The (unbelievable) double

After difficult times of austerity and waiting for the date, this year's Hotelcareer Cup took place on 10 March 2013 in Stuttgart. Although the ARCOTEL Camino had trained continuously for the entire year and were also playing the difficult role of favourites, one or two doubtful feelings still reared their ugly heads. How would it go in 2013? Would we meet our expectations and those of our fans?

In drizzly weather, we set out on our way to the Soccer Olymp in Fellbach, where we had been devotedly training for days beforehand. We had a whole host of fans with us from the director to the interns – everyone was represented to support us in our mission to defend the title.

In the first game, we played Mercure Hotel Stuttgart City Center. The war-like black shirts combined with a few really good players and last year's close victory made us stop and think. So we didn't exactly go into this game expecting a win. We didn't dominate from the start, but quickly took the lead making it 1-0. This was just the beginning. We become more confident, although this did mean that we committed one or two fouls. We made up for this, though, and the final score was 2-0. We had cleared the first hurdle.

In the second game we met the other team we were afraid of even though we hadn't played them before. The Le Méridien Stuttgart. A difficult and very tight task, but we were still able to win the match 1-0. Six points were already a good lead.

In the meantime, our fans supported us by doing all of the things that a real fan needs to do to increase morale. Home-made pom-poms, Camino flags and loud cheering were just a small part of the consistent support from our group of fans. They also gave us relaxing massages, provided us with drinks and were simply there for us.

Next we faced the Park Inn by Radisson. Maybe it was the good business cooperation with them that meant we didn't want to get one over on them, but at least by that point we had decided that one point each was also perfectly fine, and the game ended 3-3.

Our final opponent was the Holiday Inn. The statisticians among you may have worked out that with a draw and two wins we would definitely be in the semi-final. Wrong. We needed at least a draw to be certain of winning the group, as Le Méridien and the Mercure Hotel Stuttgart City Center had played really well against the Holiday Inn and beaten them by a large number of goals. When we were 2-1 down just a short while into the game, we had to stop and take a breath, shake ourselves off and then really throw ourselves into it again. It was all or nothing. But then everything went well and we beat the Holiday Inn 6-3. Ten points from four games. We felt that that was a really good result.

The Maritim Hotel, the NH Hotel, the Mercure Hotel and us, the ARCOTEL Camino, were in the semi-final. We had to play against the NH Hotel, and played better than we had done at any point in the tournament. We were concentrated and confident, and won the match 3-0. Unfortunately we also suffered some injuries in the game, above all to our best striker, Bilal Ghazi. In the changing rooms later, our opponent said "our colleague's job was to mark him the whole time, but we'd completely forgotten that on the other side of the pitch there was someone else who was also good with the ball and could score." Yep, you can easily be deceived. But they fought bravely.

WE were in the FINAL! AGAIN! Incredible. It was also incredible that we had to play the Mercure Hotel again. If they'd got this far, they must have got even better, and they definitely had. Both teams, exhausted by this point, gave their all. One – nil. Two – nil just a short time later. We were in the game. Everything was going well until a free kick was given against us just before time, and our opponents scored. It was very close. The clock ticked and the team in black kept running against our defence. Micha, who had been one of the best players in the team throughout the tournament, kept clearing the ball away from the goal from all positions. Then it was over. Over! The ARCOTEL Camino WON the Hotelcareer Cup 2013. Who would have thought it?

The team managed the DOUBLE! It was an all round successful day. THANKS to Sandro, Patrick, Ajet (the best player in the tournament), Youssif, Bilal (top scorer), Micha, Mohamed and Peter, the players in our team. The team would also like to thank the FANS who supported us so brilliantly. We're off to Düsseldorf! To be continued...

Winner over hearts with passion for football!

Sunday June 3 2012 10:00 a.m. in Stuttgart:

The engines are running and it is drizzling outside at cold 13 degrees Celcius. The atmosphere is great and full of anticipation as we set off on our way to Cologne where the German finals of the Hotelcup are being held. After our ARCOTEL Camino football team placed first at the tournament in Stuttgart, "Go Camino, another goal!", we were convinced we had a good chance in the finals. At 3:00 p.m. we arrived in Cologne and registered for the tournament. Of course we brought a legion of fans with us. Employees from all departments came along to cheer us on.

In the first game against the Falkenstein Grand Kempinski Hotel Königstein we took a 2:0 lead. Some mistakes destroyed the lead and we were behind 2:3. Unfortunately we were not able to recuperate and so we had our first defeat. With a 2:2 draw against the NH Hotel Hamburg Altona we were able to regain hopes of taking the tournament. In the third game, against the defending champion Innside by Melia Frankfurt, we performed well but were defeated with 0:2.

In the final preliminary round match there was some hope of moving into the quarterfinals. The Best Western Park Consul Hotel from Cologne took to a quick 1:0 lead. Our youngest player, Sandro Capuozzo, then scored the tying goal and his first goal in a tournament. THANK YOU Sandro for the memorable outburst of cheer you triggered. You really deserve it. Unfortunately the goal was not enough to turn the game around and we lost 1:5. The dream of the finals in Cologne was over.

In the penalty shoot out for the last places we were up against the 25Hours Hotel Frankfurt: we were defeated 1:2. In the end we were in competition for second to last place against the Maritim Hotel Stuttgart – the team we were able to defeat in the finals in Stuttgart. The penalty shoot out against the Martim team ended 1:3 for Maritim. The Maritim Hotel secured third to last place and we were dead last.

Considering that we played against the teams in our group that went on to place first, third and fourth, we are very pleased with the overall result, even if we came in last.
We are looking forward to the Hotelcup 2013 and would like to thank all the fans that traveled with us for their incredible dedication and support. THANK YOU! We also need you in 2013.

The Hotelcup has been the main football tournament in the hotel industry since 2009 and the number of participants is increasing each year. After the first tournament of this popular series in 2012 held in Hamburg the number of teams registering has increased each year. The Hotelcup hold tournaments in several German cities. The top two teams in each city advance to the big Germany finals where they represented their destination.

CAMINO STORM AHEAD.... AND THEY SCORE!

1^st place in the football Hotel Cup 2012 in Stuttgart

Sunday 18th March, 4pm. Not a particularly sunny day, in fact quite cool weather with a hint of drizzle in the air … luckily that didn’t matter because the football Hotel Cup 2012 in Stuttgart was to be held indoors and what an atmosphere there was inside the "Soccer Olymp" in Fellbach! When Assistant General Manager Peter Leidig first suggested the idea of a "Hotelcup" a few weeks ago to colleagues at the ARCOTEL Camino, everyone immediately got really excited and it wasn’t long before a team was selected. As everybody knows, football is more than just a sport – it’s all about passion for the game and that passion was evident across all departments. The team was made up of a real mix of colleagues, with representatives from housekeeping, reception, the kitchen, serving staff and management, but all had one thing in common – the drive and the team spirit necessary to ‘get the ball rolling’ and ultimately go on and win the trophy for the ARCOTEL Camino. And without any yellow or red cards either! There was a lot of hard training to be done in the days leading up to the final, however. After all, preparing for the Hotel Match of the Year is a very serious matter!

So the big day arrived and the teams put forward by all the individual Stuttgart hotels came face to face. Sporting striking red ARCOTEL Hotels jerseys, our team not only looked the part but they also impressed everybody with their outstanding performance on the field. After beating the "NH Hotel" 1-0 in their opening match, they faced the "Mercure Hotel Stuttgart City Center". After going two goals down, they were able to turn the game around to win 3-2. Our team suffered just one defeat in the qualifying rounds, losing 2-3 to the “Maritim Hotel". Then, in the last match of the qualifiers against the "Mövenpick Hotel Stuttgart Airport", our lads pulled off a very convincing 6-0 victory. In the semi-final against the "Dormero Hotel Stuttgart" our players clearly dominated the proceedings, going on to win a decisive 4-1 victory, taking them through to the Final. "What really set us apart from the other eight teams taking part was our ability to work well as a team, our sheer determination and the fact that we were enjoying ourselves. In the Final we managed to trounce our opponents the "Maritim Hotel", with a very convincing 5-1 win – sweet revenge for our defeat at their hands in the qualifiers!", says Assistant General Manager Peter Leidig proudly.

We would like to offer warm congratulations to our colleagues for their incredible and thoroughly well-deserved win in the 2012 Hotel Cup in Stuttgart and our fingers are now crossed that the team will do well in the all-Germany Final in Cologne! Hotel Cup ‘Man of the Match’ was awarded to our very own footballing legend, striker Bilal Ghazi, who not only scored an amazing 11 goals, but also demonstrated that a receptionist can be ‘on the ball’ on the field as well as at his desk.

The Hotel Cup has been the competition of the hotel sector since 2009 and every year more and more people take part. Even after this year’s very first tournament, held in Hamburg, more teams have registered to take part than last year. There are Hotel Cup tournaments in several German cities and the two winning teams from each city go through to represent their area in the all-Germany final.

You can see the final match on youtube: