By Janet Silvera,
Freelance Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
HEDONISM MEANS 'the pursuit of total pleasure to the ultimate good'. And 19 years ago SuperClubs chairman, John Issa and his team conceptualised the idea and introduced Hedonism II resort in Negril. Today almost two decades later the hotel enjoys the highest percentage of repeat business in the Caribbean.
And those who regard Hedo II their 'home away from home' occupied more than 180 of the 280 rooms at the property during last week's celebrations.
"More than 40 per cent of our business are repeaters", said Joseph Smith, general manager.
They invaded the nude beach, decorated their doors with Halloween accoutrements, placed balloons and mannequins on the beach and showed ownership of the resort.
One of the property's 20-year veteran Howard Haristein of Trumbull, Connecticut, remembers the days when plastic sharks teeth were tendered instead of money to buy food and beverage at the resort.
He told The Gleaner that he remembered "20 years ago when the hotel was Negril Beach Village and the property extended beyond the Point Village. The beach was just as friendly, but secluded and it was harder to meet people".
He said the hotel was wilder then than it is now.
"When some of the general managers took over they mellowed the place. This encouraged more single women to come here. At one time the ratio was 12, sometimes six, men to one woman."
He said people had the misconception they can do anything at the hotel, but this is not so. "This is not an X-rated sex club. Sex in public is not allowed here", he said.
The physical appearance of the 280-room property hotel has not changed much in the past 19 years, but the SuperClubs team has invested significantly in upgrading and maintaining the facilities. Telephones have now been installed in the rooms and modern facilities have been added.
"There was a time when there were no telephones in the rooms, but one of the beautiful things about that was, the guest was locked away from the outside world and could forget all their problems, until they got back home", said Mr. Haristein.
And the repeat guest is opposed to television sets being put in any of the rooms.
"You don't spend a lot of time in the rooms, so we don't need TVs. The atmosphere is all outside, so if you sit in the room and watch TV you will lose the camaraderie and won't interact with friends and other guests," he said.
While the hotels' general manager said SuperClubs was still undecided about the issue. "The guests on the nude side do not want TVs in their rooms, but those on the prude side want them".
The nude section of the hotel is almost entirely occupied by the repeaters.
In the meantime, there are plans to carry out major refurbishing over the next 18 months.
He refused to give details, except to say that the mirrors in the ceiling over each bed will remain the trademark of the property.
