2021 Accomplishments and Accolades revealed
Despite many of our resorts opening and closing during the pandemic, our teams have worked tirelessly through these turbulent times with incredible results.
Although award-winning isn’t our top priority as a Group, it’s definitely an amazing moment when we’re recognised for the effort, condition, ambience and luxurious touches that our Chairman, global teams and resort staff put into the properties.
Not only did our resorts achieve 5* accreditations from TripAdvisor, we have also retained RCI Gold Crown status into 2021 for all of our resorts and retreats across Asia.
TripAdvisor awards
- TripAdvisor Excellence Certificate for 2021: Awarded to each of our Indian properties
- Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best Award 2021: Karma Exotica – Dharamshala, India
- TripAdvisor 2021 Travellers’ Choice ‘Top 10% of Restaurants Worldwide’: Karma Chakra’s Waterside Restaurant – Kerala, India
- TripAdvisor 2021 Travellers’ Choice ‘Top 10% of Hotels Worldwide’: Karma St. Martins, Karma Sanctum Soho & Karma Haveli
RCI Hospitality Awards
- Karma St. Martins – Isles of Scilly, UK
- Karma Bavaria – Schliersee, Germany
- Karma Minoan – Crete, Greece
- Karma Residence Normande – Normandy, France
Travelmyth 2021 Awards
- Karma Bavaria is now ranked as the top hotel in Schliersee, Bavaria! The resort won 18 awards at the Travelmyth 2021 Awards; including Family, Luxury, Honeymoon, Dog Facilities, Gym, Swimming Pool and more…
Karma Group’s Philanthropy Initiatives Updates
Over the past year, many of our communities around the world have suffered immensely from the pandemic and as a Group, we had to react quickly as to what initiatives we could do to help our global friends and families.
Here’s just a few of some of our proudest #KarmaCares initiatives of the year…
Bali Oxygen Drive
In July 2021, Bali was experiencing an oxygen shortage. To ease the oxygen burden, Karma Group donated four, double Oxygen Concentrators that will support Covid patients in each of the Emergency Departments of the Udayana University Hospital, in Jimbaran – nearby to three of our Balinese resorts! Our donated concentrators are currently up & running and saving lives, as Bali’s Covid numbers are decreasing each day.
Karma MayDay
During the height of the pandemic, the situation in India was getting severe. Chairman John Spence launched the Karma Mayday initiative – in partnership with the British Asian Trust, founded by HRH The Prince of Wale – to raise crucial funds for India. Karma Group contributed 5% of all revenue from the month of May, and invited all visiting clients to add an additional 5% on to their bills. We also actioned a MayDay auction, with special items, such as exclusive experiences and one-off rugby shirts; from which all bids went towards the initiative. In total, we raised over £50,000, which was presented to the British Asian Trust’s Executive Director Hitan Mehta at Karma Salford Hall, UK.
Goan street clean up
The streets of Goa were seeing an overwhelming amount of garbage littered on the ground; which not only affects the environment but too, the locals of Goa. In February 2021, our Goan team completed a 3km long street clean up from Carmona to Karma Royal Haathi Mahal; collecting 103 bags of waste – weighing over 1.5 tonnes! The garbage was handed over to local officials from Carmona and Cavelossim for segregation and disposal.
Covid Heroes
Heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinary things in everyday life. The Covid pandemic has brought to the forefront many such heroes, and we wanted to put those individuals from our Karma family in the spotlight. Earlier this year, Mr Venkatesh Patil (Member since 2003) used his company, Belgaum Oxygen Pvt. Ltd., based in Belagavi, Karnataka, India, to help the oxygen crisis in India. Mr Patil filled empty oxygen cylinders free of charge and distributed them to critically ill patients who could not afford to pay. Because of his generosity, many lives were saved – a true hero.
Vaccination Drives
Karma Group was one of the first hotel groups in Bali to ensure that all staff were fully vaccinated. Key Human Resources staff worked with local and domestic government bodies so that both staff, their families, and local residents were vaccinated against COVID-19 through our program – a staggering 1800 in three days!
Likewise, over in India every one of our team members across the Indian operations has received at least one dose of the vaccine so far; creating a safe work environment for our employees and safe holiday destinations for our valued Members and guests.
Human Touch Foundation
Karma Royal Haathi Mahal has been associated with the Human Touch Foundation for over two years now. Human Touch Foundation is an NGO organisation based in Goa and supports child and adolescent health, well-being, nutrition, substance abuse, HIV and mental health.
The Karma Group specifically supports their inspirational nutrition programme. Every month, our team delivers groceries to over 20 children. We also provide nutrition-based support to any events and camps that they conduct.
NHS – Operation Recuperation + Karma Frontline
Last April, the Karma Group joined forces with ‘Operation Recuperation’, an initiative set up by Oxfordshire-based Rachel Sherwood, to help front-line healthcare providers in the UK recover from the fight against Covid-19. Originally we selected 7 frontline workers to have a free vacation at a resort of their choice. But to us, this wasn’t enough, therefore we decided to introduce Karma Frontline – Where 500 NHS staff were gifted overnight stays with dinner, bed & breakfast at Karma Salford Hall in the Vale of Evesham to help them recover from the most challenging year of their careers.The feedback from the NHS stay so far has been heartwarming.
Speaking Dante
On September 13-14 this year, the Karma Group proudly co-sponsored the once-in-a-lifetime live reading of Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’ that featured a cast including Ralph Fiennes, Helen Mirren, Adjoa Andoh and Jessie Buckley. The reading took place in Florence, Italy, at Cinema la Compagnia over 24 hours and was streamed online worldwide.
The live event marked the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death and all proceeds were entirely donated to the Community of Sant’Egidio in Florence, which deals with the reception of migrants and refugees.
Our Members around the globe also took the opportunity to live stream from home and feel part of the experience, even if they couldn’t make it to Italy this year.
You can catch up with more information and some short clips on the @SpeakingDante Instagram page, the Karma Concierge Facebook page and in our Karma Community past articles!
We are always looking for more ways to help our communities, so if you have any fantastic ideas for new initiatives we’re all ears – Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with your suggestions!
Member Exclusive Events + Giveaways
At times we know our Members need a ‘pick-me-up’ or simply a well-deserved complimentary gift! Whenever we have the opportunity, we love to give out tickets and arrange for Members to experience special events including sports and cultural events, as well as amazing prizes.
Some of our favourites from the past year have been…
Bledisloe Cup
In August 2021, the All Blacks took on the Wallabies in the long-awaited rugby game of the year at Optus Stadium in Perth. We gave some of our Australasian Members free tickets to watch the match live in Perth! Our hearts were full from the messages we received as to why our Aussie Members wanted to give the tickets to their loved ones. We’re so pleased everyone had a fantastic experience and we received a lovely email from Mr & Mrs Withers, Members since 2017:
“Just a quick note of appreciation to Karma Group for hosting a great day at the Bledisloe Cup at Optus Arena on Sunday 5th Sept 2021. We wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed the experience! We had a great time with the rest of the group, even though one couple barracked for the opposition. It was a shame our Australian team wasn’t good enough on the day. See you at Rottnest Feb 2022. Next time we will bring our bathers!
Best wishes,
Nanette & Glyn Withers”
Le Preverger Experience
The quintessence of elegance and contemporary luxury, Le Preverger – Karma Group’s private estate in the heart of the French Riviera – is opening its doors for a selection of extra-special weeks for our Members to experience the Karma Estates’ Cote d’Azur glamour.
We are giving a handful of our lucky Members the opportunity to stay at Le Preverger free of charge for a Short Break, inclusive of food and beverages!
The 6* experiences will begin this month for interested Members, at our exquisite 14 bedroomed chateau that overlooks the rolling hills leading to the renowned St. Tropez; and we can’t wait to welcome those of you who are joining us in 2021. Not to forget the Members from regions who can’t travel right now, who will be experiencing Le Preverger in 2022!
If you’re interested in visiting our estate on the French Riviera in 2022, please submit your interest in the form below
Autumn International Events
We are pleased to announce the launch of our upcoming Member-exclusive autumn events happening in and around our British resorts. The first of these enticing events kick off in the UK, with an intimate reception and dinner at Karma Sanctum Soho London hosted by celebrated Ex England Rugby Union International Chris Robshaw!
If you would like to attend this first event on November 3rd 2021, please click the link below and complete the form
Karma Salak Getaway
We are currently giving our Indonesia resident Members the chance to experience all that Bogor has to offer with a free Short Break at Karma Salak, inclusive of daily breakfast! The lush greenery and fresh, mountainous air of Bogor is the perfect mini-break to relax in the Javanese countryside.
For any Indonesian Members wanting to grab this complimentary opportunity at Karma Salak, you still have 4 days to book your free Short Break (before October 8th 2021) for travel dates before 31st October 2021.
London Irish RFC Home Rugby Games
As a thank you to the incredible loyalty shown by our valued Members over the last year, Karma Group is giving away complimentary hospitality tickets to the London Irish RFC games in Britain.
These VIP tickets will put our Members right at the heart of the action, with ultra-exclusive seating that guarantees a stellar experience. We can’t wait to hear our Members’ tales of the day of drama, heroics, passion, brotherhood and tears!
Next-level Karma Group App and Digital Developments
Our Digital Team has been working hard over the past 12 months to bring new and exciting features across our online platforms, making it easier than ever to take advantage of the many benefits of being a Karma Group Member all in one place.
Our brand new Member Lounge – located in the top right hand corner of the post-login homepage – features all the information you need in one place; from personal contact details to the Karma Group Points Table and FAQs. The Member Lounge also enables members to view their entitlement status online.
Booking your next Karma Group adventure has never been so easy, with our new booking engine featuring five weeks of live availability in different room sizes. Once you have chosen your dates, the engine will show you the options for booking, whether it be against your entitlements, member offers or paid stays. If you are not able to find exactly what you are looking for, don’t worry, our Karma Concierge Navigators are always on hand to help!
The all-new Karma Group App is now available to download, making it even easier for Karma Group Members, Owners, and guests to access all things Karma! From exclusive discounts and offers, to quick and easy bookings, Karma Group App is your ultimate go-to online resource.
Just some of the benefits include:
- Exclusive & Member Only Offers
- Group & Membership updates
- Live online booking in Karma Group properties
- Ability to update Member personal contact details
- Member access to live internal exchange & preferred Member rates, affiliate exchanges, affiliate rentals and affiliate Bonus Weeks in destinations throughout the world
- Access to the Karma Group Ambassador program
- Karma Kasa & Karma Nomad programs
Plus, our newly redesigned and mobile-friendly website delivers effortless access to all online Member content!
If there is anything specific that you would like to see added to our website, Member Lounge, or online channels, we would love to hear your feedback!
