With a 1.2 million investment in upgrades to the inhouse 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. As one of the largest timeshare facilities in Grand Bahama, the resort's hurricane Dorian damage was thankfully minimal, after a long recovery from Hurricane Mathew.

Now, with Covid-19 stopping international guests from traveling in their usual numbers, the resort has still managed to maintain a good occupancy as well as all its staff. “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,” said Kor Dormans, CEO of Ocean Reef Resort. “This way we can update our guests both locally and internationally on resort news and we joined Instagram to highlight our Restaurant news too.” 

With Covid-19 protocols in place the renovated restaurant can accommodate a large number of guests, 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. “Though our turnout was small, we were pleased to welcome local guests and show off our new expanded seating area,” noted Dormans. “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.”

Oceans Blue head chef 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. “Our menu combines both Bahamian and International favorites,” said Pratt. “We try to offer specials on the weekends to add to our menu, and for private events, we cater to our client's 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. “We hope to welcome more locals this year,” added Dormans. “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!”

IN the wake of a single mother reportedly being beaten to death, Women United Northern Bahamas has asked for individuals to petition their politicians and policy makers to demand stiffer penalties and legislation to protect women and girls.

POLICE are investigating a suspected suicide in New Providence just days after a man was discovered hanged from a ceiling in Grand Bahama.

According to police, the New Providence man’s unresponsive body was found in a home on Victoria Avenue on Monday.

TOURISM Minister Dionisio D'Aguilar yesterday said he is not happy with the country's tourism arrival numbers since border restrictions were softened, adding the pandemic has made fewer people want to travel.