Blue Haven Hotel - Review Page 4
Hotel Staff
In our 2003 review we concluded that the staff at the Blue Haven were among the most professional we had come across on Tobago. We claimed “They are efficient and smart, with a lovely friendly but professional manner. Those lovely Tobagonian smiles are the very reason for this website and in turn, this review.“
How things can change in just a few years…
Don’t get me wrong, the smiles were still there. In fact there were far more smiles than I can ever remember before. I can’t think of a single member of staff – from the security guards, to gardeners, maintenanance staff, housekeeping, waiting staff and even reception staff (normally the most sour of individuals on Tobago) – who weren’t ‘smiley’, polite, friendly and who didn’t make you truly feel like a guest; someone they wanted to have a great holiday.
Why do I seem surprised? Well, the answer is that the hotel has supplemented its local staff with a substantial number of Filipinos. I had heard about this before arriving at the hotel, but confess that I didn’t (want to) accept it until I arrived.
The aim of this website was to help local tourism through the promotion of tourism. I accept that foreign nationals need to be employed in key roles where the local workforce lacks the training or experience, but employing foreigners as general staff really goes against the grain.
The sad fact is, however, that Tobago has full employment. Attempting to do ‘the right thing’, the local government has created a false situation through an ill-conceived social welfare employment schemes that pay anyone and everyone a full day’s wages for little more than an hour or two of work painting stones beside the road. Tobagonians have never had it so good. With more money in their pockets than they could have dreamed of five years ago, they drop and change jobs faster than… (OK, I’ll drop the comment about Essex girls so as not to upset my Essex-born wife).
The fact is that due to this ridiculour policy, hotels, restuarants and other businesses in the hospitality industry are finding it almost impossible to get good staff. Impossible to get ANY staff, not just GOOD staff.
This situation is not helped by the fact that Tobagonians have an endemic problem with ‘service’. Any employment to do with ‘service’ is seen as demeaning (and hence the snotty and superior attitude of so many receptionists). Please see our article on Tobagonians for a more detailed explanation of this and the historical/physiological reasons behind it.
The Blue Haven Hotel clearly found it virtually impossible to maintain the high standards that both they and their guests aspire to. The solution might stick in my throat, but the average visitor couldn’t care less. After all, visitors are only interested in having a great holiday and the Blue Haven’s solution definitely provides that. In that sense I have to give the hotel full marks.
I also have to admit that the solution seems to have paid off big-time with the local staff. Sure, the locals still employed at the Blue Haven are clearly the cream of the crop. However, working alongside the Filipinos and experiencing their work ethic and attitude towards service has clearly 
had an impact on the locals. Yes, you can still sometimes see the locals sitting back and letting the new boys (and girls) handle the brunt of the work, but equally they do seem to be benefiting from the experience.
If Tobago is serious about becoming a genuine player on the world tourism market, then it needs to up its game. The market is far too competitive for amateurs. Tobago has a serious problem with “service”. For every Tobagonian prepared to give good service there are another hundred who leave the tourist wondering why the island bothers to promote tourism if locals feel the way they treat visitors.
So, being a realist I must accept this new trend. Leaving aside the political issues, I have to admit that the general ethnic mix worked wonderfully at the Blue Haven and I think the new boys and girls are undoubtedly a great boon to the hotel and to the island. For the first time I felt that Tobago had a hotel that could compete on the international market.
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