Last year around this time I was hired to review Half Moon resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and although the ultra luxury vacation is not my style I had no problem at all pretending to fit in at this type of establishment. In fact, I loved being there so much that I returned to the resort a week after my assignment just to have a few drinks with the bartender and watch the fabulous jazz band I had seen a week earlier.
The Saturday night that I went back for drinks, in true Kristi fashion I was sitting at the bar all by myself, chit-chatting with the bartender. There were two ladies seated at the bar to my right who thought I must be a “regular” by the way I was interacting with the bartender so they asked me how long I’d been staying at the resort. I told them I wasn’t staying, I just dropped in for the evening to watch the band. I also told them that I had stayed for a few nights the week before to write the review for Forbes.
These ladies, a mother and daughter, were from England and just by talking to them it was evident that they had a LOT of money. They spoke of their travels everywhere, staying in ultra high-end accommodations as a rule. I guess maybe I would do that as well if I was wealthy. Then they asked me how my review of Half Moon went and whether I liked it or not. Of course I raved about it to them as I did in my 4-part mini-series here on the blog.
Right after I sang my praises to them about my experience the first thing they did was disagree and start ripping into how bad their experience had at the resort had been so far. I was flabbergasted and all I could do was sit back and listen to wealthy people complain about one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my travel writing career. During their tirade the WORST feeling I had was for Caswell, the bartender because even though I could disagree with them he could say nothing. It would be inappropriate. Yet, he has worked at the resort for something like fifteen years he told me the week before.
But as the evening went on and the conversation continued a small realization hit me. These people paid for their experience at Half Moon, I GOT PAID to be there. They are used to luxury, I’m used to the local life. Two completely different perspectives, which made me wonder if I would have the same opinions as them if I was wealthy. I had to stop ordering drinks after two rums because of price, they ordered more drinks, paid my entire bill and even offered me the couch in their cottage if I couldn’t drive all the way back to Lucea where I was sleeping that night.
Two completely different lifestyles and completely different perspectives.
Through conversation it was revealed that for their two-week vacation at the resort they had paid $36,000 USD. **GULP** That’s a full-time annual salary for many people in the regular world. Perhaps if I paid that much to be there I’d be hyper-critical of it too.  But instead I was offended and took it personally on behalf of regular people like myself and especially on behalf of the workers at the resort like Caswell, who work very hard to create the ambiance that their clientele demands.
Eventually the ladies called it a night and decided to head back to their cottage. I thanked them for taking care of my bill and wished them a great rest of their vacation, then sat at the bar a while longer to finish up conversation with Caswell.
I’ve had a note on my desk for nearly six months to write this post about the “rich people” at Half Moon but I’ve procrastinated on writing it because in addition to meeting these ladies, I had met several other couples during my three days at the resort who are absolutely in love with it. I even met a couple who told me they have been coming to this resort every single year for over twenty years because it’s like “home” for them. They know and love the staff and wouldn’t go anywhere else on the island.
So, because I got to hear both sides of the coin from a neutral, non-paying perspective I have to respect both opinions. If I paid $36,000 USD for two weeks ANYWHERE I would expect nothing short of miracles. But as the happy people made it sound, they DO experience miracles and keep returning for more miracles.
How do you think you would behave and what would your expectations be at a resort like this?
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