Images from January 09

The month of January has flown by already and below are some pics of what has been going on this month.

Last week our daily fish feeding attracted alot of guests who were excited to see the Tarpons, chubs, grunts and other fish that come around the dock expecting bread.



The next picture is an image of a Castaway Owner in their local habitat. With new Owners (Iguanas) moving in soon, alternate accommodation will become a necessity

The Department of Tourism's PRIDE training came by the reef for a two day seminar where Jake (Head Concierge) learned to fold napkins among many other things. He's a natural ain't he!

Below is a mini design of The Reef by the Van Leeuwen children who stayed with us over the Christmas period. Note their attention to detail with the all beachfront suites and Apollo's taxi cab parked right out front. The Reef: Where budding architects come to train.

simplerelaxation.com

The underground relaxation community has been quietly screaming out for a leader for sometime now.

From every corner of the earth these secret sun worshipers and beach bums have been looking for a place to call their own. Well, good news has arrived as the perfect place to practice the once banned art of relaxation has been found! Please keep everything hush hush and visit simplerelaxation.com where you can find out how to access this piece of paradise.

ELFED 2008

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Caribbean Honeymoon Romance

Once your wedding is planned and all the arrangements are completed, the next logical step is to figure out where to go for your honeymoon, right? Also, you certainly want to be somewhere secluded and romantic so you and your partner can enjoy the first days of marital bliss together. To make this as simple as possible we have brought back one of our most popular packages for 2009. The "Simply Romance at The Reef" package includes:

5 nights in a Beachfront Deluxe Studio Suite
Champagne and Strawberries in room upon arrival
Private 3 course candlelit dinner for two on the beach with bottle of wine
Sunset Kayak Reef tour for two (or alternative couples watersports activity when available)
Couples Massage at Le Soleil Spa
All taxes and gratuities on packaged items

For package rates, please visit http://www.thereef.com/.

Yoga Spa Retreat

'Life is not a race, but a journey to be savoured each step of the way"

The latest addition to The Reef Resorts Simply Relaxation strategy is the all new Yoga Spa Retreat with Donna.

Donna is a certified Hatha Yoga teacher and Burdenk Water conditioning therapist who also has a weekly column in the Caymanian Compass.

This 1-hour yoga experience is an idyllic retreat for the inner self enhanced by the ancient arts of traditional Hatha Yoga, Aromatherapy, Native Flowers and Fragrance.

This experience is absolutely perfect for a first time Yoga experience as well as yoga enthusiast.

For more information please call 1-345-946-3338 or email info@thereef.com

North Side Primary School learns to swim at theReef

I'm a proud swim parent and (in my spare time!) am working to turn the Cayman Aquatic Centre (including 50m pool) from dream to reality.

A core part of that dream is to "waterproof" Cayman's kids, and that means ALL of Cayman's kids.

In the Eastern Districts there is (until the new Frank Sound High School is built) nowhere for primary school children to learn to swim.

We've therefore done our part at theReef to help, with North Side primary school being taught in the larger pool at theReef two mornings a week.

This is noted in today's Cayman Compass , including a picture I took last week as I saw the school bus parked by the pool one morning.. boy, those kids were having way too much fun !

Gustav grazes The Reef!!

Good afternoon everyone and thank you for all of the wonderful emails and messages from all of our Reef friends and 'extended family' wishing us well through Gustav!

Firstly, we are very thankful to advise that we are all safe and well and that The Reef only received very minor damages on the beachfront and dock areas due to the high waves. Clean up is in progress and, thanks to our amazing maintenance crew, over 70% of the beach and one of our pools is back in perfect condition already! In fact, due to the high waves, we have gained additional beach again which is great news for all of our guests as this adds to our already massive beachfront, even more space to find that secluded spot!!

I have taken some photos around the resort this morning to give you all an idea of how we are doing.

As you can see, our tennis court was an oversized sand pit for a day and our pools have been

pumped out and cleaned ready for action!!

With our brand new hurricane shutters protecting our all beachfront rooms throughout the resort and a very proactive team here at The Reef, clean up will be a breeze!!!

Therefore, to set your mind at ease, we are open for business and all should be completely back to normal within a couple of days! We look forward to seeing you soon!!

Let's get GREEN!

Well I have just under 2 weeks left on this gorgeous island before I have to go home (to Scotland) and start work on my dissertation for university! But before i leave, it is my mission to help theReef become GREEN! TheReef is currently working on reducing our waste and recycling wherever possible.

We have a whole list of GREEN stuff which we do right now but we have never shared this with you until now!

Our GREEN practices:

• towel re-use programme
• sensors which turn off the A/C in rooms when patio doors are left open
• salt water chlorination of our pools instead of using harsh chemicals
• we have a biological sewage treatment plant instead of using a traditional septic tank to treat waste
• our detergents are carefully chosen to help minimise the impact on the environment

We are looking at lots of new ways to help minimise our environmental impact, and any suggestions you have will be greatly appreciated!!!!

Reef Dream Sequence #2

Part 2 of my dream where i magically wake up at The Reef.

Meetings in The Cayman Islands

The Reef Resort is the ideal location for meetings and group retreats with our 1600ft of pristine white beach, 142 all beachfront suites, full service restaurant and on site catering facilities. We also offer a lively beach bar, conference centre, on site spa and gym, and some of the finest snorkeling and diving in the world. We are located in the peaceful, East End of Grand Cayman, a relaxing 45 minute drive from the hustle and bustle of Georgetown and the Seven Mile Beach area.

So whether your group wishes to focus on an intense strategic planning retreat or a peaceful, laid back vacation, the tranquility of The Reef is uniquely placed amongst Cayman resorts to facilitate their needs.

For more information on your next corporate meeting, please visit http://www.thereef.com/

Time is on my side.....yes it is.

One of the more frequently asked questions by both owners and future guests is, "What's the time there right now?"

Thanks to Mr. McCarthy, your time concerns have been answered as Island time has now been replaced by Cayman time. Take a look at the top right hand corner of our website and you'll see the local time here in the Cayman Islands.

No more worrying about calling a family member too early, or calling the reservation department too late. Simply, visit our homepage before you make a call.

One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready......

Dispatches from Vegas from a couple who are very much a part of The Reef family....but who are they ? First to comment with the correct answer wins... well, being first to get it right :)

State of Nevada marriage license $62, Costumes $225, Limo, minister, photographer and Elvis impersonator $825, getting married in Vegas PRICELESS for everyone else there is the traditional wedding.

We took a few pictures with our camera. A lot more we’ll have in week or so. We got married on Las Vegas Blvd. under the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign.

View from The Reef

Geez, I wish i was at The Reef. I wonder what it looks like right now.............(fade into dream sequence).........

Yep.

Fish Feeding Goes Live

Below is the first in what i hope to be more live feeds from the reef.

Here is a quick shot of the fish feeding John does daily. As mentioned in previous blogs this is very popular among guests here at the resort. Tarpons, snappers, Shellfish and many other fish wait eagerly at 12 noon for their daily bread.

The Reef Beach Diet

Tired of all those resorts that promise results but don't deliver? Or maybe you are just looking to lose a couple trouble inches. Well then The Reef resort has an offer for you. For a limited time we are offering guaranteed weather changes in your local area for..... FREE! Yes you read right. FREE!!!!


See the pictures of Carl's house before he visited The Reef:













Now look at the results after Carl's stay here at The Reef:












The results do not lie. The inches of snow magically disappear after just one visit!

Now, you might be asking yourself, How is this physically and scientifically possible? How can the Reef affect weather conditions? Well the secret is in our Glycemic weather index that melts snow and increases sunshine to your neighborhood after just a few short days here at The Reef.


So call 1-888-232-0541 for more info. What do you have to lose!!!













Offer not valid on days that end in the letter Y. Also, offer is totally fictional as The Reef nor any person on the planet can possibly change the weather. If we could, we probably wouldn't announce it on a blog.

Cayman Rose loves Ravioli

Some of you may remember, have heard or maybe even met Cayman Rose. We have posted some of her earlier pictures in our Photo Gallery. Her proud grand parents are owners at The Reef and staying with us this week. They brought some new pictures for us to see....isn't she cute? Jan & Steve say: "Our darling granddaughter, Cayman Rose Lightner, just had her first bite of ravioli. Clearly, ravioli just hit her top ten list. Cayman's mom & dad, Sara & Jamie, got engaged in 2004 right on the dance floor in front of the Barefoot man. Cayman has been to the Reef twice. She loves watching John feed the big fish off the dock at noon."

When The Daily Show came to The Reef

Back around tax time in spring 2005, I had an absolute blast for a couple of days as The Reef hosted Ed Helms and his crew to do a shoot for the segment above.

Of course back then Blogger didn't allow videos to be uploaded !

They did the whole shoot, guerilla style, in about two days straight. At the end, I took them out for dinner at Ristorante Papagallo, which has just re-opened after major roof repairs post-Ivan. Vico, host at Papagallo, regaled us with tails (or even 'tales".. thx for the edits from "Anonymous) of how he repaired his majestic thatch roof, but poor Ed Helms was exhausted, and could hardly stay awake :)

I might be biased, but I think it is one of the funniest Daily Show segments ever :)

Fans of The Reef may recognise us in a few of the shots :
- Shot of Ed coming out of the sea in a suit
- Ed buried in the sand
- Ed having a massage by the

The Reef - feels like family

Many of our past guests vividly remember the warmth and unique humour of Phil Maguire, our Restaurant Manager from 2002 through 2006. Phil was recently visiting and came to our annual staff Christmas party. I thought I'd share his letter to our inimitable Resort Manager, Mr. Lawrence Haughton... the bold highlights are mine :

Mr. Lawrence,
I'd like to thank you very much for your kind invitation to the staff party last week. It was certainly most enjoyable. It was like stepping back in time. But having been away for the better part of a year gave me a somewhat clearer view of what has been achieved at the Reef.
Practically every management guru who has ever been published stresses the need for team-building. In itself it's a worthy concept but too many leaders/managers pay mere lip-service to the idea. I'm firmly convinced that at the Reef you have left the notion of team-building far behind and instead have managed to create a Family.
I was observing how different people interacted at the party last week, both during the presentations and either side of them, and it struck me that the genuine warmth and regard that people from a variety of different backgrounds appeared to have for each other would not be matched or bettered in too many other establishments.
Seriously, I think you have achieved something pretty unique, and the end result is clearly greater than the sum of the individual parts.
Long may it continue. !

One could say this is the "touchy feely" and intangible part of the business, but it is very, very real and vitally important to treat your staff like family, as they will then treat guests not just as VIPs, but as an extension of that family.

I'm sitting here typing this in a seminar at a conference on resort marketing, but haven't heard anyone talk about "family" yet :)

The Reef Reservations goes seven days per week

Who said things move on "island time" down here ? Not us, that's for sure. At The Reef, we've always been proud of how very responsive we are to customer calls and emails.

Now, we've grown to the stage where can take it one stage further, so whilst our reservations office core hours continue to be Monday to Friday 8:30-5:30 EST, we now have reservations staff coming in seven days per week (for a few hours per day on Saturday and Sunday), and at all other times calls to our toll free number (888) 232-0541 will be answered instead of just going to voicemail.

This means that a) all emails will be responded to within no more than 24 hours, and b) calls for routine reservations etc can be made seven days per week from 7am to 11pm, with more detailed or complex requests being taken for response by the reservations team during their hours.

Another small way we are continually "taking it to the next level"

How big is the beach at The Reef ?

Thanks to Barefoot Man for this lovely picture. When he isn't playing at The Reef (see his schedule here), recording new songs, marketing his CDs, fishing, lazing in a hammock etc.... he is the publisher of his own newspaper, "Fun News", which takes a humorous look at things to do and see and life in the "Far East" of Grand Cayman.

This great shot gives a great look right down the beach at The Reef, and yes, that's all our beach.

Oh, and if you look closely at the far end of the beach you'll see a huge mound of sand that came from the site for the final phase of our resort (the roof is now on, they'll be open soon enough!), does anyone want to buy a LOT of sand ? :)