Breezes photographs and report

Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 3:02:45 PM Eastern Standard Time

From: Benny

To: DebbieH103@aol.com

Hi Debbie,

Just back from my visit to Breezes/Curaçao, where I was met by the GM, Mr. Richard Bourke and one of his assistants, Ms. Panday, who was there as a guest relations manager also when it was still Princess Beach Hotel. I am going to try to answer most of the questions that were put to me, so this is not only a report to you and please feel free to put it on your pages if you want to. The pictures this time are in email content, because otherwise it will take five years to get them off the island.

At this moment they have 200 rooms ready Mr. Bourke said, but a lot of work is still being done everywhere. As almost everything has to do with decorating and not with building or breaking, no noises are heard.

To set your mind at rest: I was assured that the hot water in the Beachjacuzzi is now working, and has been for (he thought) 2 weeks. The jacuzzi, steam room and sauna department is still not ready and also the gym room is a little outdated, but new machines are on their way and the the whole fitness/beauty/massage department will be very beautiful and well done once it is ready which is expected to be at the end of March. Massage etc., are for a fee though, but they have all kinds, also aromatherapy and shi-atsu and combined Chinese massage, whatever that may be.

I saw the weekly kids programme and they are kept busy from 9 to 9 with another theme every day, and no 2 weeks the same. For adults there is a daily theme too and entertainment and being kept busy is the whole day long, from 7.00 a.m. until 1.30 a.m. when the midnight snack is ending. I forgot to ask about baby-sitting though, my fault, but I am sure there is a possibility for that as well.

There will be (from next week) a shuttle service into town, one leaving the hotel at 9.00 a.m. and one at 2.00 p.m., the first returning at 12.30 p.m. and the other one at 5.30 p.m. There is also a tour office in the hotel, which offers trips around the island and to local sightseeing spots and museums and also caters for the golfing people, trying to create groups and offering cheaper transportation than the taxis. They also take care of car rentals for you.

Sumo wrestling is one of the entertainment programs and apparently you're put into an enormous suit and than expected to fight another guest or probably someone from the entertainment team. The skating ring is of plastic but it seems to be possible to skate on it with ice-skates. was sorry not to be able to see it. It was not 100% ready either, but only the fence wasn't there. The climbing wall, trampoline and flying trapeze are all there and working and daily classes in all those things are given and also juggling classes. The scuba diving is done by "Animal Encounters", the outfit from Sea-aquarium. They turned the former diving outfit into a discotheque ( so that's why they were putting all those airco's in last week!) and will be building a new in-house divingclub within a few weeks, which will be run by Animal Encounters as well.

The casino is much bigger than formerly, almost bigger even than in the first Princess Beach years I think, but it is not run by Breezes. They have Black Jack and roulette tables and an enormous amount of those ugly machines that only sometimes spew money and never when I put something in.

I saw some of the rooms, and they are just hotel rooms in my opinion, nothing special and I think they need some personal touches like artwork still. But Mr. Bourke told me he is almost at the end of his tether with getting his containers out of the customs area. You'd think we would be happy to get such an outfit as Breezes to operate on the island and give them every help, but no such thing. I don't know what it is with Antilleans, but something is definitely wrong with them, and even more so if they are wearing uniforms.

So let me tell you about the layout of the place. From the parking lot which is quite extensive you enter into the lobby. An open entrance, no doors. To your right is the front desk and at you left are some seats and tables and a kind of piano bar arrangement. Further down to your left is the tour desk and to you right opposite that should be some shops, but as the person who first ran them didn't want to leave all though his contract had expired, they are not yet open. Then you come out again on the main area. To your left is the other entrance to the casino. (the first one is from the parking lot as well) To your right the garden starts with some playgrounds and huge trees that have been there since the first hotel was opened. Next to the casino Jimmy's Buffet (picture) is under a big palm leaves roof, so actually in the open air. Opposite Jimmy's is a bar from which drinks are served or you can walk up to it to get it yourself. All the machines (daiquiri and soft and juice) were operating. The backside of this bar is the swim-upbar, which also has swim-up tables to put your drinks on once you have them. (see picture) If you pass the buffet and follow to the left, there comes the Italian restaurant, which has outdoor and indoor dining, the indoor still a little bit bare, needs some more art too, I suppose (see picture) Then we turn right and come to the Japanese restaurant (see picture) which serves soup, salad, sushi and sashimi, teriyaki and whatever else it is they serve in those places, when they grill it on the hot plate in front of your eyes. Looked very nice. Both restaurants will be on a reservations basis when it gets busier. The Italian restaurant will in the end have a different menu inside as outside, the outside being more on the salad, pizza, pasta side and real fine Italian cooking inside. Then come all the crazy things like skating ring, trampoline, flying trapeze, climbing wall and the water sports To your left again the Royal Tower has its entrance, and this part of the hotel is in operating order. The rooms are quite large (picture) and all have direct view of ocean, the ones at the Breezes side over the beach of Breezes and the on the other side on the Sea Aquarium Beach. (see royal tower view) There is a new beachbar on the beach where they also make you burgers and other snacks and of course drinks galore, and a little further down the beach, opposite the new island, is the pirate ship, which is a children's playground. There are a lot of new shades with palm leave roofs and more are being put up. If from the lobby you would have turned right, you come into the garden where in the first part those shuffleboard things are. on the building side is the gym and the sauna area, but it will take a few weeks before those will be working, Massages are already operational. opposite the main building the real oceanview/beach rooms are located, you just walk on to the beach from your room. They are not yet ready, as the sinks for the bathrooms didn't arrive before yesterday. They are being put in now and then it is only a question of unpacking the furniture. Further down the path through the garden are several "garden wings" and the teenage club" full of evil looking computer game things, a pool table and other things to keep them busy. Then we come to the first of the Horseshoe buildings, There are two, one built around another bar, and one built around the other pool (see pool) Those buildings have 4 floors and all of the rooms look out on the sea.

The sand on the beach is not of the softest and I explained this before, this is because they **** it up out of the sea and a lot of coral is being ****ed up too. This island hasn't got a large natural beach like Aruba. Curaçao goes more for the smaller isolated coves, places you really have to look out for.... Anyway, I never swim or bathe without shoes, because even when you go into the water on the softest sand, you might touch down on a piece of coral when you're in the water! But a lot of raking is being done and with time the sand will surely improve.

I think the GM, Mr. Bourke, is a very patient man. I would have been crazy after living through only some of the stories he told me about the mishaps of opening Breezes. Curaçao may be very happy with such an experienced hotelier and I hope he will soon be able to run Breezes to full capacity and make a success of it.

I think all said and done, that there is no hotel on the island that has so much to offer for it's clients as Breezes has. If you want a good time, go and have it! (They even have bicycles) Curaçao has a lot to offer to tourists, but with Breezes an A1 location has added another attraction to it.

More photos have been added to Benny's gallery entry at Benny's Curacao Photos