The Thin Line Between Rustic and Rundown

It’s been a few years since l was overseas at an island resort, so I thought it was time to venture out and embrace the island life again. I chose a small cluster of islands off the mainland. Neither my wife or I have been there before and thought it might be a nice family adventure. So, with the chosen location, we delved into our different options of where to stay and what to do. Now, I’ve lived and worked in some of the most beautiful islands on the planet and the most remote parts of the world, so I know and understand the challenges that resorts face day in and out when it comes to maintaining levels of standards and service. 

Resort Reviews vs Value

We decided on a location with some of the best reviews we’ve seen online. There were some negatives, but you will always get good and bad. For the record, the resort was rated a 5-star resort and certainly costs that. For me, it was about the location and standard level that the resort aspired to achieve that we were looking for. This location has it all, and from what we could tell would deliver that in spades.

And that was where the wheels fell off the cart….

Airport Transfer Failure

We emailed ahead of time and spoke with the receptionist about a few dietary needs. We booked a private transfer from the airport to the resort to ensure a smooth arrival. We thought some planning would make navigating easier because we were landing in the middle of the night, and the trip would take us right across the main island and then on a “ferry” to the island resort. Only it wasn’t a private transfer, we were sharing it with another guest of the resort. They also failed to mention it was in a local taxi with a driver that barely spoke English.

They failed to mention that we would be driven down a bush track in the middle of nowhere to get onto a very small rigid boat (definitely not a ferry) to travel across the island with other locals and the weekly grocery run. At one point, I did consider that we were being kidnapped, as it does happen in this part of the world, but thankfully, I didn’t have to go all team SEAL on the driver. And did I mention that the other guest with us was a very young female who told us that she was scared out of her wits as no one told her what to expect? She was thankful that I, the sherpa, was here to carry her bag. 

A Midnight Boat Ride…with a Flashlight

So we finally made dry land, and both girls jumped out of the small vessel, screamed “Dry Land,” and kneeled to kiss the ground. By the way, I’m still the sherpa lugging ours and the other guest’s luggage in and out of the boat because the old Mumma and scary Ahab-like captain at the back of the boat look to be around 120 years young and possibly would keel over and have a heart attack if he had to lift the luggage.

Did I mention that Captain Ahab got out a flashlight to find his way across the channel in the middle of the night? There are no navigation lights, no signal fire on the beach, just Captain Ahab and his handy flashlight, not instilling a sense of seafaring know-how. I think he was more worried about the bottle of vodka that I saw wrapped up like a baby so that it didn’t break than he was his passengers or old Mumma.

Alcohol Served Erroneously

Wandering into the reception/restaurant/stores/bar area, we are politely greeted by two of the locals who hand us a drink each. After a few sips, I’m happy as a clam because it is full of rum. But the Supreme Allied Commander, aka the wife, looks at me funny. At that point, I politely told her to put the glass down and back away. You see, she doesn’t drink at all, a fact that we communicated to them, but they forgot. Let’s just say she was very happy for the remainder of the night and fell asleep quickly, not having drunk a single drop of alcohol for the past few years and probably just downing three shots of rum. 

Food? Better Think Twice

With that interesting part over, we were trundled off to our room. It’s around midnight now, and we haven’t eaten anything. I expect they might have a snack or two for us upon arrival. Or maybe not. A packet of stale chips and something else that I couldn’t translate on a packet in Chinese, so I thought the better of it.

Upgrade? Just Kidding

In their haste to get us to our room because they all wanted to sleep, we were also advised that we had been upgraded to a beach villa and could stay there as long as we wanted. They forgot to mention that we would be asked to move the next day because they had a last-minute booking and that the beachfront villa goes to the highest-paying guest. And that was when they became consistently inconsistent. 

Mystery Box Dining 

On our first real day there, we thought we would put the turmoil of the arrival in the past and see what the new day brought. Over the coming days, as this resort is the only place on the island to eat or drink, we had a mixed bag of hit-and-miss meals. I think we counted five times they got the order wrong, as in either cooked it wrong or left things in, like eggs, which we were both allergic to. They forgot to bring us what we ordered thrice and brought the wrong dish at least four times. I am unsure how you mistake a Mahi Mahi steak for a Veil steak, but they did.

Don’t get me wrong, the locals are fantastic people and beautiful to speak with, but they have no service training at all. They always say yes to everything and get it wrong most of the time. They even had an iPad with which to take the order down.

And don’t get me started on the WiFi service, which they promised would work. A coconut and string would have been more efficient and easier to use. The food was a different story; for the week that we stayed there, the only thing that we ate that wasn’t deep fried or cooked to a crisp was the Lebanese bread, chorizo sausages with tomatoes and the margarita pizza, which wasn’t a real margarita pizza, but it tasted nice. I do not recommend the seafood platter. 

Rustic vs Rundown

Being a resort engineer, the one thing I pick up on is the resort’s maintenance. I was impressed when they said they were completely off the grid, ran solar and recycled water, and did everything they could to reduce their footprint. It was a real drawcard for us.

The maintenance of the place was bad, and by what I mean bad is that I had to show them how to fix the hot water in our villa after a day of asking them to sort it out. Doors didn’t work or lock; lights were burnt out everywhere with exposed wiring; the pool leaked like a sieve onto the lawn; the outside lights were still on at 10am. The mirror in the room was hung so high that you needed to be eight feet tall to use it, and the villa doors had no keys nor a safe to lock anything. I was disheartened to see that they had let the place run down as much as it had.

They either don’t care or don’t have the expertise or funds to look after the place, which is very unfortunate because this particular resort has so much potential. I know that with a small team, some know-how and a little expertise, all of the small things I saw could easily be rectified and bring the place back to standard. I would hate to be there if a cyclone hit. The place would be obliterated as none of the storm shutters worked. I hope their insurer never visits the place. 

Marketing vs Reality 

The most disappointing thing for me was that the resort has been allowed to deteriorate to a level that doesn’t reflect their marketing material. I can overlook the service and dining issues because I have lived where it is hard to train and manage your staff. I know this can be a challenge, but this can be overcome with time, patience, and a hands-on approach. This beautiful resort was run down and falling apart, and it would not take much to make it a 6 or 7-star resort. 

It’s a shame it was such a beautiful place with so much potential, a case of what not to do if you run an island resort. 

Turning Rundown into Reliable and Real

We have to be reasonable when we’re being critical about island destinations. The logistics and effort needed to undertake the simplest task are tenfold compared to a normal mainland property. And even in saying that, there are still levels and service standards that any resort property should strive to achieve, no matter where you are. In my mind, it would not take very long or much effort to restore this resort to a level that would rival any 5-star location simply because, for the most part, the view and layout of the property were already very well thought through. 

Island Resort Infrastructure Essentials 

To help ease the burden on the infrastructure that I saw would go a long way and demonstrate to the clientele that they cared about the place, here are a list of items I would attack. For the most part, these are all very simple, and I believe would have a significant impact on the resort, such as: 

• Adjusting the external light timers to come on at dusk and off at dawn and installing a Photovoltaic Cell as a control backup.
• Clearing off the solar panels from the roofs of debris and trimming back the trees to allow maximum light onto them.
• Installing rainwater collection tanks from the guttering, several buildings had guttering but nothing to collect the rainwater.
• Install LED lighting throughout the entire property; with only a few rooms, this would be a simple task and remove the old, inefficient lighting. 
• Install conduit on exposed electrical cabling to prevent UV deterioration and accidental damage.
• Basic maintenance around the property was lacking; as I mentioned, every shutter in our room was broken, and it wouldn’t take long to fix all of these. 
• Electrical switching: in our room, half the switches were not working; they need to clean up and make good the wiring they have. 
• Water pressure was an issue, especially when filling their leaking pool; I recommend a balancing exercise to ensure that other activities don’t affect the guest rooms. 

I didn’t get to have the back-of-house tour while I was there, even though I would have loved to see it all. However, I noticed a couple of other issues that I can only assume are:

• Balance of phases – the lights significantly dipped during certain times, which could mean the system isn’t balanced correctly or a large motor load is not balanced across phases. 
• Water filtration – from what I saw, their water was drawn by a submersible pump from the aquifer and only filtered. It tasted very saline. Once saline water ingresses into an aquifer, it can’t be removed, so I hope they have a testing regime or plan to monitor this as it will eventually become unpalatable. 
• Water sterilisation – I didn’t see any sign or take any significant sterilisation protocols for the water, and when I asked, I was told it was only filtered, not. Considering the source of the water, sterilisation is key and should be observed. 
• Water leaks – in more than a few places, I noticed that the grass was a lot greener than in other areas, a clear indication of water leaks. 
• Reinstate the Gardens – many areas appeared to be overgrown, and I noticed that their vege and banana gardens looked run down and neglected. A little effort to properly trim around the place and reinstate the vegetable and fruit gardens would go a long way. 

Island Resort Service Essentials 

I’m certainly no front office manager or F&B manager, but based on the interactions we had with the staff, I would recommend the following: 

1. Hire a resort manager to provide guidance. The staff were warm, friendly and genuine, qualities you don’t usually come across on the islands. With a little bit of guidance, they would be amazing. 
2. Ensure staff know how to use the tools they are provided with and are trained to use them efficiently and effectively. The iPad they used might as well have been a stone tablet the amount of times they got things wrong, and it wasn’t just us. 
3. Consistency is key; many times, we ordered the same dish only to have it come out completely different to the last time, same applied to the level of cleaning in the room. And having the staff wear a uniform or something consistent would go a long way. 
4. Be upfront about the resort and the experience, especially regarding arrival and departure, as this is the client’s first and last impression of your resort. Don’t charge for a private transfer if it isn’t private. 
5. Ensure that the staff are qualified to do what they do; I am confident that the Chef was not a real Chef and that the boat captain was not qualified. Or train them to become qualified, invest time and effort into them to enhance the experience. 
6. Using the resort’s natural beauty and layout to enhance the experience emphasises the importance of conservation and off-grid living. Nothing told us about the island or the lengths the resort had gone through to be sustainable. 

The Best Parts of the Island Resort

As I mentioned earlier, the property was laid out perfectly.

The facility’s construction was solid in an idealistic part of the island.

I liked the architecture and bones of the place.

I don’t think it would take much effort to have the resort back up and running at 100% and save a lot of money by not wasting utilities. 

About the author

Stewart Kiely is an expert in design, development, facilities and utilities services, golf course and landscape maintenance, and sustainability planning and implementation. His 25-years experience in exclusive island resorts, public and private estates, and community facilities and utility services has taken him to remote locations around the world. As principal of Stewart Kiely Consulting and member of Cayuga Hospitality Consultants he guides owners, developers, and communities in their unique project needs.

This article originally appeared on Cayuga Hospitality Consultants.