Hotel Cateys 2025: ​Housekeeper of the Year – Almudena Gomez, the Savoy

Our Housekeeper of the Year was described by one judge as having housekeeping blood in her veins. Almudena Gomez, executive housekeeper at the Savoy, blew judges away with her outstanding entry, which highlighted both her operational excellence and steadfast dedication to the team.

Gomez was raised in a small town in Spain, starting her career in the industry as a room attendant and pot-washer at a local restaurant. Since joining the Savoy she has led the housekeeping division for more than 10 years, currently overseeing a team of 108 staff – the largest department in the hotel – who take care of all 267 rooms and suites.

While the Savoy undergoes a multimillion-pound refurbishment, Gomez has been busy perfecting two sets of housekeeping protocol: 160 rooms are cleaned in the legacy format, while 100 are polished to the new specification. In effect, she is housekeeping two hotels under one roof as the property undergoes a historic transformation.

Judges were amazed by the fact she recorded a 100% score from Forbes 2025 for the evening turndown service, as well as 97.78% for room reputation – higher than what was achieved in the pre-refurbishment years.

Her eye for detail and passion for her role extends to her team as well, as almost every supervisor has been promoted internally. She has supported countless new staff members who have just arrived in the UK and introduced a training programme for new hires that has reduced onboarding time by 20% and boosted retention by 10%.

Gomez also looks out for her team through small, thoughtful gestures that make all the difference, such as bringing healthy snacks to keep her team energised or organising massage therapists or wellness treatments to boost morale during busy periods.

As well as being a people person and a housekeeping expert, Gomez is commercially savvy, always forecasting 12 months ahead when it comes to managing stock and carefully building relationships with local suppliers. She maintains rigorous guest standards, too, carrying out between 40 and 50 ‘eye audits’ a week to check on cleanliness, presentation and service delivery.

Gomez has achieved something truly remarkable at a hotel that no doubt has high expectations from across the board.

What the judges said

“Almudena is a truly deserving winner, bringing great energy to everything she does, achieving impressive results while staying closely connected to the team. Her inspiring leadership and hands-on approach to engagement and operations are a true statement of her passion.”

Gosia Ozkiel

“Outstanding. The Forbes scores are incredible. Almudena has housekeeping blood moving through her veins. To run a hotel of this size with part open and part in refurbishment is the hardest, yet she has her whole team behind her with incredible results.”

Lesley Skelt

“Inspirational. The application was really above and beyond.”

Lisa Williams

The shortlist

• Ewelina Brzuzan, Lost Property St Pauls London – Curio Collection by Hilton (Dominus Hospitality)
• Aoife Caffrey, Estelle Manor, Witney, Oxfordshire
• Evelina Costea, the Westin London City
• Almudena Gomez, the Savoy, London
• Adina Ionescu, Leonardo Royal Hotel Birmingham
• Iwona Korczak, Royal Lancaster London
  

The judges

• Fernanda Telatin Lewis, the Goring
• Gosia Oszkiel, the Grand Brighton
• Lesley Skelt, UK Housekeeping Association
• Liz Smith-Mills, LSM Consulting
• Lisa Williams, the Grand, York