Sandals Royal Plantation

Two years ago I did my international internship at Royal Plantation (now Sandals Royal Plantation). The placement put my colleague student Tasha and I at this resort. I still remember our first impression. After a 9 hour flight and 2 hour busdrive, we finally arrived at the resort. The first thing that got my attention was how romantic it looks. Lots of green, peacock statue, roman pillars. I was sold! We got welcomed by O'Brian and he must really thought that we acted strange when he asked " What can I bring for you ladies to drink? Juice, wine or champagne?" I think our looks must have been one that said "uhm, excuse me, you are offering me champagne? Is that normal?". For me, champagne is popped when you have a celebration, not as a welcoming drink. As funny as it sounds, we were in love with their restroom. It looked all glamorous with the gold color framed mirrors, nice fixtures and even a basket with rolled-up linen napkins to dry your hands. I felt like a royalty. At the end I still used paper napkins though, because I didn't want to dirty up a linen napkin.

We were brought to our suite and it had an amazing view on the beach. One surprise after another, someone knocked on our door. Jason, the guy in front of the door introduced himself as our personal butler. We even got a butlerphone to call him in case we need anything. He even told us that he already made reservations for us at the restaurant. Since we heard about our appointed ressort at the airport before departure, we never could've guessed that we would be put in such a highclass ressort and we didn't packed accordingly. We dressed in our best clothes we could find and went to the restaurant. It had such a romantic ambiance that I even thought it was a pity I was not with my boyfriend instead. Another funny thing was when we got the menu. We looked at the prices and were wondering if we need to pay for it. Since we're interns and haven't received anything about our rights and obligations, it was a big question mark what will happen. So we both really only ordered a main course and after some suggestive selling of the waiter, we chose to share a dessert. The waiter must have thought that we were on a diet or so. The first day felt like a dream, especially since we didn't expect such generosity and hospitality as interns.

My internship was awesome!!  I had the privilege of a guest, but also the at-work benefits as a staff. The 3 months flew by so fast. We were brought to several places to see Ochi ( that's how locals call Ocho Rios) and have a feel of the daily life of the locals. The guys reminded me again of what it is to be treated as a lady. I got the opportunity to learn how to play golf and enjoy their famous jerk chicken at Scotchies. In these 3 months, I even grew an interest in pastry making, all the 'fault' of Mr. Smith and Ms. Keneisha.

It was a wonderful time for me and a time I will never forget. My gratitude for some of the staff members in RP can't simply be expressed in  words. They made my internship a memorable one.