June 5, 2020

Q2 – 2020

Andy Osbourne

Dear members,

COVID-19 is now part of our reality for the foreseeable future and even with potential cures, the question now is how do we best live with it. With Aruba’s huge dependency on Tourism, all business and social aspects on the island’s issues continue to be affected but, at the time of writing, we have no positive cases on the island. This medical stability has allowed us to slowly relax the internal Government-imposed sanctions to contain COVID-19 as we try to restart the local economies and expand locally as we continue to implement safety plans for wider opening prospects.

The reopening to international travel is critical for us to make a decision on the affected weeks which will depend on the total number of weeks in question. We thank you for your continued patience and especially the members who are willing to work with us – one member even offered a donation to our adopted baseball team – and we are happy to share some quotes.

ER emailed “Due to the travel ban UA cancelled my flight and so I will not be able to use my week this year. Use my maintenance fee to keep the Resort afloat. God willing I will be able to come to Paradise next year. Stay Safe.”

Email from BW “With all that has taken place so far… we know that we will not be traveling to Aruba for our designated week in September. But thinking about the challenges that the Resort must be facing I am gifting you my week for 2020 to the benefit of the Resort. I know it’s not a lot… but as they say… ”Every little bit counts!” I hope that this (added with hopefully a lot of my fellow members doing the same) will help keep PBV in good financial shape …. We are saddened to know that we will not be visiting our “home away from home” at Paradise in Aruba in 2020… but we look forward to being able to visit in 2021!”

“We have read the PBV COVID-19 Updates on your website and completely understand the unprecedented issues this pandemic has placed on the Resort. No one could have ever anticipated or have had a plan in place to address such a catastrophic occurrence. We have a week banked from 2018 and, of course our regular time for this year. If it is helpful to PBV, we will gladly relinquish both weeks this year and look forward to returning to PBV in 2021. We so much enjoy visiting Aruba, with the PBV staff playing a major role in our enjoyment. We feel blessed to be members and look forward to many more good times there.”

Email from another BW The entire Paradise team sincerely thanks the above members for their kindness, understanding and willingness to assist and also to all other members who have called to convey similar sentiments. It would be remiss if we did not mention members who contacted us to say a special hello to the staff and to wish them well during this difficult period – and even offered some financial assistance if it became necessary. These expressions reflect the true Spirit of Paradise! We are very proud of you and once again humbly express our thanks.

There has been much speculation but no definitive date has been set for our borders to be reopened for the return of international travel. Meanwhile at the Resort, we continue our preventative maintenance and deep housekeeping projects and, as we get closer to receiving our guests again, our focus is to introduce specific protocols in each department which we will share with you when they are finalized. These protocols are in keeping with the WHO, International and local Hospitality standards and imposed by the Aruba Ministry of Health.

Some of these standards are:

Social distancing all around the property

More sanitization, cleaning procedures and protection procedures

More digital communication

This is new for all of us. We will be delighted to have you at the Resort once again but we ask that your play your part in maintaining the established protocols which will benefit us all.

We will take advantage of the lull in occupancy to complete the room renovations of the third floor of Phase 1 – and many members have already seen the model room. This project will be from August until September and mainly features new floor and patio tiles, new kitchen and living / dining room layout, new kitchen cabinets, new bathroom ceilings, new air quality units, new drapes, new metal balcony doors and improved lighting. We also plan to modernize the hallways.

CONSTANT REMINDERS

Please let us know if you will be using your week. This is always important but at the moment, this is even more so because of the renovations to Phase 1 and the need to relocate members whose rooms are bring refurbished. We solicit your cooperation and urge you to advise us as soon as you have made your decision.
New check in time is at 5 p.m. and check out time is at 10 a.m. This time is needed as we implement the new cleaning COVID-19 protocols, we are forced to extend the check-in time so that the rooms are properly serviced and sanitized. We understand that you want to get settled as quickly as possible – and so do we – but I am also sure that you also want to enjoy a properly cleaned and sanitized room – and so do we.
Please update your email contact information with the Resort. This is becoming more and more important as we transition to more digital forms of communication.
We remind you of the special needs service offered by Essential Health Supplies, a Company which rents supplies like – crutches, toilet accessories, scooters, wheelchairs and much more – to visitors. They are located across from the Hospital which is close to the Resort, they are available on weekends and they offer complimentary delivery on any rentals. For further details, you can visit their website at essentialaruba.com, email them at [email protected] or call them at (297) 587 0940 or (297) 563 0415. Listed on their website, for the convenience of our American members, they also have a US contact number at (786) 245 8093.
We also remind you of the Community outreach programmes we are currently involved in. The first one is the One Happy Community initiative where you can make a financial donation to help the kids in after school activities and the second one is Sharing is Caring where you can leave non-perishable food items and clothing which are donated to the needy in our Communities. The Front Desk agents will be delighted to furnish you with further details and we thank you in advance for your contributions to these most worthy causes.

Stay safe, practice healthy habits and remember we are one day closer to the change of fortunes and we look forward to seeing you on your next visit at the Resort.