Business View Caribbean | September 2019

30 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN SEPTEMBER 2019 The resort also features the Brass Boer restaurant, created under the watchful eyes of Dutch culinary geniuses, Jonnie and Thérèse Boer, as well as a 5-star PADI diving school with its own expansive dive pier. The restaurant with outdoor kitchen and direct ocean front terrace, along with the scuba shop, are housed in a renovated and expanded former villa. This charming building has retained its original identity, in architecture as well as colors and materials. On the seaside, the beach descends so gradually, one can easily walk into the sea. On the restaurant side, guests can enjoy a romantic dining experience with views of the waves crashing into the coral seawall. David and Cisca Rietveld are the married couple that came to manage the Delfins Beach Resort over a year and a half before it opened. “So, we had some influence on the way the restaurant was being built, the way reception was being built, and all the facilities of the resort like laundry, maintenance, and housekeeping,” says David. “Cisca does the administrative part and I’m doing the general management. We have 90 employees, now, and we’re still growing.” Also growing is the resort’s guest list, most of whom come from Holland and North America; last year’s occupancy rate was 78 percent, and this year, it’s 81 percent, to date. David attributes those good numbers to several factors: “One of the main reasons is that we are a brand new resort and the other resorts on the island are a tad older. That’s important,” he explains. “And the way it’s been built is totally different than the rest. It’s spacious, transparent, open, and high-end. This made the first year really successful. Also, there’s the cooperation with Jonnie and Thérèse Boer, the management couple of the restaurant. They’re doing the management from Holland; they have one of their colleagues working here, but in Holland, they own a Three Michelin Star restaurant, and they’re 34th place on the Best Restaurants in the World. So, this gave us really good publicity in Holland.” pictured Brass Boer Restaurant