Business View Caribbean | May 2016

92 May 2016 - Business View Caribbean Business View Caribbean - May 2016 93 Antigua,” Thesen states, proudly. Indeed, with only 27 rooms, Hermitage Bay is a small property - even though the entire resort is surrounded by 140 acres of lush, undeveloped land. “There’s a real sense of space and seclusion,” Thesen says. “The waves on the beach, the breeze in the trees, and the chatter of birds; it’s the perfect antidote to modern, hectic life; a true hermitage.” All of the hotel’s villas were designed to blend in naturally with the bay; ten of its individual suites are positioned right on the white- sand beach and the remaining 17 were constructed on the hillside, overlooking the water, to maximize views and privacy. And all of the villas were made from sus- tainably-managed wood from forests in Guyana, stay- ing true to Thesen’s ethos as an avid environmentalist. The hotel still adheres to environmentally sustainable principles with its “reduce, reuse, and recycle” policy and its conscientious efforts to use solar energy tech- nologies, natural detergents and beauty products, and locally grown fruits and vegetables. And yet, Hermitage Bay doesn’t scrimp on luxury. Pris- tine white linens, ivory cushions, and creamy white walls soften the rich hues of the wooden floors and furniture. All rooms have outdoor showers and slatted louver windows, a flat screen TV and DVD player, Wi- Fi, ceiling fans, air conditioning, and natural bathing and skincare products. And the food is superb. “We’ve always held that the food has to be excellent,” says Thesen, “because at the price point where we’re sell- ing, our people are used to eating out regularly at very good restaurants. So the food is very good. We use as much locally-grown and organic produce as we can, and are very proud that we have our own organic kitch- en garden, onsite.” But Thesen believes that the strongest differentiator between Hermitage Bay and other nearby hotels and resorts is his 100-members staff, who have been in charge of the hotel’s daily operations ever since The- sen and his family moved back to England, a few years ago. “We’ve drawn on the natural Caribbean hospital- ity and culture of the islands and they’re doing a great job at looking after guests and providing top job ser- vice in a very human way,” he says. “To me, it’s really important that everyone is local. There’s no foreign, first-worldy, European or North American in there to run the show. And I think that message is extremely powerful. And that’s why guests feel that it’s a special place.” Initially, many of those early guests came from the United Kingdom. “We started off very strong in the U.K.,” Thesen says, “but in the Recession, we swiveled our sights onto the U.S., because it’s nearer and fairly easy to get to. So now, the U.S. is number one – it’s the U.S., the U.K., and Italy.” According to Thesen, the hotel sustains its 86 percent occupancy rate by reaching out to potential guests in a wide variety of ways. “The main one would be tour operators,” he notes. “And we deal directly with larger travel agencies in the U.S. We work on our online presence; we invest quite a lot in search engine optimization; we’re doing quite a lot of pay-for- click work now; and our rates are available on Google, Trip Advisor, Kayak, Trivago – all the meta-sites. We’re on the cutting edge of what hotels are doing in the online space.” Thesen says that even though he is planning to add