Today Hot Report

Sandals Resorts boast some of the best team members in the hospitality industry. This has been documented through many awards that have been presented to the hotel chain, particularly in St Lucia. In response to this, last week the Sandals Grande held a ceremony in recognition of these individuals by way of its ‘Best of the Best’ awards gala.

The evening is an annual event which is used as a platform to highlight the achievements of individual team members who have improved, grown and generally excelled in their particular field or department throughout the 2007/2008 year of business.

Ignacio Perez, Regional Director of Operations and General Manager at Sandals Grande St Lucian Spa & Beach Resort, was present at the ceremony to award and congratulate his team members; “This a very important date in the resort’s calendar as it is the one time of the year that we are able to come together collectively as a team and celebrate the tremendous results that we have made throughout the past year.

In addition to applauding the team spirit that is rife throughout the resort, it is also important to highlight the specific achievements that individual team members have contributed to our success. The significance of this is that these particular team members lead by example and through past experience, one can see that other members of staff look to aspire if not emulate what they have achieved. This leads to positive moral throughout the departments and in turn a more successful working environment. This is why, in short, we celebrate the Best of the Best.”

As part of a long list of various categories, the highest and most prestigious of them is the ‘Team Member of the Year Award’. Competition for this position is fierce as candidates must demonstrate everything from hard work and dedication to their ability of being an effective team player at all times, displaying their in-depth knowledge of the hospitality industry; in short, generally embodying the spirit that is synonymous with Sandals Resorts.

This year the accolade was awarded to Kerian Demay from the Maintenance Department and Scholastica Smith from Housekeeping. On receiving the award, Kerian commented, “I have been working for Sandals for five years and feel the same way about it now as I did when I began in 2003; passionate, enthusiastic about my job and role with Sandals in general. I do feel however that such an award could not have been achieved without the help and support of other team members who also play a vital role in the success that Sandals has year-on-year.”

Other winners on the night included: Most Courteous—Porsha Lawrence, Desile Descartes; Grandest Smile—Davidson Regis, Cheria Jean; Supervisor of the Year—Sandra Stephen; GM’s Award—Brutus Griffith, Zira St Brice, Matthias Thomas; Department of the Year—Water Sports.