A COVID-19 outbreak, angry customers and a public battle with local government.
For a holiday resort chain that promises a ‘hassle-free holiday’, Sandals Resorts seems to be plaguing them.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of Health in Barbados withdrew the Sandals Barbados Resort and Spa as an official ‘quarantine hotel’ – one of the few places where newcomers can stay on the island while awaiting the outcome of two negative PCR tests needed to move around the island freely. In a statement, the ministry cited several “verified complaints” about violations of the COVID-19 protocol at the 280-room, all-inclusive resort, and warned that it would take “similar actions” against any property other than the island. does not maintain its rules. and regulations. It also announced the arrest of three tourists suspected of violating quarantine rules.
Hours later, the Jamaican hotel chain fired back with its own statement, claiming it was blinded by the government’s announcement. The resort claimed to have refuted all allegations of protocol violations in writing and requested a meeting with the health ministry, and was “surprised” to find out in the local press about the delisting.
“We hope that the Minister of Tourism, the Minister of Health and the Chief Medical Officer, who have not yet been to our hotel to implement the protocols, can prioritize a visit to it,” the resort said unusually. acrobatic statement to Barbados Today.
In a statement to The Daily Beast, a Sandals spokesman said Barbados resorts had an ‘exemplary industry record’ and claimed the allegations against them were unproven. (The Ministry of Health did not respond to several requests for comment, but issued a press release apologizing for insinuating that the tourists evading quarantine were connected to Sandals in any way. They were not.)
This was not the first time the hotel chain had splashed among local government officials. Two weeks earlier, the health ministry in Grenada, a Caribbean island of 111,000 people, had announced an outbreak of 26 cases from the Sandals Resort there. Within days, the number of active cases reached 44, doubling the island’s total since the onset of the pandemic. The ministry sees the situation as an “emergency for health” and quickly sets a limit of ten people at all events, as well as a ban on indoor dining and, in the days that follow, a curfew.
While Sandals initially promised to work with local health authorities, it has since swung out against government officials. In an open letter published by several local shops, Peter Fraser, general manager of Sandals Grenada, called reports linking the outbreak to his resort “completely unfounded” and expressed his “great disappointment” at government officials for not doing so. has not corrected.
Days later, Sandals Group vice president Adam Stewart announced the closure of the Grenada resort until Feb. 3, and the blame was not the eruption, but the government’s own decision.
‘Because the government is starting to move and is not sure how they will proceed with their own protocols and tourist admission requirements, we have to wait until they finalize a plan so that we can have a professional discussion about how it will affect our customers , our operations and our staff, ”said Stewart.
In a statement to The Daily Beast, Sandals spokesman claims that initial reports of an outbreak at Sandals were ‘inaccurate’. The spokesman cited a second round of PCR tests that resulted in zero positive cases among his 432 employees, claiming that a number of the initial test results were false positive. The Grenada Ministry of Public Health did not return multiple requests for comment.
The feeling among the locals was apparently in favor of the chain. A columnist for The new today accused the government of being a “sacrificial lamb” to Sandals in its attempt to reopen tourism, accusing them of ‘press'[ing] a panic button while an investigation is pending and not yet complete. “Members of the country’s left-wing National Democratic Congress claim that the government has allowed Sandals to circumvent security protocols and has demanded that the two ministers directly involved resign immediately.
Customers, however, directed their anger directly to the chain. In the days surrounding the outbreak, negative reviews began pouring in for the Bermuda and Grenada locations, while guests accused the resorts of selling rooms they did not deliver to. One angry customer wrote on TripAdvisor that she paid $ 4,000 for a 4-night stay in a swimming pool, only to be downgraded to a ‘small, dimly lit room’ with no air conditioning and no warning. ‘I want to keep everything safe, but be honest about the service you provide and do not take money for something you can not provide. This is lower than the quality of a 1-star motel room for the price of 5 stars. ‘
One man, who asked to be identified only as Jim, told The Daily Beast he had booked a room in the Grenada resort on December 14, but received no notice of the outbreak announced the previous day. Instead, he received a furious email two days later saying he needed to contact the resort “immediately”. He said the hotel told him it would no longer accept new visitors, and the best they could offer him was credit to another place or a 50 percent refund. (The hotel changed the tune after Jim posted a particularly clever TripAdvisor review.)
A sandals guest named Mike, who also asked to refer only to the first name, said he initially booked his honeymoon at the Grenada resort but switched to Barbados when the property in Grenada was closed. Upon arrival at the airport, he said public health officials had informed him that he and his wife had taken the wrong test and should quarantine on the hotel grounds until they could get new tests. When he reached Sandals, however, the resort staff told them that they would be limited not only to the hotel’s property, but also to their room – a much smaller accommodation without a view of the sea or the pool. After spending less than 24 hours in complete isolation, Mike and his wife decided to pack up and leave.
The most frustrating thing of the whole experience, Mike said, was the conflicting information from the resort and the government.
“We did not know, do we believe the government people or do we believe Sandals?” he said. ‘I understand that, they have rules to follow, [but] my wife and I were just like, ‘It’s not worth the money to spend here.’ ‘
In a statement, a Sandals spokesman said the company boasts of having the highest rate of return in the industry, noting that more than 90 percent of guests at Sandals Barbados and Sandals Grenada share positive reviews on TripAdvisor.
Jim, on closer reflection, admitted that in the first place it was probably a stupid idea to suggest to me that I could really get away. ‘He said he and his wife, who work in the medical field, plan to reschedule their holiday after being vaccinated. But he would not discuss it at Sandals.
“I think it was an absolutely ridiculous way to handle it,” he said in a telephone interview. ‘It would have been very easy to offer and process a refund in advance. I would not have felt bad about them. Now I am completely convinced that I will never book a trip with them again. ‘