One of the incredible things about the Essential Detail luxury collection of hotels in the Caribbean is their ability to give back to the community. Not only with jobs for locals and the money tourism brings to the area but directly with charitable foundations.
Guests who pay for luxury often want to help give back to the community what they’ve received in experiences. The incredible relaxation, fine dining, stunning scenery and the friendliness of the Caribbean is something guests never forget. These foundations offer an excellent way of giving back and giving the community something they’ll treasure forever. Here are a few hotels from our collection of boutique properties which keep giving back.
East Winds, Saint Lucia has gone the personal route with their family foundation. A project set-up to help the families of East Winds’ staff members.
In Saint Lucia, the average cost of books is $US 370. Much too expensive for the average family who often goes into great debt trying to buy the books and keep their children in school.
With guests joining in to champion the cause, over forty children have been given their schoolbooks each year and last year school bags and stationery too.
In Saint Lucia, and all over the Caribbean, education is a powerful tool for future generations. Helping children to stay in school results in educated youths who will be able to go on to empower their communities.
The Jamaica Inn Foundation
The Jamaica Inn Foundation is a non-profit organization which focuses on the education and wellbeing of Jamaica’s youth and the ongoing preservation of the marine life.
The marine life is being helped with a two-pronged attack, by the White River Fish Sanctuary and the Oracabessa Bay Turtle Project. These projects pay for two full-time wardens, protect against overfishing, restore local coral and protect the hatchling turtles.
These projects are seeing incredible successes with 1600 hatchlings being recorded yearly and an on-target objective of increasing the fish population by 500% in just five years.
Guests staying at the Jamaica Inn during hatching season are lucky enough to be able to participate in the event, watching baby hawksbill sea turtles hatch and make their first journey into the ocean.
The Old Road Fund has been supporting the youth of Antigua in the West Indies for over forty years. In fact, to date over $US 1 million has been raised!
The Old Road fund has taken Curtain Bluff’s love of tennis and sports and turned it into life-changing opportunities for the local youth.
The fund is used to send youth to tennis camps, colleges and universities throughout the US. The excellent news is a college and university in Florida have now partnered with the Old Road Fund and are supplying tourism and hospitality scholarships. This empowers the locals to bring their knowledge and love of their island to the wider world – just as it should be.
The fund also supplies uniforms and sporting equipment for the local football and cricket teams.
It goes without saying that these hotels are luxury, boutique and gorgeous. Offering something steps above the average hotel. But for the more culturally discerning guests knowing that they’re also giving back to the community by helping the environment and empowering the youths is a cherry on top of the cake.
Guests can donate directly to the foundations or add some money on to the hotel bill. Every little helps and every dollar adds up to contribute to some wonderful causes making true changes around the Caribbean.
Blog written by Essential Detail.
