Corporate and Management officials of Four Seasons Resort and Residences Anguilla say they are delighted over the prospects of a great 2021-2022 tourism season. In addition, they are grateful to their over 500 employees, many of them with five years at the resort, for their commitment and hard work in helping to make the season the success it promises to be.
The officials were speaking at the property on Wednesday afternoon, October 20, one day before its reopening and the arrival of the first guests.
General Manager, Mr. Diego Angraita, told The Anguillian newspaper: “Today is a very special day. We are celebrating five years that Four Seasons has proudly taken over this resort. It has been five years of some lows but also lots of highs – and we feel very happy and confident about what is to come for Four Seasons in the future. We are opening tomorrow [Thursday, October 21] for the new season – a very busy season. We are very fortunate to have good business coming up and that shows how people feel safe coming to Anguilla. They miss travelling and they picked Anguilla to be their place of travel. They are excited and we are more excited that they have chosen us for their stay.”
Asked about employee numbers, the General Manager replied: “We are over 500 employees. We hired seventy more over the past closure and, I have always said this: ‘The biggest strength that this resort has is not the pretty views or the design of the building. It’s the people – the ones that make the experience,’ and I feel we have the best team right now on the island. We are in for a great season.”
Mr. Angarita was delighted that among the visiting corporate officials from the United States were: the President of Four Seasons in the Americas, Mr. Antoine Chahwan, and Mr Thierry Kennel, the Regional Manager. “It is an honour not only to have the corporate office come down to celebrate, but also our great partners at Starwood Capital Group, including Roy Shanholtz, Vice President Hotel Asset Management. And, at the same time, we have members of the Government of Anguilla. It really shows the commitment that everybody has to the success of this resort.”
Four Seasons’ President, Mr. Chahwan, commented: “I came here to celebrate this incredible resort with all the employees. This is our fifth year here. It is a great anniversary and a great milestone; and we are so proud to be here in Anguilla. This has been an incredible journey and I am just here to celebrate, support and share all the happiness with everybody that we have in Anguilla.”
He continued: “The Four Seasons brand is all about its people – and it is all the passion that our people deliver day in and day out, and all the guest experiences that we provide. We pride ourselves in extending the best in hospitality to all the guests who come to this resort, and any other resort or hotel within, the company; the warmest and the best possible experiences that we can provide.”
He added: “I say to our employees: ‘congratulations on this incredible milestone. This is five years – here’s to the next twenty-five years that Anguilla continues to prosper.’ I wish them continued success for this season 2022 and beyond. I know that we have gone through difficult times but we persevered and got stronger and better together.”
Mr. Kennel, Four Seasons’ Regional Manager, stated: “This is a very proud and important moment. Our company values our people, and more than anything else our people are our culture. At the end of the day, Four Seasons is all about service and the brand is really the people we work together with. We are very proud of everyone here at our five-year anniversary.”
He was grateful not only to the employees of the past five years, but also those who had previously been at the resort, for everything they had done over the years.
During the event, the employees and the visiting officials, including Governor Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam; Acting Premier, Mr. Kenneth Hodge; and his colleagues, were addressed by the Four Seasons Corporate and Management executives.
The Governor congratulated the employees for their work over the years. “It has been quite a challenging year for everyone, across the board,” she remarked. “I think just from a supportive and wellbeing perspective, the strength, camaraderie and care that Four Seasons has shown to each other, as a team, and to Anguilla as a whole, as well as all the many visitors who have come here, have been pretty phenomenal. And I think it made us have an incredible time when we opened up in July. But, by any means, I don’t take for granted what that took; and how people had to really struggle and bear a lot of concern in terms of dealing with the pandemic. But it is wonderful that we are able to gather like this and celebrate the enormity of five years here of Four Seasons. Congratulations, and well done! I look forward to many more years. Take care.”
Mr. Chahwan told the employees that they had set a level of hospitality in Anguilla, and Four Seasons was proud to be associated with each of them. He joined in congratulating them for the pride, commitment and passion exhibited in their work. He also thanked the Government of Anguilla for its continued support – and Four Seasons’ partners, Starwood Capital, represented by Mr. Shanholtz, for their continued support and energy. “As we say, it takes a village…and we are this village. We are all brothers and sisters working together to deliver the best in hospitality.”
Mr. Shanholtz described Four Seasons’ five years in Anguilla as “a huge accomplishment.” He recalled saying at the announcement of the establishment of the resort that it was a gift to Anguilla. He said five years later, all had seen the growth of tourism in Anguilla because of the power of the brand of Four Seasons. He thought that the level of training; opportunity within the Four Seasons’ brand; the taskforce opportunity; and the camaraderie among the other Four Seasons community – probably explained why he had described Four Seasons as a gift to Anguilla.
He thanked the Governor and the members of Government for their presence. “It is a partnership not just between the brand and the ownership group,” he observed. “It is really a partnership between the brand, the ownership group and the team, both Anguillian and non-belonger. It is really a community and a team effort to make this happen every year.”
He added that he took great pride in being a small part of bringing Four Seasons to Anguilla, and that it was one of his career achievements in his thirty-plus years in the hotel industry. He told the employees that this season would be a phenomenal one during which they were going to be extraordinarily busy and tired.
Following the addresses, the General Manager, Mr. Angarita, announced awards for some two hundred employees who were at Four Seasons over the past five years. The tokens of appreciation were presented by Mr. Hodge, the Acting Premier.
The categories of awardees were drawn from all of the resort’s departments.
