By Janet Silvera, Gleaner WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
FIVE HUNDRED years ago, it was the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. Now it's the Riu, Bahia Principe and the Ibero Star arriving via A300s and 747s.
The Spanish invasion is back, and this time with money in hand, Spanish Rotundas and some serious grandeur. Their destination: the island's crème de la crème resort areas.
On Wednesday night, the place to be was Negril's newest all-inclusive, five-star resort, Riu ClubHotel, where management showed off its 420-room property located on Bloody Bay beach, to a host of tourism officials, travel agents, tour operators and the business community.
At 7:00 p.m., the welcoming sounds of an all-star studded gold and white Caribbean Regal Steel band danced and grooved superbly to rock and roll, while Moét and Chandon found its way to the palates of those who mingled and munched during the pre-dinner affair.
An hour of cocktail and chatter created the ambience for much bigger things, as guests were later escorted to the 'Shadows' double-decker restaurant where a presidential table awaited the likes of Minster of Industry and Tourism, Aloun N'dombet Assamba, Executive Vice-President of Sales, Jordi Planella and Spanish Ambassador Rafael Jover.
Within the confines of Shadows, several food stations lined the magnificent porcelain and marble tiled floors, while executive chef Manuel Travis and sous chef David Bowen titillated the appetites with oxtail, jerked chicken, roasted suckling pig, grilled lobster and shrimp, red snapper and salmon.
A cold seafood station was home to mussels, oysters, a variety of cocktail sauces and caviar, and an array of grilled vegetables, raw vegetables, corn on the cob and prime spare ribs played sweet music to the inner being.
DINNER DONE, ENTERTAINMENT
Dinner completed and digested with Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon, guests were escorted to the Barcelon Entertainment area surrounded by a plaza, which houses a large outside bar.
This time around the music was Copa Cobana Tropicale style, as Spanish dancers dressed as queens and Arabian knights sent shivers down the spines of those who watched earnestly.
The night was young, the chatter exciting, and Isiaa Madden, the young Jamaican female architect assigned to all the Riu hotels on the island, looked at her handiwork with humility.
Riu's sales manager, Angella Bennett, glowed with that certain sense of satisfaction, Canadian-based Pat Samuels wore her Paul Mitchell hairpiece, Louis Ferraud polka dot dress and hugged her Furla bag closely.
Riu ClubHotel general manager Frank Sondern could not stay still for one moment, Carole Guntley was in her elements, Carolyn Wright and Evelyn Smith tried hard to compete with the sexiness of this writer by wearing black, Harry Smith was a true gentleman and Director of Tourism Paul Pennicook could not have seen happier times.
Minister of State Dr. Wyckeham McNeil, the deputy essential, David Sheilds, Godfrey Dyer, the Hon. Mavis Whitter King, Custos of Hanover, Steve Padley, general manager, Riu Tropical Bay and Pedro Cepede, corporate food and beverage manager are just a few of the people that attended the grand affair.
