For the Sandals Grande Ocho Rios, Beach and Villa Golf Resort, a twin property that features a luxurious beachfront view on one side at the Riviera and and a well tended golf course on the other side at the Manor, perfection is a moving target.

The Sandals resort, which is owned by Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, who is also chairman of this newspaper, is undergoing major refurbishing to maintain its ‘luxury included’ image and operating philosophy.

Brian Roper, general manager of the Ocho Rios property told the Business Observer that all 525 bedrooms are currently being refurbished while six new dining options, or restaurants, will be created to add to the 10 that already exist.

“We in the hospitality industry need to ensure that we have a product that is easy to sell and for a product that needs to be easy to sell you have to be modern,” said Roper. Despite the rough economic seas that have affected businesses, it is critical that a resort like Sandals maintains its product at a high standard, Roper argues.

“Otherwise you are going to be just like everybody else and you are fighting after the bottom feeders of the sea and we are not going to go at that market here at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios,” said Roper.

He said the refubishing exercise at the five-star property was an ongoing process that took place all year long. And like the quality standards that continued to change, so did the budget for the massive work being done.

“At this point, I really don’t have what it’s going to cost. It’s going to be a lot of money though, millions of US dollars. That I can safely say,” said Roper when asked if he could discuss figures.

“How many millions of US dollars? it really just depends. You see once you finish one area, you see another area that you have to do so there is really no end in sight. Suffice to say it’s a lot of money. Our chairman has invested a lot of confidence in the product here and he is spending money and obviously, his return on investment he is expecting to have in the not-too-distant future.”

The refurbishing exercise will encompass all the ‘public areas’ at the resort including the lobbies, restaurants, beach areas and fire pits. The property will also look cooler and more airy with a change of colours from bold to a more ‘comfortable’ palatte. The bedrooms will also be redone and the general energy efficiency of the hotel will be improved.

“We are redoing a lot of our rooms. Right now as we speak there are 72 rooms that are out being completely refurbished. That is going to be an ongoing process,” Roper added.

“Our bedrooms are some of the finest in the business, but we recognise that times have changed. People have certain expectations. People expect swipe door locks, people expect big plasma televisions, people expect the most efficient air conditioning and heating system, comfortable mattresses,” outlined Roper.

All of these things are on the renovation checklist.

“We have embarked upon a programme to change every mattress in the hotel,” said Roper of the 525- room property. “By Christmas, we will have flat screen televisions in every room.”

Roper said the rooms would also be fitted with inverter air conditioners, which save energy. “We are a green hotel. We are the green hotel of the year two years in a row in the entire Caribbean and we are proud of it,” he said.

At the end of the renovation, which should be within another five to six months, according to Roper’s estimates, there will also be a plethora of restaurants on the property from the Manor, the Riviera and the Beach club for guests to dine. The restaurant selections range from a pizzeria to oriental fare.

“At the end of it all we are going to have 16 dining options here. We feel that it’s critical that our guests have a choice and have more than one choice to see where they want to dine,” said Roper.

“We are going to end up with Italian restaurants, Caribbean restaurants, Jamaican restaurants, authentic French restaurants. We are going to have pizzerias, snack counters, international areas,” Roper noted.

The authenticity of the restaurant is critical, said Roper, pointing to the hiring of an Italian chef.

“He doesn’t speak a lot of English, but he’s a phenomenol chef,” Roper said. “For our oriental restaurants, we have somebody from the Orient who is here training our staff so that it is authentic.”

Roper said the changes being done were informed by research conducted by the hotel regarding the needs of the guests.

“Our guests told us that these things are what they needed, whether we needed to cover our restaurants or put in more modern facilities. You would get comments that we need two sinks in a bathroom. When this hotel was built here one sink in a bathroom was a standard. It was normal but you know some of our high end people expect those things in a bathroom.”

The refurbishing is also taking place in order to maintain the high level of service that guests at the previously managed Sandals Dunns River were used to. Some of those guests took part in the events last weekend at the Grande.

Roper said the change should be less disappointing if guests know that Sandals Grande was another great property to visit.

“For most people who have stayed at Sandals Dunns River year in, year out, there is the initial disappointment because that’s their home. They know the bartender, they knew what time this restaurant opened, they knew everything about the hotel. But in time they will fall in love with another Sandals for sure,” he said.

Sandals Dunns River is owned by Life of Jamaica/Sagicor and was being operated under a lease for close to 20 years. Roper said quality control issues prompted the decision to walk away from the property.

“We would have loved to have been there but a lot of work is needed. That property is close to 60 years old…and we weren’t comfortable with operating it under those conditions. Unfortunately at the end of our lease we chose to move along and we sincerely wish the new operators well,” he said.

Roper said that the Sandals Grande Ocho Rios was receiving guests who were used to staying at Sandals Dunns River with the same passion and quality of service.

“Jamaicans are just genuinely friendly people, we are very lucky. We have 773 employees here, 771 of them born in Jamaica so they understand what a big smile is all about. And basically our visitors come to Jamaica for good food, a clean environment, friendly people, sunshine beaches, and those are the basic ingredients that we try to put into a holiday.

“We try to make tomorrow better than today and we are going to make the day after tomorrow better than tomorrow. That’s how we do it at Sandals.”