Housekeeping Awards 2026

We’re back for a 15th year, recognising and rewarding your team and giving them the thanks they deserve! Our exciting, fun competition with interactive tasks and some great team building will continue in 2026 with individual and team competitions.

There are two new competitions this year:

Housekeeping Team of the Year – team competition judged by a surprise inspection of your premises.

Housekeeper of the Year – individual competition judged by an assessment day.

Individual entrants are required to attend the assessment day on 3rd February. It is completely free to enter and take part. The assessment day will be run from 9.30 am and successful entrants in the morning will be shortlisted for further assessments in the afternoon.

Each team entrant will receive a visit from a professional housekeeping inspector. This inspector will score the cleanliness of bedrooms and public areas.

Members interested in taking part should complete the short online form available at nihf.co.uk by Monday 19th January.

For the Team competition there are now three categories.

1. Under 75 rooms
2. 75-149 rooms
3. 150 rooms and over

For the Individual competition, the Assessment Day will run as follows:

Assessment Day
Tuesday 3rd February 2026
from 9.30 am to 12.00 pm or 3.30 pm
Room2 Hometel

This year’s assessment day for individual entrants will take place in the Room2 Hometel in the centre of Belfast. The hotel is a two-minute walk from the City Hall at 32-36 Queen St, Belfast BT1 6EE. In a change to previous years, only one person per hotel may enter this part.

The winners will be announced at a special Awards Dinner on Wednesday 4th March in the Hilton Belfast. This glittering evening will include a drinks reception, 3-course dinner with wine and a DJ into the small hours. Each finalist, team or individual, will receive one free ticket to this dinner and all hotels are encouraged to come along in support of their staff and colleagues. Additional tickets will be sold at £90 plus VAT each or £75 plus VAT each for 6 or more.

The Housekeeping Awards are supported by Tourism Northern Ireland, Bunzl Rafferty Guest Amenities and Linencare