 | | |
| | |
|
Spaces home  What's Happening at Long...PhotosProfileFriendsMore |  Tools   |
|
What's Happening at Long Bay, AntiguaKeeping Old & New friends informed about Long Bay in Antigua.
March 14 I had an EPIPHANY!Hello all, been a while but as usual the resort is keeping me busy. As is normal for us here at Long Bay, we have had, some great people pass through our doors so far this season. Every time I think we here at Long Bay are fighting an uphill battle, departing guests send me their thoughts via email, about the wonderful experience they've had, while visiting with us. On top of that while travelers are here, I hear them laugh and chat, of an evening, with each other, which should be proof enough for me; why isn't it? that there are still those of us who appreciate, the good simple things that life offers us on a daily basis, a full nights rest, cool breezes, good food, great conversation cool, tall drinks and great scenery. My main reason for this post is to solicit some feedback from all of our past guests. I am in the process of setting up a dedicated web-page, within the Long Bay website, to highlight all our past guests who happen to use the web to share their lives. As far as I am concerned the website's can be for a small businesses, art galleries, a favorite hobby, a furniture store, flower shop, a Hotel or Inn or any content that you personally have posted to the web. I don't really want to be highlighting Coke, Sony or GM I think they get enough web traffic without our help. What I am seeking is small, obscure web-postings that would be interesting to all who have passed through our doors. To be honest and give credit where credit is due I should explain that the brain storm for this idea is Sylvia Evens an Artist who was here with us, recently and who has asked that I add her web art studio to our Long Bay website. Sylvia's Art, in my opinion is simple and elegant, all at the same time. An example of her work is at right. Your JOB if you decide to accept it (Mr. Phelps LOL) is to send me your interesting web addresses so I can add them to the, what I hope will be, growing list of guest generated website's that I build a page for and add to our Long Bay website for all to enjoy. There is only one criteria for a website to be added/included and that is; the owner of the website must have been a guest here at Long Bay. Also extremely commercial sites will not be added. Finally the decision is mine, it's my website I choose, so there (LOL). Please do send in those web address or the page is going to be very small. By the way, (BTW) if you haven't been with us in a while the year you last stayed with us would help us a lot. All my best to all of you who keep the "REAL CARIBBEAN" alive and fighting. Your Host, Chris. PS. For all of you who may have given me your web addresses in the past please email me with the web addresses, I'm missing a bunch!?!?!? SORRY. chris@longbayhotel.com February 10 Quiet but Happy ChristmasBeen a while since my last entry but as we all have, I've been consumed by the Holidays. This year at Long Bay we had a slower then usual Xmas Holiday crowd, we had several largish families through Christmas day and then mostly couples after Christmas through New Years. From what I observed all had a wonderful time, as is expected from my point of view, there just weren't enough of you enjoying our idea of "PARADISE". I have to write that families are most welcome at Long Bay and to most peoples amazement we do families good. Most of us would feel that being a small hotel & resort without all the bells and whistles that much larger traditional Resorts offer that children would not find enough to do. In reality this is not the case. One of the facts that endear children to Long Bay is the small size of the resort. Our small size offers children and parents alike the feeling of belonging and safety which is so hard to find in this day and age and especially at larger resorts. Because parents feel comfortable and children feel comfortable; both feel freer to relax and actually enjoy the sun, sea, sand and nature that abounds. Also being small means that all the services we offer are available to all, without massive sign up sheets and long lines. Besides that I think we adults underestimate the power of the young to enjoy nature, not in the cultured sense but in the sense of being able to chase a lizard, torment a land crab, spy a fish in the reef, or just wander around being content and amazed by the world around them. I think coming from the real world we feel our children need constant stimulation, when in fact, just like us, they enjoy a bit of life with a difference, which they can experience here because we as parents feel comfortable enough to let them. This phenomenon can be attested to by the all the families who enjoyed themselves over the Christmas Holidays. Another fact overlooked by parents is our large public areas in relation to the numbers of guests we cater to. For example children are quite happy to play in our large Library and games room while the adults get to enjoy a cool cocktail before dining. On top of that we offer all kinds of water sports, the best child friendly beach on Antigua, tennis, billiards, and more........... So Christmas came and went and the couples arrived. I must write that past experience had shown me that trying to create a big bang for our new arrivals during the "New Years" celebration was going to be as usual, a bit if a chore. In the past enticing our guests to stay up past 10:30 to ring in the "New Year" has always been a push. In order to entice our guests to enjoy the celebration we have always made a special effort for our "New Years Eve" party. We offer a special dinner in our Turtle restaurant with Lord Lee the wandering Calypsonian putting our hearts in the mood. After dinning we offer dessert and coffee at our beach house restaurant directly on the beach with the sounds of The Impulse Steel Orchestra attempting to entice all to enjoy the complimentary cocktails and wait for the champagne toast at midnight. In past years all our efforts have been for naught and most of our guests wander off to bed to enjoy a peaceful nights rest with the ones they love. This behavior is very understandable as after a day at the beach soaking up the sun, enjoying good food and drink, swimming and such one does get ready for bed early and is of course perfectly understandable but does put us, as the hosts in the difficult situation, of how do you have a "PARTY" if no one shows up. Well this year to my utter amazement we had a wonderful group of guests visit with us and low and behold they all made it to Midnight to ring in the "NEW YEAR" together. We as usual served dinner in the main Club House, we started late 8:30PM in an attempt to shorten the night, then we all moved over to the Beach House for Coffee and Desert. The whole group was very convivial; additionally there were several non residents who arrived for the festivities, being very young and happy, they added a touch of abandon to the affair. Well as it happens, before any of us realized it, there were fireworks going off above the airport and then moments later a huge display started over the bay at Long Bay, supplied by the Pineapple Beach resort. I must confess gotta love those big plastic resorts when it comes to spending money on frills, you sure can count on them. We of course had front row seats and I must thank Pineapple for the wonderful display. After the fireworks everyone was having so much fun dancing that the band stayed late, thank you Impulse Steel Orchestra, the night finally ended at 2:00AM. So as you can see, one never is SURE what is going to happen at Long Bay. November 18 The Invasion of the Butterflies Why chose a small local Resort, Inn Or Hotel
Today it's a slow day at Long Bay In Antigua, it's Sunday so one would expect this but it's also a particularly beautiful day with the sun shining, as it tends to do, puffy soft cottony clouds and the usual quiet breeze, which traveled across the Atlantic and is now puffing down our bay to cool us. There are, at present, a multitude of soft yellow butterflies, flitting about all over the area, which give the whole day a Never Never Land quality that is so special when experienced first hand. Honestly I have traveled far, to many different countries and places but never in all my travels, have I experienced days like the special days that are natural here in the Caribbean and especially here at Long Bay.
After it left I was just contemplating the experience when upon me came a wave of calm. My thoughts were serine and I suddenly felt as though, in spite of my insignificance, I was a part of the world. Obviously I wanted to share the experience so I am posting my words to the net. For those of you who have never been to a small hotel in the Caribbean but have mostly chosen the safe all-inclusive route, I wanted to offer you my thoughts on what you might expect to experience if you decided to venture outside your normal comfort zone. Choosing a small local vacation Hotel, Inn or Resort rather then the traditional manufactured Caribbean resort can result in a far better experience for you the traveler. Not only will you have an opportunity to see what our Caribbean is like but you can also get away from what you know and then, truly have some special stories to remember and share with friends once you return to the "REAL WORLD"! If you do decide my words have inspired you to seek and patronize one of the Caribbean's small properties for your next getaway I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised. Most of the small intimate Resorts, Inns and Hotels in the islands are run by owners who are there on site, to ensure your vacation is a success. These small places may not have the infrastructure that the All-inclusive's have but what they lack in fixtures and fittings they make up for, 10 time over, in style a local character. I strongly suggest if you would like to experience a similar feeling to the one I had, this day, on your next Caribbean holiday or vacation choose a small locally owned Inn, Resort or Hotel. a' Bientot. For more info on Antigua's small locally owed properties visit www.antigua-vip.com. November 11 We reopen for a new season 2007-2008Well I must write it has been an interesting summer. The New Veranda Resort project which has kept our attention most of the summer is finally open. The worst part about having your neighborhood disrupted, by the building of a new 200 room resort on what was supposed to be National Park land, is not the actual project itself and this is a big one but the anticipation, as to how it will affect ones daily life, and in our case, more importantly what will be the overall experience, that our guests here at Long Bay will receive because the new project is around. To be fair, so far the opening of the resort has been better, then living through the actual building, our self inflicted apprehension and worry about the final outcome has been far more disruptive then the actual construction. At this juncture the bay is just as quite, calm and worry free as it has always been, which is a big relief. Also since the best beach available to the Veranda guests is the little beach close to the top of Indian Town bay, near Devil's Bridge, the Veranda guests mostly stay up at the top end of the bay. For me personally, the lights of the resort are a bit much, I do wish they would stop leaving on some of the lights in the unoccupied rooms, but I think this is my perception rather then reality. One must remember I've lived here for over 40 years, so any change to the area is a major change as far as I am concerned. There is one positive aspect to the new resort and that is that there are lots of sail boats to watch, which are at the top of the bay, which one can enjoy while relaxing on our guest room balconies. This gives the bay a little more life, which thankfully is not intrusive or noisy. As far as our little resort goes we have as usual been chipping and painting all summer to improve our little piece of "PARADISE". This year, one major project was the re-surfacing of our Tennis court, it needed it, it now looks like it was built yesterday. Also we decided, as we were working on the Tennis court anyway, to add night playing lights to the court. We did this in the hope more of our guests would be inclined to play. It has been our experience over the years, that no matter how many bells a whistles one adds to ones resort, what guests truly seek is some quality relaxation time. No matter what they think back home, before they arrive in paradise, what they truly seek is a great beach, a super comfortable beach lounge chaise, big drinks, cool breezes and tasty food these simple pleasures are what all of our guests enjoy most often. Our guests may come here with the idea they are going to "Rule the World" time and again though, they show us they truly need some re-charge time. Additionally, for those of you who were here last year, we have finished installing the shutters on the new roof addition over the bedroom block. Now when the wind and rain comes out of the West, which happens only two days a year, the water won't seep into the several rooms upstairs that are directly underneath the new dormers. I must write that with the new shutters and paint the Bedrooms have never looked better. Now all I need to do is find some investors to help me finish those really cool Widow walk additions. Oh! well it will happen someday. I will close for today. Look forward to seeing many of you with us soon. Chris.
The Bay-side with the Veranda resort on the right side. Click picture above to see bigger. February 18 Returning to "PARADISE"Lately with the arrival and departure of so many of our traditional repeat guests I have been thinking about the whole idea of why we encourage so many of our first time guests to plan a return visit. Profit of course, is one reason but that is not the main reason. So often in this day and age we host guests who truly enjoy the experience they are introduced to, here at Long Bay, I note however that many do not return for a repeat visit, until they have first visited several more destinations and have found that the atmosphere we offer here is the right mix for them. I think part of the allure of “New Destinations” is the fact that we as consumers are constantly bombarded with the idea that new and different is better. NEW Oreos, New Crest, New Triscuits “ NEW COKE that was a bomb”. they aren't’t really new, we are just being re-introduced to theses great, trusted products. This thought process is basically flawed, as there is nothing better then returning to a place where you are comfortable, where you are truly welcomed and where you already know the routine. Like a favorite old sweater, a lucky shirt, an old trusted pet, a return visit to a special place is comfortable and warm with the feeling of belonging already installed. A return visit is an experience that is hard to duplicate, not only from a guests point of few but it is also an experience, we all as hosts, cherish as well. There is s certain feeling of camaraderie and kinship when we welcome our returning visitors back for another visit. We can concentrate on the experience we offer our returning friends and less on the introduction of our special spot, which we need to do, for our first time arrivals. An article I recently read, mentioned that the writer felt that it was not the discovering of a special place that was the joy but returning to that special location and that original discovery over and over and knowing it would be the same experience that was first enjoyed and discovered, that was the “JOY”. He had found, in fact, a little place in southern Italy, where the management said they were to do major refurbishment and his biggest fear was the place he had fallen in love with would be no more. I personally understand his fears, as I have seen so often, small special locations and destinations throughout the world are discovered and then immediately changed by the same discovery. We all here at Long Bay actively fight against, change for change’s sake and when we improve our little bit of “PARADISE” we are acutely aware that the improvements we make must improve the experience while preserving the feeling one gets when one visits Long Bay. As we write in every introduction email “Our resort offers an atmosphere difficult to find in these times of pre-packaged everything. We have been running our Inn for the last 40 years and have made every effort to preserve the feel of the Island we first encountered so long ago.” I truly believe that the allure of the Caribbean lies not in the upgrading of a feeling out of extinction but embellishing and enhancing that special feeling and Caribbean spirit for all to enjoy for many, many years. We of course want to thank all of you who return so often, please know that we appreciate your choosing to make our little part of the world a better place, as you have visited and experienced it, with us, so often. Until next Time! Chris. January 03 Two Months Too long.Well the silly season is past and we are starting a new year.
First off for those of you who actually look at this Blog I do apologize for the lack of entries. I don't know it seems like yesterday we were just opening the Resort for another tourist season. This year we have been experiencing quite a few growing pains, not in the sense of becoming bigger or different but in the sense that we have now totally upgraded all our guest rooms, so in essence all the rooms are alike. They all have limed wood ceilings and fans along with King or twin four poster beds. Also I have been making an effort to personalize each and every room by adding home style touches. The idea is to make all of our guests feel as if one were visiting an old friend instead of just renting a room.
There are wind up alarm clocks, nick knacks and other small touches that make our room's atmosphere more homeish them hotel like. The overall effect is very appealing, one of our guests actually commented recently, that it was the first time, ever, that she felt so comfortable in a hotel room, this is; of course the whole idea. Anyway the reason I am behind is that each every one of theses small additions takes time to set up correctly, it is similar to setting up a movie set. I don't know but I don't think guests actually know how much work it is to set up a special atmosphere while at the same time insuring the whole thing runs well, while looking like, it runs all by itself. There is a real art to making all this look effortless, which is the point, exactly. Anyway all these new touches have been occupying much of my time so my writing has suffered. We still are adding new room touches daily and I doubt we'll get done until the end of the season, each day we are getting BETTER & BETTER!
This year we had a "Great Time" over Christmas & New Years. In fact this whole year has been super. From the moment we opened we've had the right amount of guests, steady never full, never empty. Over the Holidays we were about 3/4 full with guests who were truly happy, what a welcome change. Perhaps I should explain. Most people won't think of this but often people who travel during the Holidays are looking to escape the trials and tribulations of their traditional Holidays. Because they are escaping from, rather then escaping to, a vacation they are not always the happiest guests to be around. This year everyone here was here to enjoy, it was absolutely wonderful!
We are finally attracting the kinds of guest we had way back when. We are enjoying the company of families who are re-connecting, young couples looking to re-connect and people who want to experience the real Caribbean. To be honest over the last few years I was worried that we were a dieing breed and that the world had moved so far forward that we had lost touch with what makes people enjoy a Caribbean holiday or any vacation. It is wonderful to see that the old customs of good service, great dining, a perfect location, all coupled with good old fashioned hospitality has not lost its appeal. I think many of us are tired of being treated like cattle, I think genuine hospitality is making a come back hooray!!!! I of course have thought, that this was so, for years, it is nice to know though that I was not too far off.
A thought just struck me. Life here is wonderful. I am sitting in the office, those of you who have been here before, I'm sure can picture it, and CC the musician is playing on the steel pan the Caribbean sound is softly wafting into the office, the temperature is a perfect 79', Sam has just brought me a drink and our guests are enjoying another one of Charlie's imaginative dinners; what could be better???
Well until next time we of course wish all of you a fulfilling 2007.
Chris.
November 05 The start of a new Season, at Long Bay. 2006-07Wow, we are open, it's Nov. 5th. 2006 and it's a relief to finally be open again. To be honest the last four days have been the busiest I have experienced in years; I haven’t even had time for my customary and necessary afternoon nap. All of the staff and myself have been working madly to get our Special Spot ready for our re-opening of November 5th. With all the upgrades we’ve done over the summer this year’s re-opening has been a bit of a challenge. Today we finished the Harbour House cottages refit just an hour before the arrival of our first guests, we made it though and I think it has been said a miss is as good as a mile, which makes me proud of all our efforts.
During this summer we have accomplished much, like re-furbishing all of the guest room bathrooms, what a major project, they aren’t bigger just better and more user friendly, there is more up-grade news which will be shared later. To highlight some of the quirky goings on, during a re-opening in a Caribbean resort, I should mention that after we turned the water to the bathrooms back on, today, all of them flooded as we forgot to close many of the water faucets and the drains were clogged with dust, so on our first day we had 10 totally soaked guest bedrooms, not fun, reminds one of a Faulty Tower episode or a passage from " Don't Stop the Carnival".
I highlight the above as I would like to share a feeling I had this evening. After another long day of re-fitting, re-organizing, re-planting and the rest I took a break before the evening cocktail hour. It was another very long day but in spite of the hard work of the day, I was lucky enough to be here In Antigua at Long Bay, more tiered then I have been in years and oh! so very content. The reason for my happiness was; not only had we re-opened, which was quite an accomplishment but I was here relaxing in the cool breezes of the Trade Winds, enjoying a cool, tall drink, overlooking one of the most beautiful views in the “WORLD”. I was looking East over the Bay, which by the way’s name is Indian Town Creek, watching the day end with the sunset shimmering off the white limestone cliffs and the moon rising at the same moment. The sight was magical and I felt ever so fortunate to have been able to enjoy it. I think the fact that I was as tired as man, such as I can be, enhanced my appreciation of the whole scene. On the one hand I could barely bring my cool drink to my lips and yet before me a wondrous sight unfolded that did not involve any part of the man made world. I think in this day and age, we get so caught up and seduced by our technology, Cell phones, PDA's, Computers, Television, that we forget to enjoy the world which is all around us. I think these special moments are why I and by extension all of us at Long Bay are so committed to keeping our resort simple and uncluttered by the gadgets that help us in our daily lives but hinder us in our quest for relaxation and peace of mind.
As always, I think we should continue to follow the path we have chosen, as the special moments are worth every sacrifice we make, to experience them.
I will highlight the actual summer upgrades in my next entry later this week. Thanks for reading.
Chris.
June 10 New Travel Trends? Sleep Therapy???Just this morning I read an article, in U.S.A. Today on-line, re the start of Spa resorts offing sleep therapy along with their normal offerings. It strikes me as humorous that once gain the leisure travel market is offering to sell us something we can get for free. Well let me explain, not for free but surly we don't need to buy it.
We; here in the islands and specifically at Long Bay, have been offering our guests a "Great" nights sleep since 1966 and the ingredients to achieve this are relatively simple. They are fresh air, good food, a friendly atmosphere and the omission of all the man made gadgets that make all kinds of noise and intrude or our peace of mind, TV's Telephones AC. Etc. Also key ingredients are fresh air, a cool breeze, not a cold wind but a soothing wafting breeze with ample amounts of warm sunshine mixed in, remember the dreaded, Light Deprivation therapy of a few years ago.
It has always makes me smile when I welcome a new guest to our special spot and I get the impression, that they are not quite sold on our idea of PARADISE, to ask them the next morning, of them, as they pass on their way to a big breakfast, if they have slept well. Religiously their answer, with surprise in their voices, is that the slept exceptionally well in fact they invariable tell me that their nights rest was the best that they have enjoyed in years. I smile inwardly to myself as this means half of my job is already completed, our new guests are well on their way to enjoying a great holiday with us. If one gets a great nights sleep, the days in "Paradise" pretty much take care of themselves.
I personally have to smile at the American resorts marketing efforts. We humans of course have to give everything a fancy name, its not worth anything unless it has a fancy title, so now instead of a relaxing vacation with a great nights sleep you receive, Sleep Enhancement Therapy, which of course is run by a professional and costs extra. Why, I'll never understand is it so difficult for all of us to accept and embrace the fact, that the simpler life is, in the long run the more enjoyable, it becomes. We here at Long Bay and in the islands as a whole have known this big secrete for many; many years. As always we invite you to experience a "Great" nights rest with us; no extra charge. May 17 Island LifeThis morning while I was enjoying the arrival of a new day here in paradise I was reminded by a small lizard why I enjoy living here.
As many loyal guests know, those early risers anyway, I greet each new day by enjoying a cup of coffee on my back porch which overlooks the gardens here at Long Bay. Over the last few mornings I have noticed a new baby lizard weighing perhaps an ounce who seemed to be totally absorbed by my big toe. The reason I noticed the lizard was that on the first morning I felt a tiny weight on my foot, when I looked down I saw the tiny lizard running away. Upon reflection I thought the lizard was interested in my big toe, I tend to tap it on the floor, while I am sitting. Anyway I wasn't too bothered as he didn't hurt me and I thought he would tire of the toe chasing game eventually.
Well this morning I have figured out why this tiny new lizard is so interested in my feet. You see it wasn't my big toe he was interested in but the whole area around my toes in general. Why is this? well it seems that small gnats, we do have a few, like to buzz around the end of my toes. Mr lizard had seen this on previous days and figured he could get breakfast every day if he watched the end of my toes. Well I tell you it was amazing to watch this guy feed, he would sit there patiently looking at the end of my feet and then BAM! as quick as an eye blink, he would catch a gnat. I must admit it was a wonder to watch and it didn't hurt, that he was culling the gnat population, we all can use less gnats.
These small constant interactions with nature are a joy to behold and rarely enjoyed in the first world. I don't know but in the real world with our schedules, TV news, rush hour traffic and the rest we seem not to notice the world around us. Here however by design we constantly are presented with the nature around us and almost forced to realize that we humans are just one small part of the overall puzzle.
Thank you Mr. Lizard.
May 14 Our Environment here at Long BayHello again to ALL,
Been a month, just about, since my last entry. I don't know why but the time just seems to fly by. One minute I'm thinking what will I do with myself, the next, a month has passed.
Wendy Walker-Drakes our environmental guide visited wit us last month. She is a lady, out of Barbados running her own company EcoLink, who helps us with our Green Globe 21 certification. I don't know if any of our regulars know this, we don't toot our own horn enough, we are now Green Globe Certified as a environmentally friendly resort. What this means is that overall we here at the resort, and that includes our guests, practice habits that have less impact on the environment then other similar resorts. In our case, at the end of our review during 2006, we came up with an "Above Best Practice" rating in all the top categories.
They are.........
Energy Consumption.
Potable Water Consumption.
Solid Waste Production.
Social Commitment.
Resource Conservation.
Cleaning Chemicals Used.
What this signifies is that our guests and us use less of everything and still enjoy a wonderful Caribbean vacation experience. One of the major factors in our little resort achieving these kinds of high marks, is that we still do many chores the way they were done back when we first arrived here; in what we think of as "PARADISE". A good example is, we still do all our resort laundry by hand, now some of you may be thinking that's appalling but when you consider that instead of having machines, which by the way waste water and energy, we still hire people to do the job, who do a better job, in the end anyway. Personally I like that my clothes dried outdoors on a line, in the fresh air, rather then in a machine, don't you? The other important obvious factor is, our extensive use of rain water to supplement the municipal supply. Our little resort was out in the middle of nowhere back in the beginning and so... the original builder installed lots of rain water storage under the resort. A blessing for us as we can use this water every time it rains which helps us conserve. The final factor is our lack of airconditioning, since our breeze acts as our airconditioning, we can save an emense amount of energy that would be normally be used to cool the resort.
One of the things I am most proud of is that we can offer an environmentally friendly experience without affecting our gusts overall enjoyment. After we had started to implement some of our environmental practices a past guest actually mentioned that he saw the posted signs informing our guests of our efforts but did not see the effects of our conservation, the way the comment was written, see comments on tripadvisor.com, it sounded like he thought we were faking it. In fact what was happening was that his experience with us was enjoyable, while at the same time impacting less on our local environment, so much so that he was not aware of our efforts. What a fantastic achievement for our staff members and our guests alike.
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
Invite as friend
