Coral Beach Club CEO George Wardman has paid tribute to his employee and lifelong friend Glenn Shorto who died on Wednesday after a short battle with cancer.

He described Mr. Shorto as warm, decent and generous with a special knack for managing staff and getting along with guests in his role as general manager of the Paget property which he held for 23 years.

He said: "He was amazingly calm in a storm, whether literally or figuratively. He understood how to be friendly with guests without being over familiar."

Mr. Wardman said his friend had been courageous about the illness which took his life at the age of just 56.

"We grew up together, he was tremendously loyal friend. He was passionate about reading and parrots and named his Basil after Basil Faulty in Faulty Towers. He loved English humour."

He said Mr. Shorto, who leaves a wife and a daughter, was educated at the prestigious Ecole Hoteliere De Lausanne in Switzerland.

The funeral will be held at Christ Church, Warwick on Monday at 3 p.m.