Welcome to the Harlequin Newsletter for December

We hope that those of you who attended our Open Training Day last month have recovered from the binges of information, lunch and sitting. The team looks forward to seeing you all, and some new faces, again soon.

December 2011 | Issue 3

In this issue:
The Harlequin Hotels & Resorts blog
The Marquis Estate update
H Barbados update
Food, glorious food!

The Harlequin Hotels & Resorts Blog

The Harlequin Communications Team is working hard towards short and medium term plans that are designed to improve the company's online presence. In short, a better online presence will equal better returns on investment.

One part of their strategy is the official blog for Harlequin Hotels & Resorts, which is designed to deliver our message and good news quicker and to more people.

Although the blog has only been active for three weeks, it has already been viewed 11,000 times; however, the first signs of its true potential are expected to surface in the coming months.

If you have not already done so, please subscribe to the blog because we will be posting on it regularly. Links to the blog and some of the posts that you may have missed are adjacent.

Visit The Harlequin Blog Homepage

Channel 4's A Place in the Sun, a lifestyle programme that provides advice on overseas investment, visited Buccament Bay Resort in November:
read more....

Bucc Bay becomes a PADI 5 Star Resort:
read more....

How the real Bucc Bay compares to the design images:
read more....

The first plane in the Harlequin Air fleet arrives home:
read more....

The Marquis Estate Update

Works

	Surveyors are working on the new road
	C O Williams delivered an excavator to the quarry and a bulldozer to the site
	C O Williams delivered the stone and roller to complete the new road
	Office is fitted out and awaiting delivery to the site
	EIA proposals being evaluated with decision on scoping studies expected next week
	Once new road is surveyed, Theobalds Engineers can commence design work
	Surveyors will move to existing road, which is expected to take one week to complete
	Once the new road is complete, the office can be delivered to the site, which is anticipated for this week
	Once the office is on site, the water tank and temporary generator can be installed

Project Overview

	Design work for the operations centre is 80% complete
	Design development is 25% complete
	The programme is currently 8-10 weeks behind due to a delay in receiving planning permission approvals
	Approval was granted in late October, allowing works to continue
	Completion date for the operations centre is now scheduled for July 2012

Surveyors working on the new road (1)

Surveyors working on the new road (2)

H Barbados Update

Works

	Erecting temporary works for demolition
	Temporary electrics
	Clearing vegetation to enable demolition
	Creating Temporary haul road at back
	Core drilling for foundation and slab calculations
	Moving site office
	Mock up room procurement placement
	Block C, the central section, has been demolished

Project Overview

	Work was temporarily halted in October due to delays in receiving standard concessions from the Government
	Design work 80% complete
	Design development 55% complete
	Expected completion date is now late 2012

Props supporting structures adjacent to Block C prior to demolition

Demolition of Block C (1)

Demolition of Block C (2)

Food, glorious food!

The lush tropical climate of St Vincent, the home of Bucc Bay, bears an exquisite array of local produce: fruits like breadfruit, mango, pineapple and banana; vegetables like arrowroot, dasheen leaves, cabbage and yams; herbs and spices like lemongrass and nutmeg; not to mention delicious local fish like jackfish, red snapper and barracuda.

As a result, we are able to source many fresh local ingredients to serve at the resort, which has allowed us to develop relationships with local producers, like farmers and fishermen. Going forward, we want to build on these relationships in order to meet the consistency of high quality produce in the high volumes we require to deliver the dining experience our guests expect. To this end, we are working with the Ministers of Agriculture and Tourism, and a group of local farmers in order to establish a stronger cooperative.

In the meantime, however, our operation for logistics and supplies extends further afield to Miami, Florida, where we have established a logistics centre. Procurement Manager, Jack Bell, and VP of Hotel & Resort Development, Garrett Ronan, are the ones responsible for sourcing produce of the quality, consistency and quantity required for running a 5 star luxury resort, with a particular focus on items that are not yet consistently available locally. Examples of this include apples, grapes, blueberries, cantaloupes, beef and other, non-culinary supplies.

In order to ensure that both quality and value are maintained, the team conducts regular business reviews and quality inspections of current and prospective vendors. Across the page you will see a photo taken from a recent visit to a vendor that provides the steaks used at Bucc Bay.

A shipment of produce ready for Bucc Bay

Harlequin inspecting full beef tenderloins used for our fillet steaks at Bucc Bay. Pictured (left-right): Howard Horn, President of Halperns; Jack Bell, HHR; Garrett Ronan, HHR; the Halperns Team.

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Harlequin Hotels & Resorts Limited. Company Registration no: 195924. Registered Office Address: PO Box 32322, 4th Floor Century Yard, Cricket Square, Elgin Avenue, Grand Cayman KY101209 Cayman Islands.

Tel: 0845 8884422 or +44 1268 242460 Fax: 0845 8884433 Web: http://www.harlequinhotelsandresorts.com