Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:

PHOTOS BY CLAUDINE HOUSEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER - Sandals Whitehouse European Village and Spa Awardees (from left): Jason Dunn, Best Smile; Karen Smart, Supervisor of the Year; Marcia Campbell, Most Environmentally Aware; Ingrid Ferguson, Manager of the Year; Dutch House Captain Adrian Robinson, Sports Day Champion House; Amol James, Sportsman of the Year and Alvan Anderson, Ultra Employee of the Year pose with their trophies shortly after the hotel's first Annual Staff Awards Cocktails and Dinner, recently. The event was hosted under the theme: 'Honouring Our Stars.'

MORE THAN one hundred Sandals Whitehouse European Villa and Spa employees were recently fêted during the hotel's first annual Staff Awards, Cocktails and Dinner Party.

A historic evening among team members and friends, the event was hosted under the theme 'Honouring Our Stars', which coincided with the hotel's first anniversary ­ February 10, 2006.

Reflecting on the numerous challenges of the past year, general manager for the hotel Jeremy Jones, said that while there was still room for growth, he was pleased with the hotel's achievements thus far.

PROUD MOMENT

"It is a very proud moment for us," he said. "We had a pretty rough and rocky road when we got started ... but looking back on it now, it taught us well."

As a result of this rocky beginning, Mr. Jones said he decided to mount a week of activities to give members of staff the opportunity to see first-hand the internal operations of the hotel and their role in the delivery of the tourism product.

"Since we have been open the hotel has been very busy so we really have not had the opportunity for the dinning room folks to see what happens in the laundry or for the kitchen to get a chance to see what takes place in the Spa," he explained. "So we actually put on an exposition in the main ballroom and brought all the departments together to showcase their features and their stories."

Noting that teamwork was essential to the growth of any good organisation, Mr. Jones commended his staff for a year of hard work.