I just wish I could get you to understand the point I am making. I have worked in hospitality for a long time, employed and trained and managed literally hundreds of staff. I have travelled very extensively and am intimately aware of the service standards that go along with top of the range hotels. In general the DR does the value-for-money type of vacations really well, the standard Punta Cana model. But once you start to move up to a much higher price point, then I just don't see that the education and talent of the majority of Dominicans who work in hospitality is going to work. To give an example, I've been to JW Marriott many many times in Santo Domingo - supposedly one of the best hotels in the country - and I just don't see 5 star service. The staff are constantly playing with their phones, the security guys constantly have their hands in their trouser pockets playing with something else, nobody thinks to open the door for you, you wait and wait and wait for someone to take a drink order, eventually you go to the bar and wait for someone to stop chatting to someone else to serve you. They put their hands on the top of the glass where my lips are about to go, which I hate. It's nowhere near as crisp and professional as you'd expect from a property of that standard. By contrast, we've just come back from a trip and we stayed at one of the Marriott Autograph Collection properties, the Marmorosch in Bucharest, and that really was something very special. The service was absolutely on point, everything and everyone was top of their game. I've just flown back from Europe in business class and again the service was completely on point, the guy who served me completely anticipated everything I wanted before I had to ask, the drinks were mixed and served perfectly, I didn't need to ask for anything.
I'm not blaming Dominicans - the education system here is atrocious, customer service standards here are generally terrible, you're expected to stand in line for hours for anything you need to buy, you always stand in line to pay at the supermarket, hardly anyone ever says thank you when you pay them. This is the world that Dominicans grow up in, this is what they think is correct. Most people have never left the country, they've never seen anything different. And it's just too much of a leap to get most people, especially those working in more basic jobs like cleaning or waiting tables, to up their game and justify an US$ 800 a night price tag.
By what you said regarding your experience I'm sure you know your stuff... For the most part, and within your purview... But it's not so much a matter of education, rather, as you touched on with this, "...This is the world that Dominicans grow up in, this is what they think is correct...", it's very much a matter of culture.
The education system in Jamaica during the twentieth century was not great for the poorer citizens, yet local pioneer hoteliers — such as Abe Issa — were able to develop a tourism industry that was, for many years, considered second to none. Round Hill, Tryall, Tower Isle, Trident, Half Moon Bay, Frenchman's Cove, and other hotels certainly delivered the highest level of service to their guests.
This was possible because of the influence of British colonial rule under which a certain level of deportment/conduct was demanded from those being ruled over. I found it interesting that you referenced the European ("...the Marmorosch in Bucharest...") environment, which is indicative of centuries of this type of cultural influence.
Unfortunately... Or fortunately... Depending on your social position and desired service... This culture began to take a turn within a decade after Jamaica's independence... And then Gordon "Butch" Stewart came on the scene with his all-inclusive concept that riffed off of Club Med... And Stewart himself makes for an interesting read, as his business background is that of a self-made success. My brother, who was a F&B manager at a Sandals resort, told me that Butch, in a meeting about staff pilfering, told him that he had learned the hotel industry through the back door of hotels (Stewart owned one of the largest Jamaican appliance companies that serviced the tourism industry). Stewart had a different approach to the hotel business than those who had been there before him... And his approach changed the tourism service culture.
All that's pretty much gone now... Today is more of a hurry-come-up situation, on both the guest and service sides... Very few guests really know what high-end service is... Shoot... Most wouldn't know what a five-course meal begins with, much less what each item of silverware/glassware is for. And since the need of the hotel business is that of turnover (get the guest seated, served, and sent on their way), the service staff is taught to get things moving.
I'm not familiar with the DR tourism industry, but I would guess that it has followed the same kind of pattern... And this particular resort doesn't strike me as catering to old-school ways, but more like catering to nouveau riche... Or, at least those who want to be seen as such.
Elegance, which is what old-school high-end tourism was all about, is not just a matter of more money... Elegance is a matter of ingrained grace and style... And elegance, true elegance, is not so common these days.
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