At the Cayuga Collection, we live our passion for service, people’s wellbeing, and sustainability through luxury hospitality. Unfortunately, right now we’re living it without guests. Just like the rest of the tourism industry around the world, we have been hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis. But through it we’ve stayed optimistic. Strong today and extraordinary tomorrow. That’s the motto we’ve been living by.

As lockdowns are being lifted, we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And looking forward to when travelers feel comfortable enough to get on a plane and jet abroad, we’re in really good shape. Here’s how we’ve been keeping busy…

Trained and Motivated Staff

We decided to keep more than 50% of our staff on payroll during the closure of the hotels as we consider them our greatest asset. We really appreciate the support from our hotel owners as this is a cash investment right now, but we are positive it will pay off.  We’ve always been committed to the professional development of our teams, and during the closure, we’ve ramped up our efforts, investing heavily in training and holding up to four sessions per week. Some of the sessions are about developing soft or leadership skills, others are about technical skills. Additionally, we’ve just started training our staff on our new Cayuga Sanitary Protocols too.

Like-New Hotel Infrastructure

Hotel infrastructure maintenance is a big task in the tropics.  Sun, rain and salty air from the ocean keep things interesting for us at the best of times, but when things aren’t in use they deteriorate even faster. Right now we have all of our staff working on making sure the hotels and lodges look like new when we open. And we’ve had a great opportunity to invest time and resources in our gardens that we typically wouldn’t have during the rainy season so that things look lush and amazing by the end of this year. 

Hygiene is the New Luxury

We are 100% clear on the need to keep our guests and staff safe during this pandemic and are implementing strong measures with that in mind. Most of our focus is on rigorous cleaning, regular health checks and social distancing. But we also want to make sure that we don’t “kill the experience” by receiving our guests with blue surgical gloves. We are looking to find a balance between sanitary measures, sustainability and a luxury experience. We have not figured it out 100% yet, but are working hard on it. Stay tuned for progress reports. 

Intact Communities and Nature

Our guests don’t visit our hotels and lodges just to eat and sleep – even though we do make sure that they have the best lodging and culinary experiences of their lives. They come to experience nature, learn about local culture, and connect with the locals. Understanding this, we are making big efforts to support the conservation of our precious nature and make sure that the communities in which we operate don’t suffer too much from the economic repercussions of this crisis. 

As every day passes, we’re more ready than ever to commence a new era of tourism and hospitality. We understood the uncertainty around travel early during this crisis and despite the glimmers of hope as we all slowly emerge from lockdown, we still understand that these times are uncertain too. That’s why our “Zero Risk – Zero Hassle” reservation policies still stand, meaning prepayment and cancellation periods are half what they were and we’re more flexible than ever on any changes and cancellations.

If you’re looking to come back to a Cayuga Collection Hotel soon, you can also consider our Green Future Bonds where we double the value of any purchase you make towards a future stay. We’ve already sold more than $40,000 in hotel stays to former guests and truly look forward to welcoming them back for an extraordinary trip that might just be amongst the most meaningful and memorable they’ve ever taken.

Strong today, extraordinary very soon!