Away.comwriter Lena Katz explains that The Reef’s East End location makes for a laid-back atmosphere, saving guests from the cruise-ship crowds that occasionally flood the west side of the island. She doesn’t forget to mention The Reef’s 1,600-foot stretch of white sand, the largest of any resort beach on the island, and that all 152 condo-style rooms are beachfront, with a patio or balcony just inches away from the sand and sea.

The Reef’s Deluxe All-Inclusive package includes meals, premium drinks, up to an hour rental from the famous White Sand Water Sports team, plus snorkeling gear your entire stay. We also have slimmed-down all-inclusive options now, that you can view here.

The list includes Caribbean, Central America and North America locations. The Reef is among 14 Caribbean resorts that make the cut.

To see the The Reef’s listing as a Top All Inclusive Resorts on Away.com, click here. Don’t forget to give The Reef a “thumbs up” while looking over the full review!

The man behind the drive for electric vehicles in Cayman (no pun intended!), is Mr. John Felder. Mr. Felder has been working on this project in Cayman for six years and earlier this year he sold the first electric vehicle, a Chevy Volt, to Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC). These charging stations are the first of its kind in the Caribbean and theReef is very proud to support this innovative green movement.

At the moment 14 solar panel chargers are planned for Grand Cayman, including the station at theReef. The chargers have wind-resistant solar panels which will form a canopy over the car (bonus your car is kept shaded too). Surplus energy will also be fed back into Cayman’s national grid.

You can read more about Mr. John Felder’s plans for electric cars in Cayman here.

An auction will be held to raise funds for culinary scholarships for underprivileged youth through the “Triumph Through Adversity” program. In the auction, The Reef will be donating a five-night stay in a one bedroom executive suite.

“Triumph Through Adversity” helps disenfranchised youth develop culinary skills that will empower them to learn, help them build productive lives and integrate them into Montreal’s community. We have our fingers crossed at The Reef that this will be a high-bidding item and raise significant funds for this wonderful program.

The event features high quality cuisine from many Caribbean chefs and destinations. After you eat, enjoy live music, island dance lessons, art, mini golf and even a casino for charity. And don’t forget to make it to the live auction to bid for a trip to The Reef!

If you are in the Montreal area, join the Taste of the Caribbean in the heart of Old Montreal from 3 to 12 a.m. for general admissions, 1:30 to 12 a.m. for VIP.

Tickets are available for general admission, $50, children tickets are $17, and $125 for VIP.

Visit http://www.atasteofthecaribbean.ca/festival.html or http://www.totc-festival.com for more information on this event.

The Reef has developed the Spirit awards to highlight and thank our wonderful staff for providing outstanding guest service and for their excellent contribution to theReef family. The Spirit awards are given out on a monthly basis, and a special Gold Spirit Award is given to the truly outstanding employee of the month.

This month’s winners are:

• Eleanor Uykim – Reservations
• Kaseen Penn – Timeshare Sales
• Suzy Halenda – Timeshare Admin
• Shawn Dyer – Maintenance Supervisor

The GOLD SPIRIT AWARD goes to MICHELLE HAYES, (dressed as a Pirate on the right!)

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you from theReef!

Innovation: the art of introducing something new.

theReef has always been at the forefront of innovation, especially in Grand Cayman. Even when we built the resort we were one step ahead of the game and constructed ALL beachfront suites, the only resort in Grand Cayman with all beachfront suites! WOW! theReef is also the ONLY place on Grand Cayman where you can see the infamous Barefoot Man! WOW!

You have already seen our ‘Best Beach Rate Guarantee’ where you get the Lowest Published Internet Rate for The Reef Resort, ONLY at theReef.com. If you find a lower total rate on the Internet for the same room type, dates and length of stay, contact us, we’ll match the rate, AND add a $50 Resort Credit towards drinks and dining at our renowned beach bar or our restaurant during your stay!

Now theReef resort is on another mission to be the innovator when it comes to best price guarantees. Our ‘Barefoot Beachfront Guarantee’ takes our ‘Best Beach Rate Guarantee’ one step further. Should you find a beachfront room at a full service resort anywhere in Grand Cayman during Winter 2010 for a lower price, theReef will match it. We are so confidence in this offer, we will throw in free dinner for two with entertainment by the legendry Barefoot Man, who continues to play exclusively at The Reef, his Cayman home. Our ‘Barefoot Beachfront Guarantee’ definitely has the WOW factor!

Terms & Conditions:
• Must show that room rate is lower and is bookable online at the time of reservation request
• Room must be comparable in terms of being beachfront on a natural white sand beach in a full service resort in Grand Cayman
• contact reservations@thereef.com or call 888-232-0541 for more information or to book the lowest price beachfront rooms in Grand Cayman

Our latest guarantee is our “Barefoot Beachfront Guarantee“, which can be simply summarised as :

“theReef guarantees the lowest price for a beachfront room”

Of course there are one or two conditions…it would be unfair of customers to tweak a guarantee to compare our rates to those of resorts without full service amenities or a pristine beach like ours, after all …. but our focus is to make it simple for you to plan your vacation and know you are getting the best price for a beachfront room.. and don’t we all want a beachfront room ?

I think we have hit on something, as just the other day I received an email from TravelZoo that they sent out to hoteliers to encourage them in their marketing. Now, TravelZoo are well known for their eye-catching “Top20″ ads, and in fact we were impressed with their efforts when we used them for one such effort a while back, but this latest shows how the industry is going away from being straightforward with their pricing..just as theReef is giving you a guarantee of clear and simple pricing. I know which I prefer ! So, this from TravelZoo :

“People care about the view – lead in with an attractive rate, then offer upgrades to ocean view. 34% of our audience books an alternative deal once enticed leading to a much higher room rate than what was originally promoted.”

Can you say “bait and switch” ?

I’m not picking on TravelZoo here, this is an industry trend.. just warning you as the traveller to be warned.. and to be sure in the knowledge that at theReef you are guaranteed a beachfront room.. hey, ALL our rooms are beachfront, you can’t go wrong !

Maybe we can get Byrne to visit The Reef Resort and participate in the Reefathlon, a bike friendly event that will take place this November 22. The first event was a smashing success and the second event has already attracted Peter Stetina, an up and coming cyclist with his eye on the Tour de France. Ok Byrne, you may want to come and share cycling stories with Stetina or bring a few books for a beachside book signing, as the resort is 100% beachfront.

For those interested in Byrne’s book, review it on Amazon.com and for those interested in the Reefathlon read more here; www.thereef.com/reefathlon.

Makes me want to get my bike out and go for a ride!

Well this is no surprise for the folks at The Reef Resort, for the past three years, have been touting ‘simply’ as their mantra as the resort’s guests have repeatedly expressed their idea of a perfect vacation “simple relaxation”. That’s exactly what the management team and staff have been dishing-up to all guests, and it appears to be working just fine.

The resort not only offers-up a bevy of special package; Simply All Inclusive, Junior Simple Adventure package need we go on. The resort takes “simplicity” seriously and is dedicated to making the vacation experience as simple as possible from booking, hurricane guarantees, cancellation policies and more.

Cayman cyclists are reminded that not only are we offering $1000 for breaking the open course record, but if the Cayman course record falls, the local record holder will also receive a special prize. Always seeking to motivate the top local cyclists, and by popular demand, the prize for breaking the local course record will be a) a one night VIP stay at The Reef, along with b) US$250 cash.

Peter will be staying at The Reef for the weekend on his own “beach bike break” and will take part in a relaxed and social group ride around the course at 3pm on Saturday November 21st, all Reefathlon guests and friends of cycling are invited to join in!

Check out www.reefathlon.com for event details, as well as Peter’s bio!

Perhaps one of the Cayman Islands most famous export is the Barefoot Man’s music! Widely renowned for his daring lyrics, Barefoot is the biggest B to hit the island since Blackbeard and no visit to the island is complete without taking in Barefoot and his band.

Barefoot plays exclusively at theReef every Tuesday and some Thursdays. His full schedule can be found at http://www.thereef.com/en/thingsToDo/entertainmentSchedule.html

You can email Barefoot at: GoneFishing@Barefootman.com