Page 181 - OVATION Magazine (Issue 1)

fussed over, integrated into the experience without dictating it.Take for example the resort’s all-day gelato bar, which sits unattended under an old mango tree just off the main restaurant. If a child wants an ice cream, they simply ring the bell over the bar and a friendly gelatorista magically appears with scoop in hand.
Coppola’s influence is also seen in the details, especially the vintage EIKI 16 mm mov- ie projector that’s wheeled out twice a week to show Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, and Charlie Chaplin silent movies over dinner.The director’s pas- sion for stories and originality extends to the resort’s staff members, the hiring of whom he likens to casting actors for
a film.
“It’s the same way you find any cast,” Coppola says.“You meet charming, warm, and friendly people and talk with them, and then the next day you think,‘Who stuck in your mind?’”
“I look for genuine per- sonality, practicality, humor, common sense, and initia- tive,” says Martin Krediet, the general manager of Coppola’s Central American properties, which also include La Lancha in Guatemala and Coral Caye, a private island near Placencia. “It’s a combination of char- acteristics, especially for those who will be ‘onstage.’”
If Turtle Inn is a stage, Krediet is its leading man,
a polished and personable Dutchman who orchestrates a constant and convivial
interplay between staff and guests.“Martin is above all the host,” Coppola says.“While it may be my hotel, it’s Martin’s show.”
That show, however, never comes across as scripted— more like a well-executed improvisation. Conversations across dinner tables turn into multifamily excursions to the jungle or barrier reef the next morning.A question to a staff member about the gelato-bar mango tree might lead to an impromptu lesson on picking and peeling the tropical fruit.
“These properties are small enough to be able to engage intimately with our guests,” Krediet says.At the same
time, they are places where high-profile people can de- compress in peace.“I have had some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry in house and on Coral Caye, and they are completely left alone.”
Coral Caye—the third ad- dition to Coppola’s Belize col- lection—is a speck of an island located about 25 minutes by
boat from Turtle Inn. Opened in 2016, the exclusive-use resort is an oasis of effortless cool, where two open-air cot- tages and a sand-floored Great House accommodate as many as 12 guests, who are served
by a dedicated butler, chef, and housekeeper.
“We call the experience Gilligan glam,” Krediet says. “It’s rustic, Caribbean casual, and in my mind what an island experience should be.”
T
Just offshore from the caye, a congregation of nurse sharks, stingrays, and log- gerhead turtles zigzagged through the green water and
the dozen or so divers in our group. It’s a performance that the prehistoric creatures put on daily and one that, judging by the reactions of Krediet and Dorin—each of whom has done the dive dozens of times—never gets old.
To celebrate our good fortune over two days on the reef, we transitioned from snorkeling into a seemingly unplanned stop on Coral Caye. The consummate host, and occasional performer, Krediet spent his time on the island making sure everyone was happy—cocktail or Belikin beer in hand, swinging in a hammock in the Great Room, or taking a dip in the sparkling Caribbean Sea.
The party continued on the boat ride back to Turtle Inn and at the beachside bar on our return.The next day, several of the guests would leave and new ones would arrive, but the story would keep unfolding on the cayes, in the forests, and on the beaches of Belize.
he day after our manatee
encounter, Krediet and Dorin led us on a small-group outing to Silk Caye, a popular snorkeling spot about 30 min- utes past Coral Caye.Three dive boats from other resorts were enough to make a crowd on the tiny island, but below water, any noise or outside ac- tivity vanished at the spectacle of the Belize Barrier Reef.
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