Molly's Caribbean

Northwest Barbershop Quartet Serenades Sandals Chairman

The following is from a letter to me, detailing an interesting sandals experience from a satisfied customer.

Molly, whatever you told them about treating us like royalty (at the Royal…hahaha) worked! Our riverfront rooms were the most beautiful accommodations I’ve ever stayed in. Since we’ve been coming to Sandals, we notice such a focus on anticipating any wish a guest might have. Of course, there were the touches like towels folded into fun shapes and having a turn-down service, but other things have just turned up a notch. For example, in the past, you checked out a beach towel when you arrived and had to go to the cabana every day to turn in your soiled towel for a new one. Today, there are beach towels on every lounge chair and bins of them by the pool just waiting to be enjoyed. When we visited before, we had a refrigerator in our room, but I can’t remember if there was anything in it. This time, we had someone come to our room every day to ask what we would like in our room. We had a variety of bottled juice and water at our fingertips and cookies with our coffee every day. Even if this is part of the upgrade, it was such a wonderful touch. We were right above the rooms that had butler service. Did you know they even unpack for the guests! And their rooms have a cooler full of ice and beer or soft drinks to take to the pool. By the time we’d been there a few days, our wonderful maid was seeing to it that anything that was left over in those coolers found its way to our rooms.

The staff is a lovely as ever. Always a smile, and the concierge worked with us to make dinner reservations for the entire week so we could all sit together if we wanted to. It was no small task. When we arrived, the guys went immediately and sang for the wedding coordinators to give the a sense of what was available. The two women who “auditioned” them were absolutely delighted and loved the music. However, I think the staff at Sandals has such a rhythm of getting those weddings to take place in the prescribed manner that they just don’t know what to do when we throw our services into the mix. They did ask if the guys would sing for a couple renewing vows on a 25th anniversary…(it’s one of the pictures)…and they surprised them with the quartet, but that was the last wedding event organized through the resort. Of course, we are not to be stopped. And after seeing the u[graded rooms and the generous credit to each room, we wanted to be sure to earn our keep. We found several brides to sing to and they were all thrilled. One time, we were heading for dinner and one of our favorite waitresses ran after us and said there was a bridal party and would the guys sing. (The next day she told us how much it meant to the bride). This is certainly not a criticism, it’s just an observation. For them it’s probably like adding an extra ingredient to a recipe that already works.

To me, one of the most touching experiences wasn’t a bride and groom! It involves one couple absolutely LOVED the quartet when they sang at the talent show. The couple found us the next night having a drink in the pub and the man told Gary that they were at Sandals because they had lost their 19 year old daughter to brain cancer last year and he wanted to do something special for his wife to try to put some happiness in their life. Jim Buchan told the man that there was a special song that meant so much to him when his wife died that he couldn’t sing it for a long time. He asked if it would be okay to sing it to his wife. People in the pub knew about the daughter, and when the quartet sang “It’s a Wonderful World” (think Louie Armstrong), there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. It was a moment that no one will ever forget, us included.

Left to Right: Gary Epps, Jim Buchan, Rick Burrows (hotel manager Royal Caribbean), Jim Civarra, Bill DerganOne thing we noticed were all the “Golden Sandals” we saw around the pool. So many people seem to repeat at the Royal. It’s the perfect size, great location, and a wonderful facility. There were groups of 10 couples from the Midwest who come every year for Valentine’s Day. Believe it or not, we got acquainted with quite a few of these folks and the question they always asked was “is this the week you are coming next year because we want to be here when you come”. So many guests said the same thing.

Of course, you’ve heard about the highlight of the trip when fate stepped in and the guys got to sing for Butch Stewart. Did you see the email from Rick Burrows that said “Butch still talks about the Money song”? It was quite a moment.

Molly. Thank you. Sandy had a birthday she will never forget. We all had a better time than we even anticipated having. I know you weighed in with Rick to be sure we had the best time ever, and we did! We really, really appreciate you and your support for our group.

Pieces Of Eight Barbershop Quartet, has been singing together for over 15 years, bringing music and laughter to thousands of people in Western Washington and beyond.

– Molly Sumption, Caribbean / Sandals Expert, Seattle / Portland / subscribe to RSS feed