Charming Escapes, an Anguilla Tourist
Board program that features the islands midmarket hotels, intends
to step up its marketing efforts.
Training sessions
are being organized for hotel managers, and standards are being
established that each Charming Escapes hotel must uphold, said
Donna Banks, a member of the House of Assembly and an advisor to
the Anguilla Tourist Board.
We still have
work to do in terms of marketing, goals and organization, but were
getting there, Banks said.
Banks is
initiating a dine-around program at restaurants close to each
member hotel. A rent-a-chef program already is in place for guests
who want a catered dinner in their suite.
Another
innovation is a mobile massage spa that can be arranged in guest
rooms. Properties in Anguillas Shoal Bay area also can send their
guests to Malakh Day Spa for massages in tents on the
beach.
Next month, the
Charming Escapes marketing committee will examine affordable ways
for members to participate in trade shows and joint
promotions.
A Web site, logo
and central information number at the tourist board office should
be in place within a few months.
Although
Anguillas reputation as a haven for the affluent has served it
well, the Anguilla Tourist Board was looking to increase arrivals
when it introduced Charming Escapes two years ago.
Most member
hotels are family-owned; some are operated by sons and daughters of
the original owners.
Participating
properties are Allamanda Beach Club, Anguilla Great House Resort,
Arawak Beach Inn, Brookland Island View Apartments, Caribella Beach
Apartments, Caribbean Seaview, Carimar Beach Club, Ferry Boat Inn,
Hotel La Sirena, Lloyds Bed & Breakfast, Masara Resort,
Paradise Cove Resort, Patsys Villas, Royal Palms Holiday
Apartments, Serenity Cottage, Shoal Bay Villas and
Syd-Ans.
A one-bedroom
apartment at Carimar Beach Club is $992 per week, including taxes
and service charges, during its off-season promotion when the sixth
and seventh nights are free after five are booked.
At Paradise Cove
Resort, a two-bedroom, upper-floor apartment starts at $280 per
night for four plus taxes and service charges. At Arawak Beach Inn,
where fishermen stop by the bar and schoolchildren come daily to
the cafe for a pizza lunch, daily rates start at $145 per room,
double, from spring to fall. Guests stay in octagon-shaped,
two-level cottages painted in bright colors.
Lloyds Bed &
Breakfast is an old homestead on a hilltop where rooms start at $80
per person, single or double. Daily afternoon tea features
johnnycake and bread pudding. Guests gather in the living room or
on the front porch for informal chats with the family.
Information is
available about Charming Escapes members on individual hotel Web
sites and in the Charming Escapes booklet available from the
Anguilla Tourist Board. Call the tourist board at (877) 426-4845 or
visit www.anguilla-vacation.com.
To contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail
to [email protected].