Divi introduces a new wing, with a party under the stars

We enjoyed a beautiful poolside party at Divi last night, on the inaugural occasion of the new sixty rooms, graced by two pools, seamlessly incorporated into the existing resort. The rooms are a symphony of rich cream and coffee colors, with some teal accents. Both the minister of tourism and the CEO of the Aruba Tourism Authority compared the feel of the accommodations to that of the Ritz Carlton Aruba, meaning stylish, contemporary and upscale. Managing Director Alex Nieuwmeyer elaborated on the green qualities of the building, green as in energy efficient, not as in political affiliation. Superbly insulated, featuring the latest in green technology the rooms will be as close to NZE as possible on the island, among the first net zero energy buildings. We loved the champagne and Mexican hors d’oeuvres, under the silvery moon. Mexican?  In honor of Pure Lime, the resort’s new Mexican restaurant, with everything from decor to menu and kitchen engineering by Alex and his in-house team.

Here are some of Alex’s welcome remarks, all worth reading:

Minister Otmar Oduber, Members of Parliament, Mrs. Ronella Tjin AsJoe Director of Aruba Tourism Authority, Mr Jim Hepple, President of AHATA and dear guests:

Welcome to our Divi showcase including a new front entrance, a refreshed lobby, a new Mexican restaurant with authentic Mexican fare presented by our chef Lissette, and most importantly 60 additional luxury rooms supported by two new pools.

Thank you for joining us at the opening ceremony which will be executed by the honorable Minister of Tourism, Otmar Oduber.

Following a trend set by the government, the building behind me is truly green.  Environmentally green. Built with a Canadian system using Nudura Styrofoam blocks filled with cement and rebar. The new wing was completed in seven and a half months from start to finish. And the units are superbly insulated to keep cool air in and warm air out. The walls are cushioned with 5cm of foam on both side and 20cm cement and rebar in between, making them 30cm thick, reminiscent of the old cunucu house building style.  As they are so well insulated only a small 9,000BTU air-conditioning unit keeps the room cool and the electric consumption low. As a matter of fact once we finish our 100KW solar installation next month, according to our TU Delft educated Aruban Energy Manager, Javier St Jago, this addition will be energy consumption neutral.

Besides solar power, we have solar water heaters, sun reflecting sliding doors and naturally, LED lighting. The time of crawling under the nightstand to find a plug for your Iphone is over, as well.  Each room has 5 USB ports, 2 next to the bed and 3 on the desk along with receptacles which take British, European and American plugs. (The crowd of invitees broke into applause right here!)

Divi Resorts is not only about quantity with its 1,300 rooms, 14 restaurants and 12 bars, but more about continuously looking to increase and upgrade the quality of product and services.  Divi is offering tourists a quality vacation experience in their rooms and at the food & beverage outlets, laced with genuine hospitality. Divi is also a quality experience as far as the work environment is concerned, for all its employees.

Many employees have been with us for a long time and all are enjoying the quality journey we are taking together.

All our projects are executed directly by us at Divi Resorts. We do our own interior design for the restaurants including, painting the artwork – Alex is the painter of the artwork hanging in the restaurant –   and we do the interior design and furniture design of the rooms, and we build our projects with the help of many local companies.  The evening would not be complete without some thank-yous to all local companies who worked hard and helped us finalize the rooms in time.

Orlando Hoevertsz for the architecture which blends in nicely with the rest of the resort ; Leon Hamers for technical design; Andy Thijssen, of Otis elevators, for getting us the elevators in time; Frank Pronk, Protec, for  great air-conditioning installations; Aris Knikker, Robertson Fire protection for the  fire system we hope we’ll never use;  Gerald Perez of  Electra Spark who will turn on the lights tonight; Gerardo llontop for the labor contracts along with Assif Mohammed;  Miriam Croes, electrical installer who guided us through the work with Elmar, Nadim Seecharam, with Eagle roofing, our pool man Glenn Renfrum, of Morningstar and then our own building superintendent Rohan Seawhar, supervisors Alim, Nardat and Shaffeek who have already worked with Divi for over 20 years and have pretty much executed every project within the resort.

Of course nothing would have worked without our General Manager Marin Bijl who headed up the project along with the many other departments heads and project assistant, Erasmus university educated Aruban Lydianne Croes. Such a large group to thank for their tremendous effort and dedication to this project!  And now it is time to show you what we did, welcome to the new wing, welcome to Divi.

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January 15, 2016
Rona Coster