the entire British Columbia Hotel Association team and board for this award and their amazing work for our industry. My congratulations to the other award winners and nominees – what an incredible industry to be part of.”

Bill Lewis joined the Magnolia Hotel & Spa team in 2009. With over 20 years of experience in a general manager role, Bill has successfully built and led teams, grounded in excellence, that have achieved notable success and awards. The Magnolia Hotel & Spa is one of Canada’s leading boutique hotels, consistently named in annual travel awards by Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler and TripAdvisor. Most recently, the hotel was named to Travel + Leisure’s T+L500 list, for the second consecutive year, as well as achieving the coveted BIOSPHERE© Sustainable Certification for hotels, designed to help travellers identify hotels that are committed to sustainable and responsible business practices. 

Bill is passionate about teaching and inspiring the next generation of hospitality and business leaders, and is an active associate faculty member at Royal Roads University. He is also dedicated to the future of travel and tourism in Victoria, a recognized community leader, chairperson for the Hotel Association of Greater Victoria, board member of the Downtown Victoria Business Association and past chair of Destination Greater Victoria. 

The Magnolia Hotel & Spa was also named finalists for Accommodation of the Year and Housekeeping Excellence categories.  

For a full list of winners from the BCHA 2024 Awards of Excellence, visit www.bchasummit.com/awards. 

Images for media can be accessed here

Photo credit: Kasselman Creative Ltd
Photo caption: Bill Lewis celebrates the award with Lana Popham, B.C.’s Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture & Sport (R) and Keith Goodwin, Regional Vice President, Venues – Encore Canada (L)