Page 6 - AHATA_Neat

A8
Tuesday 27 OcTOber 2020
ORANJESTAD — In times of a pandemic less is more.
A small hotel gives a secure feeling, away from the
crowds and a better overview of what’s happening. If
you add to that a location where a quiet divine beach
and an inspiring town center are a stone throw’s away
your Caribbean dream vacation becomes reality.
Talk of the Town (TOTT) opens its doors to welcome
you to a safe, intimate destination with all the comfort
of home.
Safe and healthy
Eduardo Yanes, General Manager: “For our guest’s
safety, we make a custom-made plan how they
would like us to take care of them with regards to the
Covid-19 situation. We follow the standard WHO pro-
tocol as a basis, but the guest can add to that in the
sense of when hotel staff enter the room, when they
want the room to be sprayed and so on. We leave
one room unoccupied between two rooms and we
continuously are cleaning.” After check-out the hotel
room is empty at least 48 hours before it can be occu- opened in December 1943 by business repeaters as they are feeing the soul and
pied again. “We leave it to breathe and clean it thor- man Ch. Neme. With its seven rooms, home of TOTT.” q
Talk of the Town Hotel & Beach Club:
Vintage trendy, a hotel with a soul
oughly. Again, being a small hotel is a big swimming pool, bar and restaurant soon
advantage now. We have the opportunity became the social center of the island.
to be in close contact with our guests and The Rotary Club and the Kiwanis held
know exactly what their experience is and meetings and their gala events there. The
where we can adjust or improve.” reason Neme chose this location for the
TOTT offers 69 guest rooms, bar, restau- Strand Hotel was that he wanted to attract
rant, a full size pool, a Business Center and high-ranking visitors to the Lago refinery ar-
complimentary Wi-Fi service for its guests. riving at the airport. In 1949, 12 rooms were
Interior styling is modern trendy with or- added and three years later the name of
ange, grey, white and brown as main col- the hotel was rebranded the Coral Strand
ors. Most of the guests are visitors, leisure Hotel. Members of the Dutch royal fam-
and business travelers, but they also have ily, such as Queen Juliana in 1955 and
a loyal number of local guests. “Our loca- Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus in 1966,
tion is very unique, we provide in every- stayed in this hotel after their honeymoon
thing but away from the crowds. Guests in Mexico. In 1964 was acquired by new
can go wherever they like from here. We owners Ike and Greta Cohen. The Cohens
have the beautiful Nikky Beach in front of understood what top quality meant in the
us, Oranjestad’s city center just behind the hospitality industry and opened the Talk of
hotel and we are on the main road from the Town Restaurant. This restaurant be-
Noord to San Nicolas. Here you really feel came so renown that soon after people
you’ve been in Aruba!” says Yanes. referred to the hotel as Talk of the Town
Hotel (TOTT), and the moniker eventually
Art & History became the hotel’s official name. The
TOTT initiated a collaboration with the Or- quality standard in the TOTT Restaurant
ganization of American States (OAS) for art was of the highest level. Even before a ho-
exhibitions. Every three months a new col- tel school was established on the island,
lection is shown in the conference room the restaurant took on this task: young Aru-
of TOTT. “We find is important to share art bans could learn from the master, Cohen
with our guests and locals,” Yanes states. himself. (Source: Evert Bongers).
Like a vintage hotel on Miami’s South
Beach, you feel the historical charm, and Yanes: “To me TOTT is history, everyone
revival of old-time Caribbean chic. The knows someone who worked here or stud-
Strand Hotel, its original name, was the ied here and we kept the core as original
first seaside tourist hotel in Aruba. It was as possible. The majority of our guests are
Talk of the Town Hotel & Beach Club
LG Smith Blvd 2, Oranjestad
Aruba, Dutch Caribbean
T: +297 524 3300
www.tottaruba.com