Coco Reef saved the day

Dear Sir,

Having travelled to Bermuda years back on a cruise, we were looking forward to returning to your beautiful country for a much needed vacation. Upon our arrival at the airport, we met a lovely taxi driver named Margaret Heyliger , who eventually became our “helpful angel”. Margaret drove us to our resort destination “The Surf Side Beach Club” only to find the bellman greeting us with a letter from the manager and verbal instructions not to bother taking our luggage out of the taxi! The letter contained, with regrets, an unfortunate mix up with the hotel’s computer reservations had taken place and that we were being sent to another hotel that was not on the beach, but in the city of Hamilton. We asked the bellman if we could speak to the manager, he went inside only to return stating she was not available.

Since that was not acceptable to us, we proceeded into the lobby to find the Manager, Bryony B. Harvey, behind the reservations counter. We enquired as to how this could have happened since we had confirmed our reservations twice with the hotel itself via the telephone. (We had originally booked our trip on line at experiencebermuda.com) she replied that there was a mix-up with the hotel computer, hence she could not accommodate us and said/sad she had checked for other beachfront availability and there was none. Needless to say, we were extremely disappointed and distraught having travelled all morning and afternoon to find out that our beachfront vacation was ruined. She offered little compensation and assistance, only offering to pay for the taxi ride to our new hotel.

Margaret, our taxi driver, had more compassion and suggested wed try the Coco Reef hotel for availability. She drove us there and we found three exceptional front desk employees who went out of their way to try and accommodate us. There was, in fact, availability three out of the four nights we were looking for, at Coco Reef and they made phone calls to assist with the remaining night’s stay. The three ladies helping us were: Anika Solomon, Rhonda Santucci and Michelle Weldon who we also feel were extremely compassionate and represented the ultimate in customer service.

Had it not been for the taxi cab woman and the staff at the Coco Reef Hotel, we would have had a negative Bermuda experience. We are both professional women, one in the education field and the other in the hospitality industry. We would never treat our respective clients in the same fashion as the unprofessional manner observed at the Surfside Beach Club. There is no excuse for this behaviour and we would publicly like to thank our “Bermuda Angels” who have restored our faith inhuman mankind and your country’s hospitality.

ANNE GIBALDI

SUZANNE LA PORTE