Of all the current up-market properties operating in Anguilla, Malliouhana Hotel and Spa has the distinction of providing a quarter century of top service on the island.

View of a section of Malliouhana Hotel and Spa

Like Cap Juluca and CuisinArt Resort & Spa, Malliouhana Hotel has over the years been among the leading small hotels in the world having received high international ratings and commendation for service.

Malliouhana’s General Manager, Nigel Roydon, believes that it is this high rating and dedication to quality service and efficiency that have continued to make the family’s hotel a popular choice for visitors from the higher end of the tourism industry.

“November 2007 is the start of our 25th year which will finish at the end of August next year,” Mr. Roydon told The Anguillian this week, in the run up to Malliouhana’s reopening date on Thursday, November 1, that: “We have been one of the top Caribbean hotels for which we are very proud. All of our staff are also very proud and have a tremendous feeling for the property and without them we couldn’t have achieved what we have achieved.”

There are 260 employees at Malliouhana Hotel and Spa, almost five per room for the 55-room property.

Mr. Nigel Roydon

Mr. Roydon went on: “Our advance bookings are slightly ahead of last year’s so potentially we are looking at another good year. I think the problems in the world might impinge on that, in that the American economy is not looking quite as robust as it has in the past and over 70% of our business comes from the United States of America; so it’s really a question of how it goes.”
Questioned as to what he thought led to his increased bookings, he replied: “I don’t think there is any specific reason I can give other than we were given a lot of accolades last year. We were voted the best Caribbean resort by Conde Nast and 5th in the Caribbean by Travel & Leisure and 69th in the world, but we were the top Anguillian property in Travel & Leisure as well as and were given certain other smaller awards. We were voted the best spa in the Caribbean again by Travel & Leisure so all of those things must have had some influence on bookings.”

He continued: “Anyone of us is so small compared with the size of the tourism sector of the world that a small increase or decrease is really insignificant in the whole scheme of things. World tourism seems to be up and Anguilla is hopefully going to have a share of that increase.”

Mr. Roydon spoke about one of his biggest concerns: “With all the new properties about to be opened during the course of next year, and the year after, there are going to be a lot more rooms on the island. That’s going to require a lot of staff and I don’t think there are enough people in Anguilla to staff them. The hotels might have to start looking overseas for some of their staff. That brings us to the accommodation of those staff because it seems to me that there is very little accommodation available on the island.

“The builders, who were the first ones here, have taken up everything that is available. They have to continue their work for many years to come and I just don’t see where the hotel workers are going to be accommodated. That could cause a problem in terms of, if you can’t find workers, you are going to try to work with fewer people and then things get stretched. I think the Government really needs to put some thought into increasing the amount of available accommodation, either for Anguillians to come back or for OECS people to come in.”

Asked whether he was saying that the Government should get involved in building houses, he responded: “No, but I think the Government needs to get involved in encouraging people to build homes.” He added: “I am not saying I know the answers to the problem. It is just that the problem does concern me.”

In the meantime, Malliouhana continues to do its part to serve the island’s growing tourism market and to contribute to the economy of Anguilla and the livelihood of its people.

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