Over the Festive season, Viceroy Anguilla laid on a seemingly endless array of activities for guests to experience and treats for them to enjoy – taking the resort ‘beyond the conventional hotel’ as Viceroy guests were paying up to $15,000 per night.
Fitness and wellness was the focus for much of the programming and the hotel offered over 20 different daily fitness classes with celebrity trainers. There were Rock Climbing clinics, Barry’s Boot Camp classes (famous in NY and LA), basketball clinics, “Hoopnotica” (pilates with hula hoops), and even Zumba dancing. The Spa quickly sold out doing over 1,000 treatments in addition to the “Spa Tapas” menu which offers quick poolside services including 15-minute foot massages and MoroccanOil hair and scalp treatments from your chaise lounge.
The resort beaches were accompanied by unusual complimentary services such as a Sunscreen and Sunglass Butler who cleans guests’ sunglasses. For those that preferred to soak up the sun poolside, the stunning Aleta pool introduced luxury private cabanas with flat screen TV’s, mini bars and games – which could be enjoyed for $1,000 a day.
Another idea to surprise and delight guests was the MyViceroy App for iPads and smartphones to help organize their stay. The app is applied to all check-ins upon request, and shows Viceroy guests the fitness, restaurant, and entertainment schedules. Some guests even used it to order room service from their iPad!
Family comes first
The biggest fuss was made over the hundreds of young guests who thoroughly enjoyed every inch of the resort. On arrival kids were given a choice of designer kids sunglasses, and every restaurant welcomed them with their own buffet, and menus on 3-D view-finders. Turndown offered additional nightly surprises, including a waterproof card to take snorkeling that identified Anguillan Fish and a “Stargazer” card showing the names of the constellations. Generation V – Viceroy’s groundbreaking Kids Club was full every day and offered a fantastic range of kids activities, including book readings with local author Jo-Anne Mason, art classes and a TOMS Shoes ‘Style Your Sole’ charity event with Lynn Bernbaum, Scratch Academy (a DJ school with resident DJ Hapa from Los Angeles), and a nightly outdoor movie theatre.
Ringing in 2012
Viceroy Anguilla lined up an unprecedented array of activities and events for its guests, culminating in an extraordinary evening of fun and festivities on Old Years Night/New Year’s Eve. This golden-ticket event holds its own alongside the world’s most glamorous parties, and was dubbed by the Viceroy’s Director of Vibe, Melissa Rosenfield as “Anguilla meets Los Angeles.” With its VIP line up of world-famous musicians, celebrities and DJ’s as well as local talent such as Jaine Rogers and Exodus ban, it was certainly a vibe unlike any other in Anguilla.
The countdown to 2012 was kept the focus as a huge digital display showing the current time was projected onto the walls of the hotel. The main walkway became an extension of the Sunset Lounge and lantern-lit private booths were set up with champagne and other treats for guests to enjoy the show. All 22 sofa tables were sold out with a waiting list, with some tables fetching up to $10,000 dollars apiece. Despite the party being hailed as one of the most exciting in the Caribbean, the event was very much a family affair where multiple generations enjoyed each other’s company on the biggest night of the year with over 750 guests in attendance.
Five-hundred of those guests launched their own Wish Lanterns from the deck on the point. It was a magical moment as the beautiful, bio-degradable, paper balloons were launched and drifted slowly up into the darkness.
The next highlight was a performance by Karmin, a pop duo recently selected by MTV as their “Breakthrough Band of 2011.” The appreciative crowd enjoyed their clever mix of Pop and Rap, covering artists from Nikki Minaj to Busta Rhymes. Karmin is also a 2011 American Music Award Honoree, and has received over 200 million hits on Youtube.
The countdown to midnight was handled with gusto by eminent basketball player and media personality Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal. The hugely popular celebrity not only made a great MC but also acted as guest DJ – getting the crowd warmed up. Anguilla has worked its magic on Shaq who tweeted “OMG I am in heaven” and “this is the best hotel ever” during his stay.
Shaq also generously donated his time on Sunday the 1st to a photo opportunity and basketball session with young guests and local children – members of Anguilla’s “Island Hoop Academy“. Shaq, along with mixed martial artist and bodyguard Jon Burke, girlfriend Nicole “Hoopz” Alexander, and GM Jeff David challenged guests and locals alike in four on four.
At midnight Viceroy Anguilla put on a spectacular display of Fireworks that lit up the sky over Barnes Bay and then celebrity DJ Tony Okungbowa – world famous for his role as resident DJ on The Ellen DeGeneres Show – and DJ Shaq kept the party going until 3 am.
Service above all
While the exceptional amenities, events, and programming were beyond compare, the aspect of Viceroy Anguilla that was most noted was the guest service.
Haydn Hughes MP, Parliamentary Secretary Tourism for the Government of Anguilla who attended the New Year’s Eve party was particularly impressed with the service standard at the event – he wrote a fulsome letter of praise to the management team afterwards “what is making your property successful are the people you have there and the service level… I wish to congratulate you (Viceroy) for bringing this out of our people. As you grow from strength to strength, so too will Anguilla and Anguillans.”
One of the villa guests commented “We’ve been coming to the island for 24 years now and love Anguilla. Since 1987, we have never ever seen service from this island so overly-happy and on top of things like we’ve seen from the Viceroy. Jeff did something magical and brought out the best in every Anguillian we know!”
Priscilla Alexander, Founder and President of ProTravel International, who spent her holidays at Viceroy commented, “Viceroy Anguilla not only has the best room product, but the best level of service. The service has far exceeded my expectations because of the efficiency and warmth of every Anguillan, many I have known for years working on property.”
Travel agents who sent guests to Viceroy Anguilla provided the same feedback as the guests. Stacey Fischer, the president of Fischer Travel Enterprises stated, “The feedback from our clients in recent months has been overwhelmingly positive. One of the most common remarks is that the service level has greatly improved in the past year. We attribute these changes to the General Manager, Jeff David. He is a truly wonderful and extremely professional manager who is always visible to the clients. We are already receiving requests from our clients who are anxious to rebook their Thanksgiving and Festive Holiday vacations at the Viceroy Anguilla for 2012/2013!”
And the staff agree: Leon Lake, the In-Room Dining Manager said “One of the reasons it was so great was that we understood the challenges and could anticipate them. Our leadership gave us the tools and showed trust and confidence in us.”
Jeff David, the General Manager of Viceroy Anguilla said “My vision for Festive was that we would provide the best service coupled with an unconventional programme of activities and surprises for our guests – and we succeeded. Everyone is talking about the service and I am so proud of all of my colleagues who went above and beyond”.
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Photos courtesy of Rockland Maynard and Tom Dolaskie
