St. Thomas Marriott Frenchmans Reef and Morningstar

Discussion created by tef6178 on Jul 6, 2012

I noticed that this property has received very bad ratings for it's service and staff. The commentary has, at times, wondered why Marriott allows this poor service to continue over what appears to be an extended period. Hopefully, this post can help to give a little insight into a situation that, unfortunately, is beyond the control of Marriott to the point where the only solution might be to give up the property. Let me explain:


When we bought our home on the beautiful island of St. Maarten, there was a Marriott property there. Right on Simpson Bay. Probably one of ther best properties on the island. Service at this location was horrible to put it nicely. Marriott walked away from the property when the opportunity arose to cancel it from their control. But, and as many don't know, on these islands (other countries) the GOVERNMENT tells the employer whether or not they can terminate an employee. And, believe me, the government is on the side of the employee every time. Yes, an employer has to ASK the government's labor commission for permission to get rid of a bad employee. I saw this first hand on St. Maarten and found through my friends and associates I met over the years that many of these islands operate in the same manner. Needless to say, I was shocked that this happens, but have found it on various islands and properties.


Consequently, and because of this standard, what happens is that many employees, quite frankly, don't give a hoot whether or not they do a good job, take care of the customer or aggravate them or 'go beyond' to accomodate requests of any type. They aren't concerned about losing their job because the government officials will keep them there. I'm not saying that every employee is bad, but a lot of them, when their day is strained, go down a bad path because they don't have accountability. A company could terminate an employee if they desire, but the wrath of the government isn't worth the problems when they (the employee) file a complaint and the government tells the employer to not only pay them back wages but also fine them for violating the laws of the island.


Just a little tidbit to remember when your service in the resort isn't what you think it should be.


It doesn't justify service being what it is, but some resort operators deal far better with this issue than others.