Cobalt Coast Resort

[BDSC]

Eduardo is great! My wife has to do gluten-free so right after we arrived, he stopped by our room to speak to my wife and she simply asked if they had any gluten-free types of breads as she liked something like that for breakfast. The guy immediately gets on his phone and calls his wife who was coming to the island the very next day. He has her go to the local grocery store before she comes and she brings two packages of gluten-free muffins and some bread with her. Definitely above and beyond the call of duty.

It really is the best resort in all the Caribbean.

 

[AggieDiver]

I just got a followup email letting me know that they are also making plans to expand their dining room. So it sounds like they are being proactive about recognizing the need for an upgrade if they are staying full more often. My wife and I spoke to him while eating one night and at the bar during trivia night. I didn't realize at the time what his position with the resort was, but he seems like a very earnest and friendly guy. Based on the response to my email, I believe he will be working very hard to maintain and even improve upon the dining and bar experience at LCBR. Glad to hear he was able to help your wife with her needs.

The whole dining and kitchen staff are great! My wife managed to wrangle a recipe trade for one of their desserts. We have a key lime tree on our back porch that has about 20-30 limes about to come ripe. The key lime pie we had one night was the best variety of that pie I have ever had. So my wife offered to trade a Mississippi mud cake recipe for the key lime pie recipe. Now we just have to figure out how to cut the recipe down to size...not sure the two of us can knock off the quantity of pie that would start with 30 egg yolks and 2 pounds of graham crackers. At least not without gaining 20 pounds each.

 

[Alex777]

Official news from Jay Eaterbrook:

"Divetech has partnered with Lighthouse Point Dive Resort, Grandview Cayman Condos Seven Mile Beach, Sunshine Suites Resort and Shangri-La Bed & Breakfast. This will give our divers a better price point for their diving budget."

At this juncture, I am not sure what "partnered with" entails.

 

[KathyV]

Cayman Compass Article:

Divetech moving out of Cobalt Coast :: Cayman Compass

Divetech moving out of Cobalt Coast

By: James Whittaker | jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com

01 September, 2015

Popular West Bay dive operator Divetech is moving out of its base at Cobalt Coast resort and expanding its operations at Lighthouse Point.

Arie Barendrecht, owner of Cobalt Coast, said Monday that Divetech’s 15-year lease at the hotel had ended and he was bringing in a different operator to run the on-site dive business.

He denied rumors that Cobalt Coast was being sold and said more information about the new dive operator would be released later in the week.

Nancy Easterbrook, owner of Divetech, said the business would move its headquarters to Lighthouse Point on Northwest Point Road, where it plans to construct a new sea pool for dive training.

She said the operator would partner with hotels and condos to offer dive travel packages.

“We’ve enjoyed our partnership at Cobalt Coast, but for some time our customers have asked for other properties on the island, and we’ve listened to them,” she said.

Mr. Barendrecht said the lease would come to an end on Dec. 1.

“It has been a great partnership, but sometimes you put your business head on and say ‘maybe it’s time to make a change,’” he added.

He declined on Monday to give more details.

Ms. Easterbrook said new staff would be hired for Divetech’s reservations department as a result of the switch, which will also involve the launch of its own travel department.

“We want to be a one-stop shop for both industry travel professionals and consumers,” said Ms. Easterbrook. “Divetech is going into this wholeheartedly and we’re serious about providing excellent travel services, as we have done with diving for more than 20 years.”


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Divetech moving out of Cobalt Coast

Posted by Jay Easterbrook on 9/1/2015 1:41:35 PM

Divetech has partnered with Lighthouse Point Dive Resort, Grandview Cayman Condos Seven Mile Beach, Sunshine Suites Resort and Shangri-La Bed & Breakfast. This will give our divers a better price point for their diving budget.

 

[keyshunter]

Aggie,
Management recognized that the dining room was too small very early on and have been "making plans to expand" it for many years. A number of ideas for a possible expansion have been proposed and all would be difficult and expensive. It will be interesting to see if an expansion actually happens.

Early this year an edict came down that "there shall be no reserved tables". In a short time, reserved signs began reappearing. It is a rock or hard place situation with the financial clout of the large groups having a tendency to alter some rules. I have, on many occasions, seen people who belonged to large groups occupy some of the very few 2 and 4 person tables thus adding to the problem. Claudia (whom I have known since she arrived on LC) and the other DR people have been great about walking this tightrope. But, there is just so much that they can do. The best solution, of course, is a larger dining room. Everyone in the management chain knows this.

 

[BDSC]

Early this year an edict came down that "there shall be no reserved tables". In a short time, reserved signs began reappearing. It is a rock or hard place situation with the financial clout of the large groups having a tendency to alter some rules.

We were there with a group of 31 a few weeks back. One thing I tell folks when we go is that we don't pull tables together and try and sit that many people in an area and we never ask that they reserve any tables for us. Of course we have plenty of folks who like sitting out on the screened porch anyway even though it's hot. Our group was all over the place. Sometimes a couple would dine alone at a table for two, sometimes you'd see a group of four, and there were a few tables that sat 10 to 12 and we would take those tables as well. We have some folks, like me, that is ready to eat the minute they ring the bell, others find their way in 30 minutes later. To me, seating should be first come first serve.

 

[keyshunter]

To me, seating should be first come first serve.

Agreed!

 

[AggieDiver]

Aggie,
Management recognized that the dining room was too small very early on and have been "making plans to expand" it for many years. A number of ideas for a possible expansion have been proposed and all would be difficult and expensive. It will be interesting to see if an expansion actually happens.

Early this year an edict came down that "there shall be no reserved tables". In a short time, reserved signs began reappearing. It is a rock or hard place situation with the financial clout of the large groups having a tendency to alter some rules. I have, on many occasions, seen people who belonged to large groups occupy some of the very few 2 and 4 person tables thus adding to the problem. Claudia (whom I have known since she arrived on LC) and the other DR people have been great about walking this tightrope. But, there is just so much that they can do. The best solution, of course, is a larger dining room. Everyone in the management chain knows this.

I really don't have a problem reserving large tables for big groups that are travelling as a group. This was the first time I can remember seeing reserved signs on the 2 and 4 seat tables, and what made it a problem was that it was every single 2 and 4 seat table inside. My wife and I enjoy eating outside sometimes as long as it isn't too hot. I enjoy the peace and quiet out there at times. But I guess I feel like it should be a choice we make, not one forced on us because the only remaining empty tables have reserved signs on them. I think we did have the problem of some of the groups branching out from their tables to take others (based on the number of empty seats at the big tables), and that may have made the problem worse last week. I am sure expanding the dining room might have been talked about before, but keep in mind that they are under a relatively new manager at LCBR, and have a brand new bar and dining supervisor. The old manager is now at the parent company, and the parent company is doing extensive renovations at Brac, and starting a new dive op on Grand. So I think maybe the plans are a bit more concrete this time, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they are planning some renovations for LC soon.

---------- Post added September 2nd, 2015 at 08:43 AM ----------

We were there with a group of 31 a few weeks back. One thing I tell folks when we go is that we don't pull tables together and try and sit that many people in an area and we never ask that they reserve any tables for us. Of course we have plenty of folks who like sitting out on the screened porch anyway even though it's hot. Our group was all over the place. Sometimes a couple would dine alone at a table for two, sometimes you'd see a group of four, and there were a few tables that sat 10 to 12 and we would take those tables as well. We have some folks, like me, that is ready to eat the minute they ring the bell, others find their way in 30 minutes later. To me, seating should be first come first serve.

I agree as well. In fact, one of the suggestions I made in my email to LCBR was that they extend the dining room hours slightly so that people don't feel like they have to all race down there as soon as the bell rings or risk not having a table. With the current hours, if you come down later for a 2nd seating at a table, you end up with them starting to close down the dining room and putting the food away by the time you are done. It has never been a big deal and they are never ever rude about it, but it does put a little bit of implied pressure to finish eating so they can close up. I think if they did that, people would naturally spread out a bit more and a lot of the pressure to have more tables available would be gone.

 

[Damselfish]

We've never had a problem there, don't think I've ever sat outside unless I wanted to, not because it was the only place to sit. I don't see a problem with large tables being put together and reserved for groups there, it makes sense and I actually think it would be weird if they wouldn't do that for a group. But reserving individual tables I don't think really makes sense there and I can see where it could get out of hand and cause problems.

Extending dinner hours a bit is something I've always thought would be nice but never thought of suggesting. Even if they did it just when there was a night dive it would be a nice, because that can be a real rush.

 

[BDSC]

Extending dinner hours a bit is something I've always thought would be nice but never thought of suggesting. Even if they did it just when there was a night dive it would be a nice, because that can be a real rush.

They actually did that for those folks doing the night dive. I think they opened the line 30 minutes early for the night divers this past trip.