FREEPORT, BAHAMAS — With a $1.2 million investment in upgrades to the in-house restaurant at Ocean Reef Resort, as well as the renovation of its roof, kitchen and outside pool area, management and staff are ready to welcome guests from all over the world and The Bahamas.
The resort boasts being “one of the largest timeshare facilities on Grand Bahama”. Its Hurricane Dorian damage was minimal, after a long recovery from Hurricane Mathew, but with downtime due to COVID-19 it was able to undergo renovations.
Although the pandemic stopped international guests from traveling in their usual numbers, the resort has still managed to maintain a good occupancy as well as all its staff.
Ocean Reef Resort CEO Kor Dormans said: “We took the time during the COVID downtime to refurbish rooms and upgrade our restaurant facilities. We’ve also revamped our social media pages and are working on our website revamp this year.
“This way, we can update our guests both locally and internationally on resort news and we joined Instagram to highlight our restaurant news, too.”
The renovated restaurant can accommodate up to 60 people following COVID-19 safety protocols, with its roof entirely covering the ample outside seating.
Just before Christmas, the restaurant held its first theme night, an Ugly Sweater Night, and welcomed singer Ryan Carroll to entertain guests.
Dormans stated: “Though our turnout was small, we were pleased to welcome local guests and show off our new expanded seating area. Our guests also enjoyed the soft sounds of Carroll’s singing and we plan to have him back every Saturday evening in January and February.”
The head chef at Ocean’s Blue is Michel Pratt, who has been with the resort for 15 years.
Despite the changes this year, the staff was still able to host a few small events for the company’s Christmas parties as well as local men’s golfing lunches.
Pratt noted: “Our menu combines both Bahamian and international favorites. We try to offer specials on the weekends to add to our menu, and for private events, we cater to our clients’ needs.”
The resort added more parking earlier this year, which allows local customers to park both outside the resort and in the rear of the restaurant location.
Dormans said: “We hope to welcome more locals this year. We have the room for safety in spacing and our resort allows us to have fun games for children to play while here and docking space for those coming by boat, too.”
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