Bucuti Blog

This handsome young football player is my Grandfather, Ralph Johnson, photographed in the ’30’s. 

He was a teacher in Pacific Grove, California and the high school football coach.    They called him “Pappy”. 

He loved the outdoors and fishing…and took my father and his brother every summer vacation to appreciate nature in our beautiful US National parks - Yosemite, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone…  Later, he travelled all over the globe with my Grandmother while teaching high school in American Schools in US Army bases. 

He was an artist, and crafted figures from wood and whatever was laying around in his renown woodshop.  As a child I remember my father showing me his collection of his whimsical human figures made from Brazil nuts, walnuts and pecans…

My mother smiled when recalling an early morning when I was two years old and she found my grandfather telling me a story while he was sewing up the holes in the toes of my pajamas.

My grandfather died in his 50’s, leaving a family who loved him dearly - as well as thousands of students who remembered and honored him for decades.

My Grandfather died of blood cancer, Leukemia. 

I have always wished I had the opportunity to know this man who was loved by so many…especially my granndmother Mildred who often told me about the love of her life.  She kept his memory alive and remained his loving wife until she died over 25 years later. 

I couldn’t know him but I now have the chance to honor him and to help future families have a chance to find a cure for this cruel disease.    I am training for and running the Miami marathon this January with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training.   Team in Training has raised millions of dollars over the past 20 years and has improved survival rates for victims of Leukemia through the research they have funded.  

I am very proud to be a part of their team and invite you to visit my Team in Training Website:  http://pages.teamintraining.org/sfl/miami09/sbiemans

Thanks to those who have become sponsors for this cause and supporters of our team!

If you happen to be in Miami this January, please come and cheer our team!

Thank you!  Susan Biemans

Those of you who have visited Aruba before have probably enjoyed a Balashi Cocktail, also known as a glass of tap water.

Aruba’s tap water is renown for being of the cleanest and tastiest anywhere.  Originally sea water, the desalination process, which filters the water through coral rock, results in fresh, tasty water which flows directly from the tap and can also be purchased from the Tropical Bottling Company labeled “AWA,” Papiamento for water.

Visitors to Aruba however continue to demand bottled water.  As environmentalists, Bucuti management and associates do all we can to inform our guests that they may enjoy our safe, clean and tasty water from the tap and to inform about the damage to the environment caused by the process of bottling, transporting and ultimately the waste produced from this product.

The Earth Policy Institute estimates that to make the plastic for the bottles used only in the USA, 1.5 million barrels of oil is consumed, enough to power 100,000 cars for a year.   Nearly 90 percent of the bottles are not recycled.  A simple way to visualize the average energy cost to make the plastic, process and fill the bottle, transport bottled water to market and then deal with the waste - ” it would be like filling up a quarter of every bottle with oil.” states Peter Gleik, Director of the think-tank Pacific Institute located in Oakland California who is a leading expert in water policy. 

Therefore Bucuti has instituted a ban on imported bottled water in the resort.  While we continue to offer the locally bottled AWA - our Balashi Cocktail, for those who wish for the convenience of a bottle when hiking or exploring the island - we hope you will refill it.   We often get the request or comment that our visitors see us recycling paper and glass and ask why we do not recycle plastic…the answer is simply that plastic recycling is not possible in Aruba because it requires a huge facility and a huge amount of recyclable plastic to make it feasible.  We simply do not have enough waste to justify the creation of a plastic recycling plant.  Therefore we do all we can not to buy plastic - and reduce our consumption to as little as possible. (Hence the dispenser of Aruba Aloe lotions and shampoos instead of the little plastic bottles that inundate our landfills)

The other policy change this week is the promoting and sales of Heineken and the locally brewed and highly demanded Balashi Beer, exclusively.    Balashi’s beer bottles are returnable and deposit refundable and Heineken bottles are refilled with locally produced cleaning products for sale in our local supermarkets.  

We would love your feedback on our new environmentally friendly changes to our product offerings.   All the products we offer are top quality and tasty - do you believe the limited choice we offer in order to preserve our environment is a positive or negative decision in respect to your enjoying your vacation at our resort?   We hope to hear from you!

We celebrate Labor Day in Aruba on May 1st and I cannot think of a better time to talk about our wonderful team!

I am given positive feedback about our Bucuti associates on a daily basis.   Our guests want to be certain that I know about and recognize the people who have made their experience in Aruba special and I am grateful for the feedback. 

First time guest, Mrs. Dumford popped in my office last week to share her story about Filomena in housekeeping.  Filomena has been a part of our team since Bucuti opened in 1987…Mrs. Dumford described how she was moved by an unexpected delivery of steaming tea, lemon and honey from Filomena who learned the she had the flu.     The week prior, repeat guest Mr. Bijden informed me about how grateful he was for the extraordinary effort of Mr. Prince and the front desk team who located his wallet which he lost the evening before.  After calling the stores, restaurant and taxi company used by Mr. Bijden the wallet was finally found, retrieved and returned completely intact. 

I have come to know that our team is composed of authentic and mindful souls who continually inspire me with their genuine desire for our guests happiness.    Not only have I learned this from our guests, but also from first hand experience, working side by side with them recently in their daily routine.   My original reason for working the line positions is because I think that departmental policies and procedures made on the management level can only be done well when we know the intricacies of each and every position.  So for several weeks I spent one day a week as a housekeeper, a waitress, a mini bar attendant, a front office receptionist, etc. etc.   

In the Tara Lounge I marveled over Marguerita and Caroline’s ability to do so much, so quickly and efficiently…amazing women who happen to be sisters - and they run the entire operation themselves from set up to break down and everything in between.  I always appreciated their hard work, but I am now in awe.  While I was preoccupied with cutting fruit into precise pieces for the fruit salad, they had set up the entire buffet, I struggled to keep up with them.  Afterwards they manage the mini bar operation.  Amazing women !   I was constantly smiling as I observed guests’ faces light up in response to their warm, broad smiles as they were welcomed to breakfast. 

In housekeeping, our star, Bernice Dennis, moved through her rooms like the wind with her usual grace and Mona Lisa smile, never missing a detail.  Guests often ask to be located in her section and it was clearer to me why, she is so thorough and pleasant.  

The front office team is the most cheerful group of people you will ever meet.  Mukesh will knock you out with his smile as he and the team he has personally trained greet everyone at curbside and ultimately to the guestrooms.  Prince Alexander and Inca Boye are two long time front office treasures who recognize our repeat guests and often navigate around the desk to give warm welcome back hugs.   Both love to laugh, love people, take great pride in their work and sincerely care if our guests enjoy themselves on their island and in their work place.  

Our guest experience begins with the reservation process  and our team led by the young and ambitious Romy Ras is the best.  I would challenge any of our big corporate chain neighbors to come close to the personal service that Marinda, Sharol and Jill deliver every day.   They engage our guests with such care that in most cases, we feel we know them before they even arrive and are able to deliver their dreams, as promised. 

Behind the scenes we have amazingly talented  professionals like Mr. Wilfred Kelly, one of our engineers.  Mr. Kelly knows where every electrical line and pipe is located, above and underground and as Ewald says with enthusiasm: “he can fix anything”

At the helm of the operation is Deborah Dintelman.  Deborah sees everything…nothing gets by her and while she is known to rule with determination and will, she is the first one to come to the aid of an associate in need and fight for the advancement of her most dedicated team members for the opportunity to grow.   Deborah…I shutter to think about Bucuti without her.   She is our north star.

I would love to recognize all 89 of our associates personally because my time working with them in their departments was inspiring.  It also gave me better insight about setting operational policy and they were prolific with their feedback on how we can do it better!  I have pages of notes…  The time with them also gave me a deeper and renewed respect for their hard work.   On this labor day I wish to recognize the everyday effort of each and every member of our Bucuti team who is deserving of the praise and celebration that the ‘big’ stories of tea and found wallets receive.  With this blog I hope to deliver just that.   

Caroline, Susan and Marguerita in the Tara Lounge for breakfast

Susan with the housekeeping team