News of Oak Bay Beach Hotel’s awards “success”, would be hilarious were it not a downright farce.
Just how can any business venture fail so badly and then at the flick of a switch, receive accolades for excellence? An oxymoron if ever I saw one.
All that fanciful anticipating and exceeding of guest’s.needs (chocolate covered strawberries, romantic carpets of rose petals, fresh flowers every day, plush towels, 24/7 swimming) along with all the other paraphernalia needed for going (and I quote) “way above and beyond” is all very well, provided you can afford to pay those who supply what is needed to make these things happen.
It’s understand-able that some visitors “feel the whole place is yours” because in the case of some visiting suppliers, what they saw possibly was still theirs. Furthermore, it is ridiculous for manager Le Sage to say “it’s such a success story around here” when in fact, the financial history of the Oak Bay business has such a cataclysmic history of failure from day one.
She is also quoted as saying “The hotel went into receivership late last year and has maintained its business as usual since.” Well I bet suppliers are hoping for something better than that ... with or without TripAdvisor awards.
Still, I suppose there are always those 1,600 bottles in the tasting room.
Derrick Johns
Oak Bay