The Guam Football Association recently received a $2,000 donation from Hilton Guam Resort & Spa.

GFA was the beneficiary of Hilton's 40th anniversary grand raffle event that was held Feb. 16. The grand prize of the grand raffle event was a 2012 BMW 128i, and other prizes included hotel getaways at various Hilton hotels in the region including Singapore, Tokyo, Osaka, Bangkok, Seoul and China.

The $2,000 contribution will benefit GFA's youth development program, which aims to provide training and opportunities for Guam's youth to excel in the sport of soccer both locally and internationally.
Caption for the attached photo:
Proceeds of the 40th Anniversary Raffle have been donated to Guam Football Association! From left: Crystal Sablan, Director of Marketing, Hilton Guam Resort & Spa; Tino SanGil, General Secretary, Guam Football Association; Nicolaus Priesnitz, General Manager, Hilton Guam Resort & Spa.

Tumon Bay, Guam, 30 January 2012 – The first international five-star hotel on Guam,Hilton Guam Resort & Spa will celebrate 40 years on the island in 2012 with a schedule of exceptional special events, contests and promotions. This Thursday, February 16, the Hilton Guam Resort will be hosting their 40^th Anniversary Cocktail Party.

To kick off the celebration, the hotel will be hosting a 40^th Anniversary Cocktail Party, inviting corporate clients and hotel’s most loyal guests. The event will feature a special BMW Car Raffle Giveaway; guests are able to purchase tickets and get a chance to win a BMW 128i Coupe, or hotel stays throughout the region. Guests can win hotel room nights in properties such as Hilton Guangzhou, Millennium Hilton Bangkok and Conrad Centennial Singapore.

The cocktail party will feature speeches from notable local dignitaries, historical slideshow presentations of the Hilton Guam property and team, and live entertainment. At the event, Hilton will also be recognizing legendary current and former staff members and its community partners.

The Hilton first opened on February 17, 1972, a milestone in the development of tourism on Guam and in the expansion of the Hilton chain.  Through the years, the Hilton Guam has doubled its room inventory; opened an array of memorable restaurants and built new recreational facilities – all the while extending gracious island hospitality to all guests.

To invite the community to celebrate 40 years with us, creative room, restaurant and bar promotions will be offered throughout the year.

“We have great events planned and look forward to sharing them with the community,” says Nicolaus Priesnitz, General Manager. “We appreciate all the support that we have received throughout the years.  Although the Hilton Guam turns 40 this year, we will continue to upgrade the hotel and stay ahead of the changing times.”

Tumon Bay, Guam, 20 February 2012 – The Hilton Guam Resort & Spa announced the winner of their 2012 BMW Giveaway at the Hilton’s 40^th Anniversary Cocktail Party. Joseph Aguon, of Barrigada, claimed his prize at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa lobby on February 20, 2012. The proceeds of the raffle benefited the Guam Football Association. From left: John Shen, owner Prestige Automobiles; Crystal Sablan, Director of Marketing, Hilton Guam Resort & Spa; Joseph Aguon, winner; Nicolaus Priesnitz, General Manager, Hilton Guam Resort & Spa.

Tumon Bay, Guam, 19 December – The Hilton Guam Resort & Spa has added an additional service to better accommodate their guests – the Biba Biba Shuttle Express.   

“We wanted to provide a more convenient and hassle-free stay for our guests,” says Glenda Villa, Director of Guest Relations at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa. This service is offered at many hotels worldwide; the Hilton Guam is the first to introduce this drop-off service on island.

The shuttle bus transports in-house guests to the most popular shopping areas on Guam for just $2 per person, per trip, and is free for children 5 years and below. Tickets for the Hilton’s Biba Biba Shuttle Express are on sale at the front desk of the Hilton Guam, or can be received from a guests’ tour agent.

The drop-off only shuttle bus operates daily, with drop off times beginning at 9:30am and the latest at 7:30pm. Shopping destinations include Guam Premier Outlets, K-Mart, Micronesia Mall, Duty Free Shoppers, and Tumon Sands Plaza. It seats 22 people. The Biba Biba shuttle bus is one of many additions to the Hilton Guam’s guest services.

Fisherman’s Cove, the Hilton Guam’s seafood restaurant, boasts the island’s freshest seafood. Being just a year old, the restaurant has been introducing new concepts of dining to the island. Fisherman’s Cove bears a market- style concept, with a beautiful seafood display that allows guests to select to choose the seafood to be used in their meals. The seafood display flaunts a large variety of the treasures of the sea, like scallops, oysters, spanner crabs, fish, lobsters and shrimp. The restaurant also has a glass-walled kitchen, enabling guests to watch as the chefs prepare their dinners to perfection.

With new and innovative restaurant practices, Fisherman’s Cove can only add to its appeal by serving its clientele with a family-friendly atmosphere. Upon entering Fisherman’s Cove, guests are greeted with the feeling of a fun, themed restaurant style. Brightly painted walls and fun, bold murals of under the sea embellish a guests surroundings. Fun décor like fish models and life-saving devices adorn the walls of the restaurant, capturing the sea theme. Clever names for menu items like Pika Pika Chili Shrimp and Going Coconut Shrimp are just a few of the traits that add to the restaurant’s excitingly casual atmosphere.

With the restaurant’s innovation and personality, Fisherman’s Cove took home the win for 2011’s Most Outstanding Local Tourism Facility. The freshest and most delicious seafood, fun and innovative concepts and a family-friendly ambiance make Fisherman’s Cove Guam’s 2011’Most Outstanding Local Tourism Facility.

The dinner themes will be as follows: Steak & Lobster (Monday), Asian Night (Tuesday), Mexican Night (Wednesday), Pacific Rim (Thursdays, starting February 29th), Seafood (Friday), Texas Barbecue (Saturday) and French Bistro (Sunday). Guests can enjoy the diversity of the authentic flavors, all from specific parts of the globe.

Diners will be able to experience a great variety of worldly foods from Malaysian satays (Asian Tuesdays), Hawaiian-style barbecues (Pacific Rim Wednesdays) to a Taco-building station (Mexican Wednesdays). The new dinners will be able to capture the genuine flavors of their respective nights.

These nights will also have alcohol on special as follows: Heineken (Monday), Dos Equis Amber for Mexican Night (Wednesday), Sake (Pacific Rim Wednesdays), Budweiser (Seafood Friday), and Amber Bock (Texas BBQ Night).

As the dinner menu will undergo changes, so will the décor and ambiance of the restaurant. Workers will be in costume; wall and standing decorations will help enhance the night-appropriate restaurant theme. With the addition of the new theme nights and the theme décor, hotel guests and locals can ensure they have an authentic, ethnic dining experience.

Dinners are from 6pm – 9pm. Prices vary, depending on the theme night. Military and membership discounts are applicable. For more information, call 646-DINE.

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a group that recognizes companies that provide outstanding support their military employees, gives the Pro Patria Award annually. This year, Nicolaus Priesnitz, the General Manager of the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa, accepted the award on behalf of the company.

The Hilton Guam Resort & Spa employs over 500 employees, 12 of which are military servicemen, working in various departments. Though the hospitality industry is a demanding one, the company strives to be as accommodating as possible when it comes to the needs of their servicemen, their dependents, and our country.

The Hilton Guam Resort & Spa is proud to announce the completion of their new boardroom, equipped with the futuristic tools needed to conduct business in this technology-savvy era. The many features and innovations that the boardroom provides will be available for use in the New Year.

The Hilton Guam has served the island for many years, and still continues to enhance, renew, and create new amenities for its guests. The conference room is the newest addition to the hotel’s many features; it provides a practical and aesthetic environment for any important business meeting.

The boardroom features an abundance of technological features, giving users a variety of capabilities that would boost the activities of typical business meetings. The room houses two 60” Samsung High Definition LCD Display monitors, enabling boardroom users to view presentations, such as those on PowerPoint, on a larger scale. With a large, crisp display, businesspeople can assure they can examine every detail of their business meetings.

The audio equipment accompanying the display monitors includes surround sound and PolyCom Voice Conferencing. With the high quality of audio, these display monitors can also be used for video calls. The room is supplied with high speed Internet, with Internet connection as fast as 7mbps. Businessmen can be certain that the provided resources can prove to be reliable and efficient. These interactive capabilities serve useful as business moves to become more technologically dependent.

The boardroom also hosts a large, custom-designed conference table, able to seat as many as 22 people. Each seat at the table is supplied with individual data and power points, so that each person utilizing the boardroom is able to use resources to their full, personal advantage.

The spacious boardroom sports high ceilings and natural lighting, completing the room’s perfect ambiance for professional matters. The Hilton’s new conference room boasts a sleek and professional environment for the conducting of business.

To add to the perks of the boardroom, the Hilton can provide services to aid the planning of business meetings. Boardroom users can take advantage of the meeting coordination services that the hotel offers; the Hilton Guam also makes available guest room accommodations for those who have traveled to Guam for business. Another service that the Hilton can provide is the gourmet food and beverage packages; the hotel can provide breakfast, lunch, dinner or coffee breaks for those utilizing the boardroom. The ease of access, services, and technological resources that the Hilton Guam provides creates the perfect place for every important business meeting in this era.

For more information on this or other Hilton Guam amenities, call 646-1835

A food revolution is coming to Guam and it’s all at Hilton Guam Resort & Spa, headed by new Executive Chef, Christopher House.

“Our menus will be all about versatility – you won’t be able to really categorize it,” House says. “We’ll be featuring new and exciting cuisine and foods.

“I’m interested to see how far I can push the bar. Really - it’s all going to be versatile, new and exciting,” House adds.

House was named Executive Chef on September 27, following the departure of former Executive Chef Christophe Durliat. House comes to Hilton Guam with 23 years of culinary experience. He has worked in many restaurant kitchens including those in Las Vegas’ Bellagio Hotel and Resort, Luxor Hotel, and MGM Grand Hotel, with his most recent stint at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona before making the trip to Guam. House received honors from different culinary competitions including the 2006 Scottsdale Copper Chef Competition and the 2002 Bite of Las Vegas Iron Chef Competition.

Prior to graduating from the California Culinary Academy to start his culinary profession, House earned an undergraduate degree in business and spent time with the U.S. Marine Corps as an avionics technician. House’s hobbies include working out, hiking, traveling, and of course, enjoying new dining experiences. Although he has spent minimal time outside of the kitchen and the hotel in the short month he has been in Guam, House is interested in learning all he can about the island’s culture, and of course, cuisine.

“I want to understand the island’s history and it’s people,” House says. “When I go to a new place, I don’t just use cookbooks and put out food just from them. I want to know why the people in the new place cook a certain dish the way they do and I want to know where they get their ingredients.”

House’s exuberance and passion for culinary arts go hand in hand with his upbeat personality. Right away, House has directed his culinary team in taking small steps to transform the kitchen and to adopt various new cooking methods and food presentations. House has started to include more locally grown fresh produce in the food selection. Visible results include more color and vibrancy in dishes, but new tastes win the crowds.

“Food never lies – you know when a chef is really passionate about what he does and makes,” House says.

House is quick to mention the hard work of his culinary team that puts in countless hours to present perfection on each day’s menus – food that is visually appetizing, as well as gastronomically palatable. Whether a guest wants to dine simply or upscale, the food will reflect both extremes.

Overall, House hopes to use his cooking and food as a vehicle in making each guest’s dining experience memorable. Part of this will be achieved by infusing new, bolder tastes in a lighter, healthier fare.

“I’ve seen the impact food and beverage can have on hotels – it can help make or break a guest’s experience,” House says. “What we want to do here is make each guest’s dining experience memorable. Coming to the restaurant is not just about eating, but about the experience. I want guests to remember their dining experience with food that took them over the top – that’s my objective.”

Check presentation: At center, Victor Camacho, Executive Director of the Guam Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation accepts a $500 check from Hilton Guam Resort & Spa's holiday fundraising project at Islander Terrace and Roy's restaurants. Pictured at front from left to right are Hayato "Jack" Yoshino president of P.H.R. Ken Asset Management, Camacho, First Lady Joann Camacho and Crystal Sablan, Hilton Guam Resort & Spa's Marketing Communications Manager. At back is Nicolaus Priesnitz, Hilton Guam Resort & Spa General Manager.

The money was raised in a special holiday fundraising project at Islander Terrace and Roy's restaurants. At Islander Terrace, guests made a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation by purchasing ornaments to display on a special tree at Islander Terrace during the months of November and December. At Roy's, a percentage of all sales of a special Wish Set Menu and a Wish Chocolate Souffle was donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation