Barbadians prepare to flock to hotels on Christmas day

Hotels are bracing to accommodate hundreds for Christmas Day lunch, as more Barbadians appear to abandon the traditional sumptuous home-made meal and dine out instead.   

Several hotels reported to Barbados TODAY on Christmas Eve that they were overbooked for Christmas lunch, with their phones ringing all day with last-minute reservations.

The managers at two hotels which are charging in the range of $155 a plate said they have long waiting lists.

General Manager at Radisson Aquatica Resort, Gerry Lewis, said the response to the hotel’s traditional Bajan Christmas special this year was phenomenal with the resort recording in excess of 300 reservations.

Lewis told Barbados TODAY: “Even today we have persons who are calling trying to get in for lunch tomorrow.

“We have Barbadians who are turning up at the hotel, but unfortunately, we are fully booked.

“I have a dedicated line for those bookings and those calls have been coming all morning.

“We have staff in today preparing. We have staff that would be in all day tomorrow.

“We have a strong Christmas dinner tomorrow as well and we even got a private party tomorrow night in the midst of everything.

“So we have made sure to hire additional staff in the hotel. We have additional crockery and cutlery and tables and everything. We are all set.”

The hotel manager said the overwhelming response clearly demonstrated that Barbadians have ditched the tradition of cooking up a storm at home and would not mind paying the price to have a meal prepared for them.

He added: “We have seen that families want to come out and be taken care of.

“It seems as though Barbadians are moving away from the cooking overnight and bending over the pot and everything to coming out and be pampered.

“We are very happy and we thank the public of Barbados for coming out and patronising us.”

At least 360 diners are expected to come through the Hilton Resort’s doors for lunch tomorrow with additional space available, said Food and Beverage Services Manager Ramon Watson.

Watson told Barbados TODAY: “It is another year of Bajans booking extremely late but at this point in time our Christmas list is still very busy.

“I want to say that it is another year that our numbers have jumped, and we have been forced again to work with two locations which is the Lighthouse Restaurant and our banquets area which we have spread to two rooms.

“But Hilton has a product that some people are accustomed to, but obviously some people want to get to know.

“Breakfast and lunch have once again dominated the serving period. For dinner we have a few local patrons coming, but we also have a full hotel.

“So we are expecting a very busy day tomorrow.”

Watson said that in the past few years, Hilton has changed its Christmas menu in a bid to appeal to local patrons who preferred not to prepare their own traditional Bajan Christmas dishes.

“So Hilton is that property that provides the area for you to come in, you could dine, you could have your festive feeling and we would have activities happening around the hotel all day long,” Watson said.

At Savannah Hotel, Food and Beverage Manager Horace Franklyn reported that the all-inclusive resort had reached its booking capacity of 180, with an already long waiting list lengthening.

Franklyn said: “We have had an excellent response for our Christmas Day lunch.

“We expect 180 persons here tomorrow and we are all set and ready for them.

“Preparations have been going on since November; we don’t wait until the day.

“So we are on our way for people to experience Savannah and we will have entertainment and people winning prizes.”
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb