DennyP Travel Forums Resorts Hedonism II New Resort General Manager

The new General Manager at Hedonism II is Mr. Dermot De Loughry. See a link to the press announcement on my Hedonism II resort page.

What troubles me is that the new GM has no Jamaican experience. Equally importantly, he, probably, does not speak Patois. In my opinion, this will be a huge liability as his staff can now discuss him in a way he cannot understand; I have seen examples of top management losing staff respect for not speaking Patios.

Another liability is his lack of Jamaican business and Jamaican hotel knowledge. How things work in Jamaica is like learning how to drive in Jamaica: it takes years to know how to play.

Thought that Donna Grant would be in the queue.

That can actually be a plus. I book a lot of resorts in Jamaica. Hedonism II is way different (and complex for travel agents and guests) than the other Jamaican resorts in many ways, some only visible to travel agents that have to work with them.

A new person may bring some of those things back to more like how other resorts in Jamaica do things. He won't have the baggage of "we've been doing it this way for 30 years".

He's already learned to work in different countries with different dialects, accents and customs. I would think he is able to learn.

Kevin and his wife made a bunch of money at Hedo. One way or the other.

How healthy is the old girl anyway? Does new management mean there could be new owners on the way? I get visions of how Superclubs let everything slide.

Not to worry, Parrot! Kevin just wanted to retire--apparently for many years now...so a new GM was needed.

Harry previously announced a succession plan that keeps the resort in the family and preserves the current Hedo vibe.

I just heard about the succession plan recently from another H2 friend. Assuming it's true, that's great news. Esp. since Harry was in the midst of the superspreader crowd at the nude pool earlier this month. Fingers crossed that he stays healthy.

Wonder what Mr. De Loughry's view is on the lifestyle, and the general hijinx that goes on at H2? Seems like H2 has done well over the years when the owner/mgmt had a fondness for the place (like under Mr. Bourke & recently Harry/Kevin). Re: him not speaking patois, I'd think that wouldn't have any major effect, since he probably deals almost exclusively with the other middle managers.

He wasn't visible at all when we were there 2 weeks ago. The word was that he was quarantining. (Not sure why, didn't ask.) Will be interesting to meet him at some point.