My Barbados Blog

We made it through the night! More storms due tonight, but today is dry so far  . . .

Caribbean Small Hotels Rendezvous in Barbados

The Caribbean Hotel Association and the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association will hold a Caribbean Small Hotels Retreat on September 26 - 28, 2007 at the Barbados Hilton located in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Many travelers to the Caribbean are attracted to the larger mega resort and hotels, but 65% of the regions hotels fall into the category of small hotels with 75 rooms or less.

Over the years, most of our repeat visitors to the Caribbean say they prefer the smaller hotels because they provide more privacy, the beach areas are less crowded, these properties provide longer - more affordable stays, and the owners take special pride in making guests comfortable. Obviously since less rooms are available, travelers need to make their vacation requests in advance - especially during the high winter season.

Many of the smaller properties tend to retain their staff for longer periods of time, and since they have to take care of less people, they have more opportunity to interact with visitors. While these properties do not have all the glitz and amenities of the large resorts, they give the visitor a true sense of Caribbean hospitality and service. 

The agenda for the Caribbean Small Hotel Retreat was developed by the small hotel property owners to come together and discuss topics on public relations, budget redecorating, niche marketing, advantages of "green" practices, management issues, food and beverage, insurance, hidden potential revenue streams, and new technology trends.

Having been in the online travel business for over eight years, I feel many of the smaller properties could benefit from forming additional relationships with worldwide travel suppliers, online travel partners, travel agents and industry associations. In this business, the properties and corporations with the larger ad dollars get their messages delivered first to the travel industry and online consumers.

Some of the smaller Barbados properties we recommend are:
Coral Lane Beach Apartments, Best E Villas, Yellow Bird Hotel, Healthy Horizons Beach Apartments, Karekath Beach Apartments, The New Edgewater Hotel, The Nook, Ocean Bliss Apartments, Peach and Quiet, Oleander Beach Apartments, Rainbow Beach Hotel, Rockley Club Apartments, Rostrevor Hotel, Round Rock Apartments, Sea Cruise Villa, Sea Symphony Villa, Seawind Luxury Condominums, South Gap Hotel, Island Inn Hotel, High Holdings Guest, Legend Garden Condos, Winchelsea Guest House, Bali Hai Country House, and Gemini House.

Also, see previous posting for Barbados Bed & Breakfast for more information on High Holdings, Bali Hai Country House, and Gemini House. Please e-mail for more info on the smaller properties listed above.

We will add more smaller properties to our recommendations on our next visit to Barbados in January, 2008.
 

Totally Barbados takes great pleasure in announcing their nomination in the 14th Annual World Travel Awards, in the following category "Caribbean's Leading Overall Travel Information Website: Totally Barbados".

You will find Totally Barbados about 20 categories down in the voting list, and you can also vote for the best of the best for the entire Caribbean and especially Barbados!

Click on the link below to vote:
http://votenow.worldtravelawards.com/nominees/region/4

In an effort to improve Barbados' hospitality offerings, the Barbados Tourist Association has introduced the AAA diamond rating system, which ranks hotels and restaurants in various categories.

The rating system, which is in place at some hotels and restaurants already, will be instituted island-wide by January and ranks the hospitality offerings in several categories, including operations, room decor, ambience and service standards.

Hotels and restaurants currently are undergoing inspections and ratings, according to the BTA.

Barbados has been identified as one of the most competitive countries in the world to do business.

In a list compiled by the World Economic Forum, the country comes in at number 31 out of 125 countries.

The ranking is based on a survey of over 11,000 business leaders in those countries.

It’s the first time Barbados has been included and it is second only to Chile among Latin American countries considered to be competitive economies.

That puts Barbados ahead of countries such as Venezuela, Portugal, Italy, India, South Africa and Panama.

Five other Caribbean countries have made the list. They are Jamaica, which has improved from its previous number 63 position to 60; Trinidad and Tobago, which dropped one place to 67; the Dominican Republic at 83; Suriname at 100; and Guyana at 108.

The World Economic Forum says it assesses the range of factors that can affect an economy’s business environment and development, including the levels of judicial independence, protection of property rights, government favouritism in policy-making and corruption.

According to the report, Switzerland, Finland and Sweden have the top three most competitive economies.

The United States saw the most pronounced drop in the top 10 rankings, falling from 1st to 6th.

Source: Caribbean Net News