Dear Editor,

This is an open letter to Sandals Chairman Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart.

RE: Christmas Stay 2012 – Booking No 6823589

First, to everyone at Sandals, from your corporate offices to the housekeeping personnel at Montego Bay, thank you. I cannot express or convey the magnitude of those words to you, but all of you took a very horrible start to a romantic escape for my wife (Sue) and I and turned it into another unforgettable journey.

The planning for this trip was intense. I had booked the trip late September 2012. My plan: surprise my wife with a getaway to St Lucia over Christmas for a late anniversary, on-time Christmas, and early birthday gift.

We were scheduled for La Toc and I had made plans for traversing the Pitons and snorkelling. I called the school where she teaches, arranged without her knowledge a substitute, and my plans were enacted. I brought her sister in on the secret and the night before our departure we went to Columbus, Ohio where we were to leave on a plane bound for Miami at 6:20 am on December 20th.

Over dinner, she unwrapped silly Christmas gifts like a towel, suntan oil, and lastly, our passports. Her surprise was priceless. Let the romance begin! We retired early that evening. Weather predictions were for a little snow, but I had made arrangements at a hotel only 10 minutes from the airport. I was restless and wide awake at 4:00 am.

At 4:45 am, I woke Sue to go to the airport. They requested check-in to be conducted 60 minutes ahead of time. In the car by 5:10 am, we left. I always scout my route the night before, but this time I did not. I missed my turn. When back on track, we were parked and walking into the airport at 5:40 am, 20 minutes behind schedule.

The line for American Airlines was nearly out the door at the check-in counter. Sue held our place in line as I went to the kiosk to try to check in there. It didn’t work because we were travelling international. We had to stand in line. At 6:10 am, we were at the ticket counter and the agent said, “I pulled all the Miami flyers out of line at 5:40 am so they could get to their flight on time. I doubt you will make it.”

We were at the security gate by 6:15 am. There wasn’t much of a line. We scrambled out of our shoes and unloaded our pockets, placing our carry-ons on the conveyor. My wife stepped through the scanner and then myself.

Security asked loudly, “Whose bag is this?” Urgh! It was my wife’s. From the gifts the night before, the suntan oil had stopped us (6:17 am). The next thing we heard, “Whose bag is this?” It was mine! Toothpaste! So, after my wife cleared hers (6:18 am), I sprinted to the gate while she waited for my toothpaste to get confiscated.

I ran up to the gate, no attendant. I looked out the window and there, still connected to the walkway, was our aeroplane. I walked over to the door to go into the walkway, locked!

My wife showed up, out of breath. I told her there was no one here and the door was locked to get to the plane. She said, “But it is right there!” I told her the door was locked and no one will open up. We watched as our dream vacation pulled away from the gang-plank and taxied onto the runway.

Sue broke down into nearly hysterical crying. The lady at the boarding gate was sympathetic, but could do nothing. We were there at 6:20 am and for the first time in my life, the plane actually left on time! Our only real consolation at this point was that someone came up to catch the plane later than us. Misery really does love company.

My hopes weren’t yet dashed. We were a little disheartened that we would get to St Lucia a little later, but not obliterated — that would come later. We made our way back to the ticket counter to speak with the airline about our options. I asked when the next flight to Miami would be available so that we could get on our way and catch the plane to the island.

The answer was that they were sorry, but there were no seats available to Miami until the following day (December 21). Then came the devastating news, while we could get to Miami, no plane would be leaving for St Lucia until Saturday, Dec 22, and there were only two seats available.

All of this occurred before 7:00 am. We stepped out of line to weigh our options. Sue went to Delta, Air Canada, United; no one had a flight. I tried to call Sandals so that I could let them know our status and that we wouldn’t be there at the time I had stated on the online check-in. Your reservation lines do not open until 7:00 am, so I got a recording.

Finally, 7:00 am came. I got through to a reservation person and explained our situation. I asked if there was any way I could extend my stay to recoup the two days I would lose by showing up on the 22nd. He said I could, but then he gave a price for the two days. It was more than what I had paid for the entire vacation package!

I asked about transferring to another resort, he said I would have to pay for a new vacation! At this point, if we were able to go, we would forfeit nearly half our excursion time. I was devastated. It felt as if someone had sucked all the life right out of me. We are not people of vast means, but average. It takes some budgeting to have this kind of luxury.

I resigned to go back to the airline and take the shortened trip. I walked up to the counter and told the agent our intent. She said, “Sorry, there are no more seats available to St Lucia until December 25.” Could this get any worse? My wife had made friends with the agent from Delta and she thought she had something for us, but that, too, fell flat.

It was approaching 8:30 am and I remembered that the Sandals reservation line and the Sandals Select Rewards phone numbers were different (888 vs 800). I called the 800 number hoping to speak to someone more corporate because that number said they opened at 8:30 am. A delightful voice with an island accent answered and said, “This is Lizzy.”

I went through the above story with Lizzy. I said that with no flights available to St Lucia, is there anything I can do like go to another resort? To my amazement, she said, “Do you have one that you would like to go to already picked out?” She kind of caught me off guard because I asked, “You mean I can do that?” She said it shouldn’t be a problem as long as there was availability and I, of course, could get a flight.

She said there would be a transfer fee, but where would I want to go. We had been to Montego Bay for our honeymoon/anniversary back in 2010, so without any hesitation, I told her we had been there, loved it, and would go there if at all possible. She had me hold while she contacted the resort to see about the time period.

To shorten the story, she returned on the line and said that there was time available from December 21 to December 25. I said, “We will take it.” Her computers weren’t working for some reason, but she said go ahead and make the flight arrangements and she would call me with all the booking information.

I went straight to the airline counter. I watched my wife take the call with Lizzy as they set up the booking. I told the airline what a wonderful thing Sandals was doing so that we could enjoy our getaway and that I needed a flight to Montego Bay the next day (December 21st) with return on the 25th. The lady at the airline was so heartbroken for us because of what had happened that she transferred all the tickets without any transfer fees or penalties.

While I was making the flight arrangements, Sue came up to me with Lizzy on the phone and said, “Lizzy is trying to see if she can salvage the day we were losing and have us come back on the 26th!” Because I was making the arrangements for a return on the 25th, I told her that we would deal with that once we were in Montego Bay.

Lizzy saved our romantic adventure. Not only that, but the room we received in Montego Bay was equivalent to the one we would have had in St Lucia. WOW!! We were overwhelmed by the room, location, and ultimate service. I did not expect the room to be as grand as it was. Our expectations were well exceeded.

I would also like to extend this thank you to a select few at Montego Bay who made this vacation even better. Pauline, our housekeeper, greeted us every day with pleasant conversation and excellent service. Cleveland made sure to speak with us at Tokyo Joe’s and then was there again in the morning at Bayside.

The trip wouldn’t have been good without the smiling face of Robert in the morning and then again in the Oleander Room. A new face we thought performed above and beyond was Junior. He was also at the Bayside. The lady at the gift shop did not only remember us from our visit two years ago, but even remembered what shirt I had bought.

I still hope to make it to St Lucia sometime soon. By your impeccable service and commitment to excellence, I believe we have convinced several of our family members and close friends to visit your resorts as well.

Again, I want to thank you for helping my wife and I make memories even through such adversity.

Randy Bentley

992 Herms Hill Road

Wheelersburg, Ohio 45694

randy.bentley@netzero.net