Since speaking with Eroline and Lyton Lamontagne last year regarding their pride and joy Fond Doux Plantation and Resort, we have been itching to return to highlight further the history and prestige of this beautiful and unique holiday destination.

WRITTEN BY DON CAMPBELL

A HAPPY GUEST IS NEVER AN ACCIDENT

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Eroline explains, “The estate was founded in 1780 but remained derelict and abandoned for over 40 years before Lyton’s father purchased it in 1979,”

After his father’s death, Lyton and his wife Eroline moved to the estate where they began remodelling and refurbishing the buildings, investing in utilities and beginning the systematic planting of fruits and flowers. The banana crop was king “Green Gold” and provided a ready income to sustain the family. Retaining much of this history, the original cocoa fermentry sheds, Estate great house and coconut oven from 1780 are still in existence today.

In 1999, the plantation diversified into tourism and opened up as a Heritage Site offering daytime tours and lunches to cruise ship passengers and tour operators. As the business began growing, this gave birth to an idea to add guest accommodation to the property, so the Lamontagne’s returned to the drawing board.

“In 2006 we erected our first cottage The Angelina Villa,”Lyton and Eroline recall. The Angelina Villa originally stood in the gardens at Fond Doux and was named after Eroline’s eldest sister Irene Angelina Charlemagne.The original building stood on Waterworks Road in Castries, where it had been neglected for many years and had become a shadow of its former self, due for demolition, “We couldn’t just stand by and watch 160 years of history end up as a pile of firewood,”Lyton explains, “So we purchased the old colonial two story from its original owner and took it back to Fond Doux where we employed professional artisans to rebuild and restore it using old building techniques.”

In a similar fashion, a pair of additional buildings were purchased from Monier in Castries, trucked back to Fond Doux and reassembled in pride of place.

Since this noteworthy beginning in 2006, Fond Doux has grown to become a significant holiday destination with all of the traditional frivolities blended with a host of original attractions. Now a holiday plantation with a total of 15 cottages, a triple tier swimming pool, an organic spa, gift shop and two onsite restaurants, they also have a wedding gazebo and a number of hiking trails.

Inkeeping with their dedication to restoring natural beauty,

they have added more flower gardens, food crops and fruit trees, many of which were becoming extinct in St Lucia.

And it’s not just for show. As well as being a resort, Fond Doux is also an active and very highly regarded plantation. In fact it is the only authentic plantation on the island of St Lucia and represents an active combination of two different industries and not simply a replacement of one for the other.

“We harvest most of our local produce on the plantation and we engage in true eco-building practices and natural preservation,” Eroline explains. This has been noticed internationally and The Guardian in Britain voted Fond Doux Estate as one of the five best plantation retreats in the world.

All the cottages were built without machinery and excavated by shovel so as not to disturb nature. Many of the cottages were built around or incorporated the trees as a feature and the management purchase abandoned colonial buildings throughout the island and then rebuild and restore them in the gardens of Fond Doux as holiday accommodations, in an effort to preserve St.Lucia’s architectural heritage.

In 2008, His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall visited the property for an official tour. It was their only visit to a private property on their 24 hour stopover in St. Lucia. There was nothing accidental about the Prince’s desire to spend time on the estate. After years of hard work, maintaining an organic label and creating one of the most peaceful havens on earth to spend a vacation, Fond Doux Plantation and Resort greatly appreciated this royal mark of approval.

Fond Doux has remained remarkably instep with the wider economic development choices of Saint Lucia while making the harrowing leap from the agricultural pillar to the agric-tourism post and standing as a fine example of the resilience, creativity and resolve which are the resorts attributes. Not only have they impressed royalty but they also have a Certificate of Excellence from Tripadvisor for the last four consecutive years, Silver/Gold Megallan Award in 2013, 2014 and a Booking.com award of excellence for an overall 9/10 rating

FOND DOUX RESORT & PLANTATION

For many guests, the Fond Doux’s story begins in 1999 when the Lamontagne’s officially opened to the public and began welcoming them, however the story goes back much further.

FOND DOUX RESORT & PLANTATION

and a Tripadvisor Green leaders programme. When you receive honours such as that from the sites travellers

and holiday makers look to for advice, you know you’re doing something right.

ON THE OTHER SIDEThe resort continues to be a major source of employment for

the local towns/villages and all of the 56 staff are natives of Saint Lucia. The Lamontagne’s count their dedication, professionalism and keen eye for detail as one of the main contributing factors to their business’ success.

“Hospitality is all about people’s relationships,”Eroline explains, “We’ve combined interesting surroundings and comfortable, luxurious accommodation with outstanding colonial architecture with the highest level of customer service and attention.”

Promoting local authentic culture with themed evenings e.g. Seafood Saturdays,allowsvisitorsthe chance to sample the diversity of local and authentic cuisine,providing a traditionalniche for cultural entertainment by local musicians.

Relationship-building is clearly high on the agenda. The resort hosts many activities to commemorate important holidays such as

Independence, Valentine’s Day, Mothers /Fathers Day, Christmas and New Year’s. Guests are also surprised with gift packagesfrom St. Lucian artisans in their cottages and aManager’s cocktail function is also held once a week toallow guests to interact socially as well asconnect with the managementteam and owners responsible for enhancing their Fond Douxexperience.

“We learnt very quickly that inviting guests to participate in cultural, historical and eco-friendly activities in Soufriere was a great way to enrich the holiday experience for them,” Eroline explains.

CHARITY WORKFor the past four years, Fond Doux has collaborated with

the Piton’ Lion’s Club, a nonprofit organisation, by allowing them to use the facility on National Day to raise funds to support the Kids Insight Project. This is a project betweenthe St. Lucia Blind Welfare Association, Lions Clubs of St. Lucia and the Eye Institute of the University of West Virginia. Fond Doux has alsohosted students for training in its various departments through internship programmess in conjunction with various colleges and schools.

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DAY TO DAYThe big things, like the recommendations from the royal family,

sterling reputation with guests new and old and accolades from international travel websites and newspapers are all reliant on the little things that occur beyond the sight of visitors at the resort.

Staff development is integral to Fond Doux and this is expressed through continuous staff training exercises with outside agencies, which have a genuine interest in the progressive development of all employees. This interest in their development fosters loyalty, which in turn breeds an increase in productivity which is important in all businesses.

“Studies have shown that capable, ambitious young employees want training, mentoring and coaching as they want to gain skills and become versatile and valuable to a company.We help our employees achieve that,”Eroline reveals, “The resort understands that if this is developed, the payoff can in turn be substantial to Fond Doux Plantation and Resort.”

Presently, the core activities of the Fond Doux Plantation and Resort include guest accommodations, honeymoons, food and beverages, tours and lunches, spa services and the hosting of various functions such as weddings, seminars and private parties.

The predominant crop is cocoa beans, which are harvested year round, green bananas, mangoes and other fruits from the 100% certified organic soil. Each cocoa bean harvest yields about 1000 lbs of beans, which are sold to local producers and are also used to make cocoa sticks. The cocoa sticks are sold in the gift shop and are also used to prepare the signature chocolate tea, which is served at breakfast every morning. The fruits and vegetables that are harvested are used in the restaurants and sold to the associated company, Eroline Foods Supermarket in the town of Soufriere, which itself provides employment for an additional 60 staff.

The resort has two restaurants in operation; the Jardin Cacao Restaurant, which serves A La Carte meals and the Cocoa Pod Restaurant, which serves breakfast and lunches to day tours. The Cocoa Pod Restaurant is sometimes used to host various functions such as wedding receptions, birthdays etc. In terms of accommodations, the cottages can accommodate 36 guests, 100 guests for wedding ceremonies and 150- 200 diners.

THE GUESTSEroline explains that they believe that the physical welcome

and personal attention that a guest receives during their stay can

positively impact their entire experience at the resort. So, to keep guests satisfied and happy, the staff are focused on their guests to ensure that each guest gets to enjoy an authentic St. Lucian experience.

An assurance of prompt introductions and welcomes come in the form of a Guest Liaison Officer, who meets with each guest to plan the activities that the guest will partake in during their stay. This officer is also responsible for finding out whether any of their guests are celebrating any special occasions, for example a birthday or anniversary, as a hallmark of a Fond Doux stay is to ensure that the staff try to surpass the guest expectations and to ensure that a celebration is made more special.

She reveals that each department is equally responsible, from the Front Office to the Grounds Team, for ensuring that guests are happy at all times and that they receive the best service possible. They solve problems quickly and efficiently and always go above and beyond to satisfy their guests.

“We rely heavily on customer feedback,”Eroline relates, “So we always ask guests to fill out a comment card upon their departure. A vital lesson my husband and I have learnt is that you only learn how to improve by dealing with a problem.”

To put this into context, Eroline explains that if a customer is

happy with something they won’t say anything, which means that improvement and developments may not occur in the areas that require it. If a customer has feedback on something that needs improvement, in the form of a complaint or a suggestion, it gives them an area to target. Furthermore, a customer who has had an issue and has been listened to and seen that issue resolved, will be likely to return.

As such, after-sales and customer commitment is extremely important to Fond Doux. Having a customer commit to them means that they are looking at the possibility of a having a long term relationship with them. It means that what they have to say about the resort to others will be positive and they will refer other guests to the property. They aim to provide every guest with an exceptional and authentic experience, because they know that guest loyalty and commitment can be derived from that.

A quarterly newsletter provides up to date information of interest and social media is also an effective medium to keep in touch with guests and strengthening linkages.

“In order to keep Fond Doux ahead of the competition, the main focus is on the human touches and a personal and authentic St. Lucian experience,” Eroline explains, “The resort closes annually for three weeks in order to renovate, refurbish and rejuvenate staff members and owners.”

Fond Doux researches current trends, with a primary focus on Internet marketing.Bartering arrangements with travel writers, journalists and other media personnel is offered in exchange for coverage in newspaper or magazines. It is mandatory that social networking pages are updated on a weekly basis (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn).

“Print advertisements in local and international magazines are utilised, for example, La Belle Helene and Business Focus locally and Endeavour Magazine internationally,”Eroline lists, kindly, “ A yearly trade show with the St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association, which also includes a Paris and UK workshop to meet overseas tour operators is also taken advantage of.”

The authenticity of the Fond Douxproduct, as well as the staff and owners, has given it a competitive edge above other small resorts in St. Lucia. In all things, Fond Doux always aspires to be better and greater and this is instilled in all employees as well.

DEALING WITH CHANGESo it seems that the Lamontagne’s have everything worked

out, with ahighly regarded and successful plantation, resort and affiliated supermarket and a fleet of loyal employees in a buoyant tourism industry that has been enjoying growth in recent years.

As with all businesses in growing industries, they face a number of challenges that are being solved one step at a time. One of these, as Eroline points out, is a shortage of skilled labour. Due to education standards for hotel departments including agriculture, landscaping and maintenance in Saint Lucia, they are facing

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Our journey with the Lamontagne family began in 1986, three decades ago, when we first opened our doors in the Soufriere Community. As a committed financial services partner, we are proud of our integral role in the development and growth of the Fond Doux Plantation & Resort. Over the years, we have keenly followed the many international achievements and immeasurable contributions of Fond Doux to the community and to the economic development of Saint Lucia.

shortages of professional chefs, plumbers and electricians.A similar shortage of skill is being seen within middle

management through poor advertising of smaller properties by the SLTB St Lucia Tourist Board, which results in a sizeable portion of revenue being utilised on marketing.

However, all of these issues have clear options to solve them and their greatest challenge comes from something completely out of their control.

“Climate change is the greatest challenge that Fond Doux Plantation is facing at the moment, as water resources in the Soufriere region are becoming inadequate to sustain supplies,” she explains, “Droughts experienced in the dry season are forcing the plantation to seek alternative methods of irrigation for plants and fruits trees. As an eco-friendly hotel, weare aware that water is a basic necessity and extremely important and due to the current watershortages beingexperienced in St. Lucia, this has impacted on our effectiveness to supply efficient service to our international guests.”

2015 AND ONWARDSNevertheless, improvements, change and development needs

to continue and Fond Doux is always seeking to better itself. Eroline points out a number of new initiatives they will be offering in 2015, including the opening of three honeymoon suites, the relocation and expansion of the reception/front office to offer a more personalised experience for their guests and an upgrading of the Wi-Fi connection and speed.

“One of the top questions we get from guests is whether we have wi-fi connectivity,”Eroline comments.

They are constructing a gym, opening a new hiking trail, extending the outdoor spa, renovating existing cottages and building five new ones, which will lead to employing and training new staff. They’ve also changed their marketing company.

“The addition of the three suites has allowed us to cater more to the honeymoon market,”Eroline explains, “The relocation of our reception has created a more relaxing and comfortable atmosphere for both employees and guests and has resulted in a boost in productivity by employees as well.”

Costing $1,000,000EC for the construction of the projects, it is clear that Fond Doux Plantation and Resort has a clear understanding of where their priorities lie.

“A happy guest is never an accident.”