Too rent a car or not ? That is the question.

Apologies to William Shakespeare... but anyway, the answer is a big YES!

Hi, and welcome to my first "Concierge Column", be gentle with me, this is my first blog !

Many guests ask the concierge, "Should we rent a car?".

I say ; "Well, it depends on how you want to spend your vacation. If you want to stay on the resort and "Chill" for your entire vacation then perhaps you don't need a car. On the other hand if you want to visit other restaurants in the area or to see some other great sights of Grand Cayman such as Rum Point or Pedro's Castle then you will need a car. There is limited public transportation on this side of the island at a variable schedule. The public bus sticks mainly to the major roads which could leave you with a long walk from the drop off point. The other tidbit to note about the bus, is that it runs only during the daytime hours. There are taxis on the island but they are in most cases more costly then a rental car. To put it plainly, for the cost one taxi to Georgetown and back and one taxi to dinner and back you could have a rental car for an entire 7 days. "

Boy, that was a long "spiel", but you get the idea... rent a car ! :) Hey it's quite at our end of the island, if you are not sure whether to drive on the left or the right (umm.. it's the left), we just say "drive in the middle" :)

Seriously though, the concierge team here at The Reef has connections and special rates with car rental companies in Grand Cayman so before you arrive contact us about your car rental options, simply email us at concierge@thereef.com

Support The Boobies

In the tradition of "The Calendar Girls" movie comes a brand new Cayman Calendar for 2008 called "Support The Boobies".

Know before you get ready to send me that nasty email, you should know that the "Ladies of Little Cayman" have gone topless for a good cause. The Calendar was made to raise money and awareness of the"Red footed Booby" of which you can find the largest population in the Western Hemisphere right in Little Cayman. Unfortunately, in recent years the population has been in decline and now experts believe that the colony in Little Cayman represents one-third of population in the world.

Well that's where the "Ladies of Little Cayman" decided to step in to raise funds for The National Trust purchase of the Red Footed Booby sanctuary land. This December 2007-January 2009 calendar features the lovely ladies topless with strategically placed items and poses that are tastefully done.

If you are interested in contributing to this project or just a fan of the booby(had to), then please support these ladies and purchase a calendar. All you have to do is send a check made out to Little Cayman National Trust to Susan Howard, 1207 North Oak Cliff Blvd, Dallas Texas 75208.

For US residents - $10 plus $2 shipping. (Canada - shipping is $4 US and England - shipping is $5 US).

Cayman Stingray Tourism Awards

Friday October 26th saw the fourth annual Stingray Tourism Awards, presented by the Cayman Islands Tourism Association.



The Reef's four proud nominees were :
- Rosemarie Challenger - Accommodations Employee of the Year
- Clive Lamont - Special Contribution Award
- Sandra Rankine - Restaurant Employee of the Year
- Martena Villalobos - Accommodations Manager of the Year

Although The Reef's own Mr. Lawrence Haughton one both Manager of the Year and overall Tourism employee of the year at the inaugural event a few years back, this year the competition was tougher than ever, so none of our nominees actually took home any of the lovely blown glass Stingray trophies... but they are all definitely winners to us !

The Reef took a table at the event to honour not just our nominees, but a selection of our Employees of the Month from 2007... and a great time was had by all !

Many thanks to the CITA for putting on this great event to recognise the fantastic efforts put in by hospitality staff throughout Cayman... and we look forward to next year.

Pirates Week 2007

Celebrating it's 30th anniversary, this years festivities promise to be as great as its predecessors. Running from November 8th to November 18th, there will be activities such as a songfest, costume competition, fireworks, and a street dance. Did i mention that is just the first day?

Saturday, November 10th marks the traditional Pirates landing in George Town harbour. After the landing is the subsequent float parade that is great fun for kids and adults alike. There will also be a street dance at 7pm to cap the night off.

November 12th-November 16th are "district days", as each district is given its own day to display its unique crafts and cuisine.

There are too many events and activities for me to list here, so log on to piratesweekfestival.com for the full programme of this years event, or you will be forced to walk the plank!!

The Perfect Caribbean Wedding Cocktail!

Ingredients:-

• Wedding couple who love fun, sun and sand
• Family and friends who enjoy relaxation, a great party and a memories to cherish
• Pristine white sand beach with swaying palms
• Breathtaking, turquoise blue ocean
• Vividly colourful tropical flowers
• Amazing photographer
• Reggae/Calypso/Soca music
• Delicious Caribbean style gourmet foodInfectious atmosphere and dancing
• Rum, Rum and more Rum!

Directions:-

Let the team here at The Reef Resort mix them all together to create the ultimate 'Caribbean Wedding Cocktail' allowing you to enjoy a wonderfully potent day of romance and fun in a spectacular setting whilst relaxing with friends and family.

The Cayman Islands have become known for our ability to provide a complete array of Wedding professionals, therefore, allowing you to relax knowing that everything is taken care of down to the last detail.

Here at The Reef we pride ourselves on the wonderful weddings that we create and are ever thankful to our Wedding partners who provide the professional services that allow us to exceed even the highest of expectations.

• Best man forgotten his tux? - No worries, A Formal Affair can get one to us the same day.
• Your favourite flower is the rare Voodoo lily and you must have it in your bouquet? Not a problem, Every Bloomin' Thing will order in specially for you.
• You want a beautiful wedding cake with your initials made out of icing seashells, starfish and fresh flowers or simply served with red rose petals and seashells? Leave it to our wonderful Wedding cake partners, Grand Old House to create your perfectly unique, customized Wedding cake.
• Want the photographer to travel to your favourite location on island with you to capture the perfect sunset? Rebecca Davidson and Colin Myles are known for their professionalism and flexibility, going out of their way to create the perfect pics!
• Best friend not able to make it as her baby is due tomorrow? Our Cayman Wedding will provide a live streaming of your ceremony over the website for anyone that couldn't attend to still share your special day with you.

These are just a sampling of the services available to you for your wedding at The Reef, but the options to customize your wedding are almost unlimited ! If we can make it happen for you here at The Reef, we will!

So as you can see, with our amazing island, gorgeous location and wonderful selection of Wedding professionals and services, we are able to provide the perfect mixture to satisfy even the most demanding of Wedding palates!

As a starting point to mix your perfect wedding cocktail, visit us at www.thereef.com/weddings, then contact us at weddings@thereef.com.

Cheers!!

The Reef - Entertainment Schedule to help you plan ahead

About our most frequently asked questions by folk planning a visit to The Reef revolve around our popular entertainers, as in "will Barefoot Man / Andrew Bacon / Lammie be playing when we visit".

We've started to make lots of changes and add much more information to our website, and a cool new addition is our Entertainment page, which now has a calendar showing performances for each entertainer from now through April 2008.

One small caution is that although we will try to keep this updated, entertainers do occasionally have to cancel their "gigs" on short notice for one reason or another, so although we have told each guy that they have to stick to these schedules, we can't promise total 100% accuracy !

Oh...and as we are making lots of enhancements to our website, please do fire away with any comments on on what you'd like to see on The Reef's website....

Reef Profile of Vida Christian (Housekeeping Supervisor)

Ms. Vida arrived in Cayman 16 years ago on the advice of her sister who was living here at the time. "I love Cayman and since my sister was here i decided to come and stay for a little while. A little while turned into 16 years as i couldn't see myself leaving, I love the island too much." Ms. Vida has been an employee of The Reef over 7 years and when asked what she most enjoys about the job she said,"I most enjoy making guest happy, i also enjoy the camaraderie that all the staff have here. It feels like one big family. I also love all the owners here and wish they were here all the time"

When not at The Reef, you can find Ms. Vida dancing. "I Love to dance", says Ms. Vida. I'm sure any attendees at a staff party can attest to that. "Calypso and reggae all the way for me, said Ms. Vida. Also an avid reader and cook, Ms. Vida enjoys dramatic novels and basically any book with serious drama, while waiting for her "Ackee and Saltfish" to be cooked.

When asked what her greatest accomplishment was Ms. Vida stated, "It would be working here and gaining the position I'm at now of Housekeeping Supervisor". She also describes herself as a joyful and friendly person who always tries to have a smile on her face.

Your Cayman Wedding - live on the web!

Welcome back to The Reef Wedding Blog!

This week I am writing about one of the most exciting and rare options available to Caribbean Destination Wedding couples, available right here in Cayman to all of our wonderful 'nearly weds' who are planning to say their vows on our beautiful island.

For all of us Wedding addicts and travel bugs who can't miss a wedding, we will jet half way across the world to join in the festivities, no matter the cost or sacrifice involved, to experience the real thing (and probably suffer for a few days afterwards, especially if the groom has 16 Irish brothers and sisters!).

However, I believe that at every wedding I've ever been to (and I've been to a few, my own included!!) there are always some very dear family members, or friends of the couple, who have not been able to attend for any number of reasons. This is especially true for Destination weddings and can be a major factor in making the decision of whether or not to say 'I do' in the idyllic, picturesque location of your dreams or to keep the nuptials closer to home.

This is where Our Cayman Wedding is soooo valuable! At an extremely affordable cost, the Bride and Groom can opt to have their ceremony, and any other part of their big day, streamed live and unedited through the web. Thus allowing their missing favourite Grandma, Aunt, high school friend, long lost cousin, pen pal (you get the idea) to log in, at no additional cost, and experience the festivities as they are happening. Such a great concept and the perfect answer to those Wedding day 'I wish Aunty Ethel or Grandma Flossie were here' blues!

As an added bonus, this webcast can be edited and viewed by the couple and their loved ones over and over again via the Internet through a personalized Wedding Web page that Our Cayman Wedding can create and design for the couple.

I can think of many weddings that I have been to, in fact most of them, where this would have been the 'cherry on top' of the perfectly iced day and would have made for a much less stressful Destination Wedding planning experience!

For further information, please contact live@ourcaymanwedding.com or you can contact our Weddings team here at The Reef at weddings@thereef.com.

The Farmers Market

Have you ever wondered where can i go to get a authentic taste of Caymanian culture, cuisine, and crafts? Well a new venue has recently opened in Lower Valley that is sure to tickel your fancy. Simpy titled THE MARKET ,this venue for local farmers and craftmakers to display their wares opened just over a month ago and has been an instant success.

Local produce such as cassavas, breadfruits,yams, sweet potatoes, and many other delicious items are for sale here guaranteed fresh, as they are brought straight from the farm, to the market. Local art such as "Thatch" baskets and hats are on sale here as well. "Thatch" items are created from the branches of the "Silver Thatch Palm Tree", which is indigenous to The Cayman Islands.

If you come to the market hungry don't worry as there is plenty of local cuisine there to sample.Why not sample special local cuisines such as Turtle and Conch stew, Fish dinners, and everyone's favorite, Rundown!

The Market is open Saturday's from 7am onwards, so get there before the rush to get a unique taste of Cayman.

Your Mini Moon at The Reef

Greetings to you all again from the blog team at The Reef. For this weeks wedding blog spot, I am going to tell you about our new 'Mini Moon' package (no this doesn't have any reference to the size of the moon here in Cayman! As any previous guest or Cayman resident will tell you, our moon is the same size as anywhere else in the world and is a beautiful sight to see reflected on the silvery ocean on any given night!).

The Mini Moon is, in fact, a relatively new trend in Destination Weddings which I had the pleasure of learning about during a recent Destination Weddings seminar here in Cayman, hosted by Wedding expert and Champion blogger, Rebecca Grinnals. Thank you Rebecca!

During the early stages of planning destination weddings, one of the toughest decisions for the couple is choosing the perfect location that will suit their needs and their attending group of family and friends. We've all experienced or heard about the 'vacation disasters' where everything looked perfect in the brochure or on the website, only to arrive and be in the worst vacation nightmare you could have! Oceanview being two miles from the ocean through a quagmire of dirty streets and busy traffic, full size pool being the size of a your kids paddling pool plus a few inches and a family friendly beach with topless sunbathing and lunchtime shot drinking competitions.

The 'Mini Moon' is designed as a short getaway for the couple, where they can visit the location that they are considering for their wedding to confirm to themselves that they are making the perfect choice. During their getaway, they can meet with Wedding professionals, explore the island, sample local food and restaurants and envision, first hand, the Wedding experience that awaits them and their guests. This is also a perfect break for the couple, who can enjoy their spare time relaxing and enjoying their mini break together.

Our 'Mini Moon' package is available to all future Wedding couples (whether The Reef is their chosen Wedding destination or not!) during our Summer Season (until December 20th) here at The Reef Resort and includes a three night stay in a beautiful, beach front (and yes we do mean beachfront!) Deluxe Studio, breakfast in bed each morning, a jeep rental for the entire stay(minimum age restrictions do apply) and a full consultation meeting with our Wedding coordinator (that would be me) here at The Reef. This three day package is available to all 'nearly weds' for US $895 per couple including all taxes, additional nights can be added upon request.

Please contact us here at The Reef at weddings@thereef.com for further details on your 'Mini Moon'. Please also check out Rebecca Grinnals fabulous wedding blog site for wonderful wedding tips, news and new trends.