Diamonds, Sapphires and Pearls

More than 280 repeat guests of Sandals Resorts International (SRI) were wined and dined at the Sandals Royal Barbados location on Tuesday night as they joined thousands across the region for the annual Sandals Reunion Week 2019.

One hundred and forty-one couples packed the conference hall of the Christ Church location where they were showered with praises, awards, entertained and shared in fine dining.

Loyalty and Travel Manager at Sandals Barbados Angela Hinkson was responsible for putting together the themed night. She told Barbados TODAY that the 141 couples represented a major increase over last year.

“Every year we try to bring a new theme. This year we thought to bring the theme of the 1970s [as] a lot of our guests can relate to that period… and it was very well received,” she said.

Among the accolades of the night were the various awards: Sapphire for those who spent a total of 25 nights at any Sandals property; Emerald for 45 nights; a free week for achieving 70 nights’ stay; Diamond for 100 nights and the Pearl Award for spending more than 250 nights over time at any of the hotel’s locations.

Eleven couples received a free week stay at any Sandals property. One couple achieved the Pearl Award; they stayed a total of 355 nights at Sandals properties. Another couple was also recognised for being married for over 50 years.

Hinkson said the loyalty from the Sandals guests spoke to the hotels brand and the quality of service guests receive from the hotels’ thousands of team members across its 16 locations in six different territories.

“What it says is that the Sandals brand is a very strong [one] and we will keep going from generation to generation,” said Hinkson.

General Manager of Sandals Barbados and Sandals Royal Barbados Ramel Sobrino recalled sharing great moments with some of the guests over the years, saying it was an “enormous pleasure” for him to host them at the Barbados location. “It has been a great journey and 2019 promises to be a wonderful year,” said Sobrino.

Welcoming the guests, Sobrino called on them to reflect on the hotel’s more than three decades old journey and their involvement and contribution over the years. “We want to welcome all of you to Barbados and to Sandals… Very soon we are going to be all over the world, who knows. But several years ago it wasn’t like this,” he said, as he pointed to the now state-of-the-art facilities at some of the hotel properties and its expansion over time.

“Today, the brand is bigger than we ever thought; so expansion is imminent and very soon some new things are going to be happening. But today, the biggest reason I am on this stage is to first say thank you to all the members here at Sandals Barbados and secondly, to welcome all of you to this wonderful island Barbados,” said Sobrino.

He showered praises on the Barbados team, saying it was their high standards and friendliness that contributed to the number of times guests return to the Barbados properties.

“Every one of you today could be anywhere but you are today here, and we acknowledge this… There are more choices than before,” he said. (MM)