The Association of Bankers who came from all over the United States were a sophisticated group. They arrived at the hotel with baggage that was not in suitcases, but were the expectations brought on by memories of all the exquisite hotels they had visited in the past. It was the first Board of Directors meeting for the newly opened hotel, and my prestigious bankers had booked the Sanctuary Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic solely based on my recommendation. I was about to deliver my first born. Just a bit apprehensive.
The hotel is in the newest "in" place--Cap Cana--whose name keeps surfacing in Elite Traveler magazine's full page glossy ad. Or the magnificent Punta Espada ocean-hugging golf course is prominently displayed on a billboard in Times Square suggesting that if you are not there during the PGA Champions Tour, you are nowhere. And here were the Bankers. Our first group, since the resort debuted in January 2008.
There is no way to know how things are going to evolve when Spanish and English meet on a beach, but the Dominican people are inherently upbeat, bright and eager to please. The staff at the Sanctuary Cap Cana also has an international aspect. The Maitre d' at CasaBella is Desmond, who is from Malaysia and had met me once in January, but remembered my favorite tea and my favorite drink, a cranberry juice cocktail.
The meeting went very well. Private dinners were set in dramatic settings with views of the sea. I really knew we were all in sync when one of the owners of Sanctuary Cap Cana, Felix Felipe, kept popping in to see how everyone was doing. He offered his private cell phone at one point for one of the attendees to return an urgent call, so he wouldn't have to go to his room. That kind of thing.
The Sanctuary Cap Cana is not just a lovely, five-star hotel. The setting is gorgeous. Three miles of pristine beach meet the striking aqua water with more sand beneath and not a pebble in sight. The eight restaurants provide a variety of phenomenal types of cuisine. The golf is exquisite. A magnificent spa will be opened in the Fall 2008, and will complement our already existing spa treatments with a new dimension.
When I asked the Chairman of the Board of the Bankers group what he thought of his stay, he was walking by the pool and it was a perfect day. He smiled, looked around, and said: "Of all the places I have stayed in five star hotels in the Caribbean and Mexico, this is the most spectacular."
The child is born.
