From its quiet and commanding ocean view, overlooking Meads Bay, Malliouhana Hotel and Spa, Anguilla’s first luxury hotel of world acclaim, is asserting itself in the island’s tourism markets as a place of grandeur, high visitor expectations and memorable experiences.

Aerial view of Malliouhana Hotel

This thrust, in the property’s 25th Anniversary, is accentuated by a more aggressive marketing programme now being chiseled out and the hiring of two highly-qualified and experienced persons to help put the spin on the hotel’s forward movement. The newcomers are Mrs. Amelia Vanterpool-Kubisch, who recently demitted her long-held contractual post of some sixteen years as Director of Tourism to become the Resort’s Marketing and Sales Director and Mr. Bart van Deventer, who took over as Resort Manager, having served at Rendezvous Bay Hotel for ten years.

Malliouhana Hotel and Spa not only has the distinction of having taken first place in Anguilla’s up-market tourism industry, when it came into being 25 years ago, but in fact is a symbol of, and salute to, the island’s rich cultural history in that it bears the original Arawak name for this beautiful 35-square-mile isle. It has been the brainchild of well-respected developer Mr. Leon Roydon and family, forerunners of the island’s “Small Leading Hotels of the World.” Indeed, the property has, and continues, to attract rave reviews by the travel trade press, readers and tour operators for its distinguished quality of service and accommodation.

General Manager, Mr. Nigel Roydon, who joins his father in welcoming Amelia and Bart,

L-R: Mr. Nigel Roydon, Mrs. Amelia Vanterpool-Kubisch, Mr. Van Deventer and Mrs. Jasmin Quinlan

put the creation of Malliouhana Hotel and Spa into perspective as he sat in his office, a section of the first structure. “It’s the 25th year since we opened the main building where we are now,” he told The Anguillian, his booming and positive voice revealing an air of pride and continuing hope. “We did in fact open two villas on the beach in 1982 and let those out for two years but we opened the main hotel in November 1984.”

Since then, there has been the construction of a number of additional villas, a sprawling classy cliff-side restaurant bearing the French name Michel Rostang, tennis courts, swimming pools, a state-of-the-art spa, Le Bistro featuring a family and children’s playground, dedicated swimming pool, restaurant and conference room, all nestled in an environment of exotic and exquisite plant life with well-connected footpaths and roadways.

Marketing Malliouhana

"We now have 55 rooms. We originally had 41 when we opened,” Mr. Roydon went on, as he related how the property was developed and fared over the years. “A hotel of our size is very difficult to advertise to attract business and therefore we have concentrated, ever since we opened, on trying to get editorial comment and we have been fortunate to have received very positive comments which have encouraged persons to come here. Much of our business comes by word of mouth or as a result of editorial comment and we have enjoyed very high occupancies in the past. It is not true currently as the current economic climate throughout the world is making all hotels go through a very lean period. We have been ranked number one in Conde Nast Magazine on two occasions and in Travel & Leisure we have been ranked in the top five. These are all readers’ reviews and so, certainly, in the readers’ surveys we have done very well in the past.”

Mrs. Vanterpool-Kubisch made the point that Anguilla as a destination has focused its marketing efforts primarily on public relations initiatives, involving the press, travel agents and tour operators in the various markets. “No one has had the kind of budget to engage in the type of advertising campaigns that one would like to, but articles by the media are important… they are more believable so to speak,” she said.

Asked where the hotel was now focusing its attention with the employment of the energetic and university-trained new Marketing Director, Mr. Roydon had this to say: “We found over the last several years that the bulk of our business has been direct bookings… and we have felt that we really need to concentrate our efforts on the trade side of business – on travel agents and the like – to maximise our occupancy and we were very thrilled that we had the opportunity to employ Amelia in that position after many, many years at the Tourist Board. We were thrilled that she was interested in joining us and are now thrilled that she has joined us.”

Mr. Roydon was asked what some of the hotel’s marketing strategies going forward were. “Those Amelia and I are working through at the moment,” he replied. “We are looking to concentrate effort on building stronger relationships with travel agents and tour operators and trying to, if you like, re-establish our name with that segment of the market. We used to do a considerable number of bookings through travel agents and tour operators, especially in Europe and over the years that side of our business has reduced and we are trying to build it back up again.”

Mr. Van Deventer conducting training session

Commenting on the matter, Amelia noted that tourism is a very competitive one. She continued: “Malliouhana, being the first luxury hotel on the island, has maintained its standing over the years. It not only competes with properties on the island, but in the region which also understand the importance of focusing on the upper end of the market. It is therefore that that Malliouhana be as visible as possible. So one of our key strategies is enhancing and strengthening the Malliouhana brand both in the marketplace. So we will be stepping up our involvement with members of the travel trade and with the Anguilla Tourist Board Representatives in the various markets. We are also looking at the website…making it more interactive, and ensuring that content is fresh etc.

She said that Malliouhana currently has sales and public relations representatives in the United States. “We are reviewing our activities there and also looking at how we can attract and grow business from other markets such as Puerto Rico, Italy and the UK,” she added.

On Mr. Van Deventer’s employment, Mr. Roydon stated: “Again we were very lucky that…Bart became available. We have in the past tried to take on a Resort Manager from overseas and for whatever reason it didn’t work out. But my father is getting on in years now, he is doing a bit less than he used to and I am thrilled that I have Bart here to assist me in running the hotel.”

In recent times there were reports that Malliouhana Hotel and Spa might have been up for sale but, the speculations have been discounted by Mr. Roydon. “That really was brought about more by rumour than anything,” he reported. “There was a particular group that were interested in buying in Anguilla and spoke with the Chief Minister’s Office and then came to speak to us and we said ‘make us an offer we can’t refuse and we will consider it’ but they never actually made an offer…a lot of stories went around about it, but it was never anything that was firm and as I said there wasn’t even an offer made that we could consider. But yes, I think as all businesses and all businessmen, if someone offers something that is exceptional in terms of value, it has to be considered but it never came to that.”

Mr. Roydon was asked whether there were any further expansion plans for the

The beautiful Malliouhana Spa

hotel. “We have no plans to expand the size of the property,” he stated. “A lot of people have suggested to us that we should build houses for sale on the property. However, it is not something that particularly appeals to us, although I believe we would be in a stronger position than any of the new developments in that we already have the infrastructure in place. We already have the restaurant, we already have the hotel rooms and we already have the services to connect up but it is not something we are seriously considering at this moment.”

Malliouhana Carving Own Way

He was asked for his views on how he saw Malliouhana carving its way among the other luxury properties in Anguilla. “I think that there is a benefit being the first, but there is also a drawback,” he stated. “Travel agents, especially those in America, are always looking for new properties and are always looking to push their clients to something that is different and new. So one of the challenges we face at Malliouhana Hotel is to try to keep renewing ourselves so that we could be considered a new property and to that extent we have always spent a great deal of effort in maintaining everything at top standards. I think that the physical part our hotel – the buildings - are of an equal or better standing than virtually any other hotel on the island, even though we are 25 years old and it is our intention to maintain that. Our restaurant is second to none. We have received numerous awards for the quality of our food and we intend to continue in the same vein.”

Malliouhana has a lot of recreational and sporting activities on land and sea for its guests but the golf course on the Flag/Temenos project, which should be available to all hotels, would be an additional facility for recreation. What does Mr. Roydon think about this and its present closure? “I think it has an effect on all of us,” he said. “Whilst we are not considered a hotel for golfers, we do get some guests who are keen to play golf. We had a guest turn up yesterday who brought his golf clubs not realising that the course wasn’t open. I think the whole island suffers because the course is not open and up and running, especially as it is built on Government land. I feel the Government has not done enough to try and maintain that course and make it available for everybody on the island. I was assured by the Chief Minister that it was a public golf course but I don’t think even he thought they would charge the outrageous rates that they charged on it which, in my opinion, were unrealistic rates.”

Mr. Roydon, a lawyer by profession, and known for his outspoken manner, continued: “When they put the rate at US$400 a round, they made it a very exclusive golf course. Whilst the guests that stay here, if they wanted to play, would have played, I am not sure that would be true of the guests that stay at the Anguilla Great House or those that stay at Ferryboat or Allamanda. I don’t know that that rate is reasonable for what is supposedly a public facility.”

He did not mind that his comments were reflected in this article, saying: “I am not trying to disparage anybody, but people who are paying over a thousand dollars a night, might find four hundred dollars more palatable than some who are paying three hundred dollars a night.”

Mr. Roydon, responded to a question as to why the golf course could not function even though the Flag/Temenos project was not finished and remains closed. “To be honest, that is an easy answer,” he explained. “On its own, as a standing golf course, it can never make money because the costs of running it are just too high. I believe they were putting 250,000 gallons of water a day on the course. Even if you are paying one cent a gallon, it is still two-and-a-half thousand dollars worth, plus all the labour and equipment they need to maintain it.

“Many years ago my father and I put forward a proposal for a golf course at Merry Wing…The only way you can make a golf course stand up, is to build around it and make all persons living around it pay a monthly fee whether they are there or not because you have to generate a lot of income to cover the cost of running a course.”

Effects of The Recession

One of the things affecting Malliouhana as well as other hotels and all other sections of the business sector, is the global recession, but Mr. Roydon is confident that in time it will go away. “There have been recessions before and there has even been a depression once and the world got out of them and the world will get out of this one. I don’t think it will be this year but whether it is next year or the year after, the world will come out and will go into economic boom again,” he predicted.

Malliouhana Hotel found it necessary with, some regret, to reduce staff as a result of the recession and low occupancy levels. “We did, at the beginning of last month, cut our staff, from 235 to 207 because, really, 235 with 4 a room were too much,” he said. The other major hotels like Cap Juluca, have a fairly big staff but they have 98 rooms and CuisinArt also has about 300 staff with only 3 per room. We had over 4 per room and we decided it would be fairer, although the impact on the individuals we had to let go is obviously tremendous. We are very sad that we had to do it, but we felt it was fairer to let some people go and give everybody else as much employment as we can, than to have a bigger staff and have everybody on short weeks.

“I can’t tell you how many bookings we are going to get in the future and I so can’t tell you, positively, categorically, that we won’t have to cut again, but I am hopeful by what I see on the books and how I see our business going, that it won’t be necessary.”

Staff Awards

View of Michel Rostang

Over the past 25 years, there has been a very low level in the turnover of staff, with all the workers, some at the property from its inception, having enjoyed steady employment. As part of its new initiatives, Malliouhana is now instituting an award system for Employees of the Month and Year and other deserving persons in recognition of their outstanding services. This is a commendable effort to boost morale and to show appreciation for the important contribution of the workers to the property. In making this announcement, Mr. Roydon was also delighted to report that a series of in-service training programmes had commenced for staff members at both Front and Back of the House, with Mr. van Deventer conducting the sessions.

“We have started to complement our staff with a two-fold training programme in all the departments at Malliouhana” van Deventer explained. “It is about the basic knowledge of the hotel and what it and the island have to offer and the other part of the training deals with communication and conduct amongst ourselves, our guests and others whom we interact with.

“That means we have to live up to a standard being Malliouhana, the first luxury hotel on the island. We have to maintain and exceed the expectations of our guests so with that in mind we are conducting ongoing training amongst all our staff. Further on in the course of the year we will go deeper and deeper into the details of the hospitality industry. If we don’t have a base to work with, we cannot grow further so that’s what the training is for.”

Amelia and Bart

Mr. Van Deventer, who is in his 10th season in Anguilla, came to the island from St. Maarten in 1999 and began his career with the Gumbs family at Rendezvous Bay Hotel where he said he received great support and learnt a lot. “This year the opportunity presented itself at the Malliouhana Hotel and I was very pleased to apply for the position and I was even more pleased when I was able to accept it, thanks to the Roydon family. I hope to spend another ten or more years here at this property giving the same, if not more, of myself to this beautiful hotel and making sure that it remains at its number one spot and continues to be one of the premier resorts in the Caribbean and beyond.”

Van Deventer is a graduate of The Hague Hotel School and did further training in London, following which he served for eight months in the Dutch military service. He then travelled to St. Maarten, where he began in earnest his career in the hospitality industry at Maho Beach and later moved to Anguilla.

His new colleague, Mrs. Vanterpool-Kubisch, a former Radio Anguilla personality, entered the Tourism Industry in 1977. After ten years she was selected to attend Mount St. Vincent University in Nova Scotia where she obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management and a Certificate in Business Management. Back in Anguilla, she was appointed Deputy Director of Tourism in 1991 and in 1993, Director.

Her proud achievements include: helping to maintain Anguilla’s image and the standard of its Tourism Industry, leading to the island having been cited as one of the best examples of managed tourism growth in the Caribbean; strengthening of the relationship between the Tourist Board, the Hotel and Tourism Association as well as other members of the private sector; strides in terms of formal training for staff of the Tourist Board; the development, coordination and support of Festivals and Events on the island; development of Anguilla’s representation in tourism-generating markets; development of a dedicated home for the Tourist Board Offices; and thankful for the support and confidence of the Government, Ministry of Tourism and the Anguilla Tourist Board over the years.

There is no doubt that with the dedicated assistance of Amelia and Bart that Malliouhana Hotel and Spa will realise many, if not all, of its new initiatives to the benefit of Anguilla and its people on a whole.

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