Practice makes perfect!

Tibor Meskál, senior duty manager of Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal won the Gundel Award in 2019.

Tibor Meskál
senior duty manager
Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal

What kind of career did the Gundel Award put the crown on?

– I started out as an assistant waiter in 1960, but one year later I was already working in the Royal Grand Hotel. To me, the Gundel Award isn’t simply a lifetime achievement award, but also a prize that honours my professional results.

You spent 30 eventful years abroad. –

In 1966 I left Hungary and afterwards I had the opportunity to serve food to Queen Elizabeth II, Marlene Dietrich, Frank Sinatra and Mikhail Gorbachev. I worked on luxury ocean liners, and in top hotels and restaurants.

What did you find in Hungary instead of these when you returned?

– In the spring of 1996, I came home and my first job was in Gundel Restaurant. Later the hotels followed: Forum, Intercontinental and Gellért, and in 2003 my old dream came true by joining the team of the reopened Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal.

How do you see the Hungarian hospitality sector now?

– Hungary is a more popular tourist destination than ever before, but due to the cheap flights, many of the guests are of the type that is satisfied with below-par food and drinks. I hope that soon guests will learn how to eat and drink well – to the extent that even waiters are treated as gentlemen. //