It's a bit lonely here without you! James, Rob and I are busy planning the 2008 season..  We look forward to the coming season as much as you do to see the faces of the many friends we made last year.  Speaking of which, our opening weekend is April 18^th.     Hope your holidays and winter season were great.  It just seems like yesterday when we sent out the holiday cards.  (We took the picture of the whole staff in the pool building at 7:30 am on a sunny July morning.)  But the time does go by fast when you are hard at work.  (And do a little winter skiing!)  Rob has been busy working on the facility look and upgrades while James and I have been busy configuring new packages, brochures and the website. Oh yea, and all the while the phones have been ringing constantly for 2008 season.  (The biggest requests have been the houses, oceanfront rooms and the “Summer Time Beach Entertainer Package”.)   

Projects in the Works: In past newsletters we have talked about the five-year grand plan for the resort. If you remember, the improvements were directed by you from a guest survey done in 2002.  Starting with the Corsair pool, whirlpool additions and deck area upgrades to finishing the extensive Cross Rip bathroom upgrades and the resorts new soft goods, (furniture, beds, bedding, carpets draperies), and color schemes.   The soft goods have been on going over the past years while the bathrooms were completed last winter and the bedroom color changes were taken on this winter.  We hope you will find the rooms more comfortable, brighter and easier on the eye now that they are completed.

  The next two years have exterior and facility changes slated for the Cross Rip such as the new private balconies and picture windows in the east and west buildings.  Two of the Value units on the first floor will be completed by April and the remainder, we hope, by the late fall.

  When completed we will be in the final phase of a redesign which will include the Cross Rip pool and surrounding areas.  To read more about that subject and offer your input go to the March Newsletter section on our website. 

 Room upgrades and new menu is coming. Guests that join us in the shoulder season are quite familiar with our breakfast room, off the lobby, full of morning goodies.  We added a few touches like a full kitchen and extra seating.  Now we have the flexibility to offer some hot alternatives to the cold breakfast buffet. We’ll be experimenting this year (probably late may or early June) with waffles, scrambled eggs, pancakes and hot oatmeal to name a few.  Although we won’t be eliminating the standard fare breakfast offerings for those in a rush, (pre-wrapped muffins and danish), we will be adding more whole grain and healthier alternatives.  Should I go for the Danish or the yogurt?

  All packages are not created equal: We have found that most of our new guests to the resort gravitate more toward reserving a package with their vacation.  Packages roll fun activities and accommodations together to make for a more active vacation experience.  (I guess the rest of us are content to swim and sunbath!)  These guests know most of our packages are not the standard fare.  They know we offer dinners or gift certificates, not dollar vouchers, to choice restaurants that really want your business.  They also know that most of our packages include a choice of things to do. So if whale watch is not your thing, (as much as we love those big lugs), you have other choices. Whether you are a new visitor or a familiar face to the resort check out our “specials and packages” section on the website and add a little “spice” to your vacation getaway this year.

   By the way, we’ve added a couple of different packages this year and more choices to the others. Check out the two and three night Cape Cod Adventure package for shoulder season getaways and the four night Summer Blast for July. AND, if you are coming in early spring our website will have one of the best offers of the season – three night Early Break.   

 Don’t forget our opening day treat - Free Friday.  This is our second year promoting our opening day with the first night (Friday the 18^th of April) as a free night with your Saturday night paid stay.

  Staff Members will be changing dramatically this year:  The biggest news story for us is a national story for us all – immigration. Congresses inability to extend the “guest worker” program amendments has left the northeast in a severe labor shortage for unskilled workers.   Ski resorts are feeling the pinch now and the Cape is not far behind.  Sometime this spring there will be over 6500 positions normally filled by our Jamaicans and Brazilians on Cape Cod that will go unfilled.  We are all asking ourselves, “Who will be making our rooms up, mowing lawns or washing our dishes?” 

  This year we’ll be welcoming new staff members from South Africa, Namibia, Jamaica, Russia and Poland to name a few countries. We’ll be welcoming back some familiar faces like Merlene,  Marta and, hopefully, Sapphire. (She is due in a couple of weeks with her second child.)    

  We still hold out hope that Congress will do the right thing to bring back people like Dezna Malcolm, Horace Stewart, Jennifer Leach, and Beverlyn Grant, to name a few. We’ll keep you posted.  In the meantime, if you’d like to write a letter to your local senator or representative in support of your favorite staff member let us know.  A sample letter can be sent for you to insert your name.

   E-news is still number one!  As you might remember our E-newsletter made its way monthly into many of our guests email boxes last year.  The newsletter has been on hiatus since October but debuted its 2008 electronic publication just a couple of weeks ago.  Revamped to make room for more resort talk, (just short of a blog), places to see, things to do and lots of cape cod scenes. It’s taken on a whole new look.  In the coming months you’ll be seeing requests for your input – surveys, your Cape Cod experience and much more.  If you are not already a subscriber sign up on our website now. If you want to view past newsletters or read more about some of our articles you can view them on our website and click newsletters.