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HOTELS Interview: Adding value to the luxury experience

Turks + Caicos has built a reputation for its high-quality, high-end hotel product, but especially in light of ongoing economic challenges, the destination has been forced to reevaluate its offerings and in some cases reposition them to appeal to a changing consumer group.

No one understands this reality better than Karen Whitt. General manager of the Regent Palms Turks + Caicos for almost two years now, Whitt also serves as president of the Turks + Caicos Association, an organization with which she has been involved for the past seven years.

HOTELS spoke with Whitt about recent shifts she has made at her hotel as well as the evolution of the Turks + Caicos market as a whole.

HOTELS: Talk about some of the recent upgrades at the Regent Palms. What stands out to you as most significant, and why?

Karen Whitt: Regent Palms opened in February 2005, so the property is going into its eighth year of operation. You’re naturally going to need to refresh. In terms of infrastructure, the property is really gorgeous. So we’ve not really done major renovation, but we’ve refreshed everything — fabrics and colors and styles and so forth.

We have one of the largest spas in the Caribbean — it’s a 25,000-sq-ft (2,323-sq-m) spa, and highly regarded. We did this past March go through a spa relaunch. We did kind of a fun theme. It’s an East-meets-West concept. Regent is based out of Taiwan, so there is Asian influence through the brand. Most of our treatments are Asian-based therapies. Because of the fact that we’re in the Caribbean, we’re trying to infuse more local influence through some of the herbs, lotions and so forth that we use. For example, conch is a big fish product on the island, so we’ve created a conch body polish. We actually take the conch shell and grind it up, and in the body polish it gives this amazing pink sheen.

We did a major refresh of our Parallel 23 fine dining room. The physical element of it looks a little different. It’s modern. We put these huge black-and-white marble tiles all throughout the dining room and the bar so it gave a different look, an uplift. More importantly in F&B, we have a new executive chef who has worked all over the world. So he brings in a lot of interesting flair.

In Turks it’s difficult to differentiate yourself. The business model is very similar throughout the market. It’s a high-end destination. We’re constantly trying to figure out how to gain a competitive edge. One of the things we’ve done this year is we’ve really taken a hard look at all the value-added concepts people are looking for. Being on the high-end scale is difficult sometimes, especially when you’re working in a tight economy and the competition is so tough. For example, we have a kids program; we’ve now made that complimentary for every guest. We’re incorporating long-distance phone calls to the United States and Canada for no charge. We’re doing enhanced butler services for our penthouse units. We’ve always had butler service available at a charge; now we’re just incorporating that as a service for anyone who books one of our penthouse units.

What we really want to do is maintain the integrity of our rate structure, and we feel like the better way to remain competitive is giving more. People want that value for the money. They don’t mind paying for something that is of a high level, but they want to walk away feeling like they really got their money’s worth.

HOTELS: What was the business impetus behind these upgrades? Are they helping you attract more guests or a different guest profile?

Whitt: We’ve always been very successful, so it’s hard to quantify it. Because we’re rolling out some of these initiatives right now, I think after the first quarter I’ll have a good indication of how the value-add element is working.

Our spa has always been one of our greatest assets here, and it’s another way we’re able to differentiate ourselves. So with the relaunch of that there’s been some new buzz and excitement, but I’m not sure I could say we’ve seen a certain percent increase overall. We do have a very high ratio of returning guests at the hotel, so it’s really rewarding them.

HOTELS: Where is your typical guest coming from?

Whitt: The U.S. eastern seaboard is our primary market. I would say 85% of customers — not just to Regent Palms but to the Turks + Caicos destination — come from New York, Boston and even into the Carolinas. We’re seeing more penetration into the Midwest. Chicago is a growing market for us. We do get a good amount of business from Texas.

Canada would be number two. We have good airlift, non-stop service from Canada, and Canadians tend to enjoy the island.

We do have some European business, but that is an emerging situation for us because of the airlift. We have challenges with the airlift out of Europe so that doesn’t tend to be one of our bigger markets.

The next emerging market we’re really focusing on is South America, particularly Brazil.

HOTELS: How has business been for the broader Turks + Caicos market? How does it compare with what’s going on in the Caribbean as a whole?

Whitt: We have been extremely fortunate. Turks + Caicos is still considered a new destination. Fifteen years ago, most of these properties were not even here. There was a boom in development eight to 10 years ago. With the way the market was positioned as high-end, it hasn’t worn away through the economic challenges.

The other thing I think is important is we are so accessible particularly to North America. The U.S. dollar is our main currency. We have one of the lowest crime rates in the Caribbean. It’s a very clean, quality destination. And again, because of the high level of developments here, we’ve been able to maintain that integrity.

Business has been impacted. We’ve had to become sensitive and competitive. We’ve really had to be aggressive to stay competitive with neighboring islands. From a hotel association standpoint, we have enhanced our marketing efforts and our outreach. A lot of what you see in terms of value-add and reevaluating rate structures is a direct result of what’s going on in the world. I think many of these things were done in an effort to maintain our market share, but we’ve all had to change the way we do business.

HOTELS: What are your biggest goals for the future of the Regent Palms?

Whitt: For Regent Palms, it’s continuing in the service arena. This fall we invested a lot in service and training. We want to make sure we’re meeting every guest’s expectation. From a service standpoint, I would like to see that we’re continuing to raise the bar — not just with what you would normally expect, but with those “wow” things.

Number two is all the value-add. We want every customer who comes here to feel like we did meet their expectation but also exceeded it. I think that’s the wave of the future — not just in the Caribbean, but worldwide.

HOTELS: What are your goals for the broader Turks + Caicos market?

Whitt: Ten years ago, if someone mentioned Turks + Caicos, the first question was where is that? No one knew who we were in the grand scheme of things. There have been major breakthroughs in terms of Turks + Caicos being recognized as a leading Caribbean destination. A year from now, I’d love to see that increase even more. We need to focus on a more global stage, reaching out in South America and Europe. We hope collectively as a group to continue the fact that when you think about Turks + Caicos there’s a certain connotation of the quality of the product and the island and all it has to offer.

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