Things You Should Know About Jamaican Villa Staff
When you research your next vacation rental accommodation, be it a Jamaica villa or cottage, I am sure you will spend a lot of time checking out the property closely. These may be among the many questions you will ask:
Does it have the required number of bedrooms and are they big enough?
Can I swim laps in the pool or is it just for cooling off?
Is the sea view shown on the web site really what I will see when I relax on that lounge chair on the deck?
How far will I have to go to shop for groceries?
All important questions to be sure. But are you forgetting a very important aspect of your Jamaica accommodation rental? Let me tell you what happened to me this morning.
After my early morning cup of Blue Mountain Coffee which I sipped as I watched the sun rise over the bay at Silver Sands Jamaica, I went out for a walk and some exercise. I love the early mornings at Silver Sands – so quiet and peaceful. I passed Rum Jetty cottage as Errol, former fisherman, was taking some guests out to snorkel at the coral reef. And I said good morning to a young woman doing some yoga stretches on the road up by Blue Moon Villa.
As I was heading back to Endless Summer Villa, Kate, a repeat visitor with whom I had a long conversation the day before came rushing out of Casuarina Cottage, saying she wanted to tell me something that she did not emphasize before. She and Ted were coming to the end of another enjoyable stay at Silver Sands and were very happy with Claudette, the cook and housekeeper, at Casuarina.
Kate then told me that when they come back with their grandchildren, they would most likely return to The Orchid House. She hastened to add that they were very happy at Casuarina and that it was perfect for just her and Ted. But when they have a larger group, they would go to The Orchid House because of the staff there. Kate then spent a great deal of time telling me how wonderful Dionne and Margaret were. Besides good food and a clean and tidy house, the staff were so attentive to the grandchildren. The praise for the staff was overwhelming.
I hear these stories about the great staff in the Jamaica villas and cottages all the time. So I was not surprised. However, as Kate went on telling me about her prior experience at The Orchid House, it became apparent that what she really found valuable was the fact that there were two cooks who did a morning and an evening shift so all meals were prepared and served when the guests wanted them. In most houses, there is one cook and if that person works an eight hour day, then dinner is going to be very early, or prepared and left for you to warm up and serve yourself.
Now, a lot of guests don’t have any problem with that. But Kate and Ted obviously felt that with a larger group, they didn’t want to have to do that and would prefer to have staff doing it for them, and fitting in with their schedule. Why should the guests on their vacation adjust to suit the schedule of the staff?
This is not the first time I have had a report like this. Kate is not alone. In fact guests who have also stayed at Primrose Path, Santa Margherita, Rum Jetty, and Endless Summer Villa have all raved about how well the two-cook system works.
So when you are choosing your Jamaica rental, you must ask about the staff. What hours do the staff work? How many of them are there and what do they do? Will all your meals be prepared and served at times that you want, and will the staff clean up the kitchen before they go home? Is baby-sitting available?
But don’t just ask the rental agency these questions, check out the reviews for the accommodation yourself. What have former guests said about the staff? Do they write reviews that reflect a warmth and affection when they mention the staff?
And very very important, does the Jamaica rental house in which you are interested, have a lot of repeat clients? If the guests keeping going back for more, you can be sure that the staff has a lot to do with it. Think – would you go back to a very lovely house in a perfect setting if the staff did not provide good service? I thought not.