Business View Caribbean | March 2021

32 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN MARCH 2021 Battaglia notes, “After opening on Dec. 1st, we had about 30 percent of capacity – just under 100 guests, who joined us that month. January went down to about 20 percent of capacity and February a little better with about 25 percent occupancy. So it’s been very difficult; normally we operate with about 320 staff, now we are around 140 staff.” While a full $10 million renovation that was scheduled to start in April 2020 has unfortunately been put on hold, a few beautification projects were tackled during the six months the resort was closed. To keep the staff upbeat, so they can smile and be welcoming to the guests, hotel management offers a great deal of encouragement and support. “The team work on a rotation basis of three days, four days, five days, so everyone gets some of the hours,” says Battaglia, “but the take-home pay is much less than what they’re used to, especially at this time of the year when it’s usually the highest occupancy and the staff are getting paid a higher salary and get good certified through our Ministry of Health and attain different certifications before we opened and we started with about 30 percent of capacity, just under 100 guests, who joined us for the month of December. We had to rethink the way we operated the resort, meaning we had to eliminate all the special events such as our Grand Gala, our Jamaican Party, our Repeat Guests Dinner – things that were part of the guest ‘experience’.” All the restaurants have reopened as a la carte with no more buffets. To ensure the distances between tables are respected, the restaurant seating had to be redesigned. The entire staff had to go through specific training for new ways of delivering services, and protection screens were installed on the major areas where guests will arrive, including the Guest Services Desk, Tour Desk, Front Desk and other areas of the hotel where guests and staff would have conversations. And, of course, guests are asked to observe the social distance policy, as well.