There is something beautiful in the diversification and development of a business that you’ve built up with your bare hands and Fond Doux Resort & Plantation has seen this kind of growth and popularity and it was a pleasure to speak with owners Eroline and Lynton Lamontagne regards to their success.

WRITTEN BY DONNIE RUST

IN TUNE WITH LOCAL TRADITIONS AND WORKMANSHIP

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FOND DOUX RESORT & PLANTATION

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FOND DOUX RESORT & PLANTATION

With their ongoing quest to grow one of the things they did was to provide accommodation at the property, “It was always our intention to stay in

tune with local traditions and workmanship,” Eroline explains, “So all our cottages were built with eco-building practices and natural preservation in mind.”

Their Angelina Cottage for example, is a hundred and sixty year old St. Lucia colonial house that was slated for demolition in the city of Castries. This two story cottage was purchased from the original owner, dismantled and trucked to Fond Doux Resort & Plantation, where it was then rebuilt and restored by artisans who specialize in St. Lucia’s traditional building techniques.

“We currently have twelve cottages in operation, and three new cottages under construction,” Lynton tells us, explaining that today, Fond Doux Resort and Plantation is the only true organic estate in St. Lucia where they have combined agriculture and eco-building practices to develop an eco-resort which has become green globe certified over the years, “We have also added more flower gardens, food crops, and fruit trees that are becoming extinct in St. Lucia to the resort over the years,” he adds, “ All of these developments have awarded us with the Certificate of Excellence from Tripadvisor for the last three consecutive years, the Silver Magellan Award in 2013 and a Green Globe Certification.”

What Does It Take?Presently, the core activities of the Fond Doux Resort &

Plantation include guest accommodations, food and beverage, tours and lunches, spa services and the hosting of various functions such as weddings, seminars, and private parties.

“We have a gift shop on property where we source items locally to sell to our guests,” Eroline says, “We also harvest cocoa beans, green bananas, mangos, and other fruits from our 100% certified organic soil.”

Each cocoa bean harvest yields about 1000 lbs of beans which

are then sold to local producers and used to make cocoa sticks. The cocoa sticks are sold in their gift shop and are also used to prepare their signature chocolate tea which is served at breakfast every morning. The fruits and vegetables the couple harvest are used in their restaurants and are also sold to their associate company, Eroline Foods Supermarket where they have employed an additional forty or so staff.

“We have two restaurants in operation,” Eroline points out, “The Jardin Cocoa Restaurant where we serve our A La Carte meals and the Cocoa Pod Restaurant where we serve breakfast and lunches to our day tours, it is also sometimes used to host various functions,”

Additionally, Eroline and Lynton encourage their guests to explore the UNESCO heritage sites of Soufriere, which offers a variety of tours, hikes, and health and wellness activities to both locals and foreigners to extend their pallet for the local culture and variety.

Presently, forty eight staff work for Fond Doux Resort & Plantation, and in keeping with their margin of excellence they are all certified in HACCP, Food Safety and Health and Safety with regular training in customer service at the St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association staff training.

Both Lynton and Eroline are quick to make clear just how important staff development is to not only their business but themselves, “We have a genuine interest in the future of our employees and this genuine interest in their development does not only help them, but it builds loyalty.”

This loyalty can in turn breed an increase in productivity which is important in all businesses and as studies have shown, capable ambitious young employees want training, mentoring, and coaching. They want to gain skills, to become versatile and valuable to a company, “We understand that if we develop our staff properly, the payoff can in turn be substantial to us,” they say, “Because it is translated onto our guests who return because of the experience of an authentic St Lucian service which is top class.”

FOND DOUX RESORT & PLANTATION

Based in St Lucia, their story began in 1999 with humble and honest beginnings which were initially opened as a heritage site for day tours providing snacks and lunches to the various visiting tour operators.

To monitor standards, Lynton and Eroline meet with each guest for introductions and to chat about their stay, they also have Guest Liaison Officer who meets with each guest to plan the activities that the guest is able to partake in during their stay. This officer is also responsible for finding out whether any of their guests are celebrating any special occasions such as a birthday or anniversary, so that they can help make the day more special for them.

“We do our best to ensure that our guests are happy at all times and that they receive the best service from every employee,” Eroline explains, “We solve problems quickly and efficiently and always go above and beyond to satisfy our guests.”

Each guest is asked to fill out a comment card upon departure. This card is used to find out how their stay was, whether they had any issues and if these issues were solved in an efficient manner. It is also useful to determine if there are any areas that could improve.

Considering this, the after sales and customer commitment is extremely important to them as they look to establish long term relationships, the happier they are the more they will recommend and this is why at every point Lynton and Eroline aim to give an exceptional level of service and an authentic experience.

“We send thank you letters to all our guests, to let them to know that we appreciated them choosing Fond Doux Resort & Plantation as their vacation destination to celebrate their anniversary, birthday or special occasion,” Eroline reveals, “We also do a quarterly newsletter to provide our market with information of interest.”

St Lucia is a prime destination for tourism and Fond Doux Resort & Plantation has its fair share of competition, it falls down to the owners to produce something that is unique and special, that will make the guest feel privileged for the opportunity to visit. Eroline explains that to keep ahead, their main and primary focus as always been on ensuring the guest the most comfortable cottages, beautiful surroundings at the most competitive prices possible.

“We also close annually for three weeks to renovate,” she explains, “By doing this we ensure that we never slip up on the standard of comfort our guests have begun associating us with.”

A lot research into new trends is made and as a result they now have a wedding gazebo and an organic spa on the property and work closely alongside Mr. Sean Compton who is an up and coming architect, “We offer battering arrangements with travel writers, journalists and other media personnel in exchange for coverage with their newspaper or magazine,” Lynton adds, “As building our marketing exposure is just as important.”

Furthermore, they take it as their duty to update their social networking pages on a weekly basis (Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn). Facebook is updated by our PR team, Seasmoke PR and they input print advertisements in local and international magazines and attend a local yearly trade show with the St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association.

“We know that we offer an authentic product and people pay for quality,” Eroline says, “We believe that the authenticity of our

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product is what has given us that competitive edge above other small resorts in St. Lucia and we plan to maintain it. In all things, we always aspire to be better, to be greater, and we instil that in all of our employees,”

In relation to the yearly upgrades to the property and the product offering, a number of projects are currently in the works including the construction of three additional honeymoon suites to feature outdoor rainforest showers and plunge pools, the relocation and expansion of the Reception/Front Office to offer a personalized experience for our guests and construction of a gym.

“Chocolate making is in its final stages,” she says, “And we are working alongside a restaurant in the north of the island to provide training for our chefs and to bring our restaurants up a notch. We are also working with Nina Compton, the 1st runner up of Top Chef 2014 to offer consultation and advice to our chefs and restaurant staff.”

These additions, for example the three suites will allow Fond Doux to be able to cater more to the honeymoon market, whereas the relocation of the reception will create a more relaxing and comfortable atmosphere for both employees and guests, “It is our belief that this will result in a boost in productivity by our employees as well.”