Newly renovated Riu Negril swimming in optimism

Western Bureau:

Having recently completed a four-month renovation exercise, which has given the 21-year-old Riu Negril Hotel in Hanover a brand-new look, the property, which is led by its general manager, Luis Suarez, is now ready to capitalise on its trendy new-look appearance and its multiplicity of new offerings.

“The renovation is like you are walking into a completely new hotel,” said Niurka Garcia-Linton, the director of sales at the five-star property. “In terms of rooms, we have the swim-up, which we never had before. And we also have the family room … it is very trendy for girls wanting to travel together, for large families to travel together… we now have the two-bedroom and rooms that accommodate up to six persons.”

In total, the hotel boasts 28 swim-up suites, which offer guests the luxury of stepping off the balcony of their room into a pool, which is exclusive to the occupants for their relaxation around the clock.

In terms of dining, Garcia-Linton was quite excited about the establishment of additional restaurants, particularly the American Country, which is a blend between a sports bar and a high-end eatery, offering fine-dining at another level.

“One of the new additions that we are also very happy to showcase is the American Country. We already have it in other destinations, and it is kind of comfort food, but a little bit of another level of elegance. So it’s 24 hours available … these are some of the things that we have added, adding value to the property, and chief selling points for the hotel.”

Since the property re-opened in December after the renovation was completed, occupancy has skyrocketed to over 80 per cent, and looking forward to the summer, business is said to be looking quite good, especially out of the US market.

With new tourism markets opening in Europe and Latin America, the hotel is optimistic that it will be able to significantly improve on the business it is already getting from those markets.

“We have a significant amount of Latin American market coming into our hotels,” said Garcia-Linton, in reference to business coming to the hotel chain’s seven properties in Jamica. “And as I was very happy to share earlier, out of the new operation out of Portugal, there is a lot of demand for our properties.”

Riu Party

With the hotel’s young general manager being a 27-year-old aspiring deejay, entertainment is being built up to be a signature event at Riu Negril, which already has its iconic weekly ‘Riu Party’, which rotates weekly between a ‘neon party’ and a ‘white party’.

“We want to be a leader in entertainment. Jamaicans love good entertainment, so we have decided to capitalise on that with our Riu Party,” said Frank Sondern, Riu’s regional director (Jamaica).

One of the most compelling features of Riu Negril is the fact that over 98 per cent of the staff is made up of Jamaicans who draw much motivation from the fact that there is scope for upward mobility.

“The vast majority of the staff are Jamaicans, and we have several staff members who have moved up through the ranks into management positions over the years, which gives every worker something to aspire towards,” a staff member told The Gleaner. “That is why when there was unrest on other properties towards the end of last year, we never had any issues because we feel integral to what is happening here … we really have no issues to be overly concerned about.”

Towards the end of last year, several hotels in western Jamaica were rocked by unrest, with workers protesting low salaries and bothersome working conditions, causing jitters in the tourism sector.

With it offering many new and enticing attractions, the scope to attract new business from Europe and Latin America, a seemingly satisfied and motivated staff, optimism is high at the management level that the hotel, which was established in 2005, is poised to reach loftier heights.

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