Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa has launched a newly renovated staff canteen, "Grand Café". This project was launched for the team who look after the guests with their hardwork and dedication to service and guest experience.

The resort General Manager, Riaan Drever together with the in-house Engineering, TFC projects and Housekeeping teams set out to improve the canteen and deliver a restaurant which the team can be proud of. The inspiration for Riaan came from common and multi-use spaces, which is far more the trend today rather than the ugly dining spaces traditionally found in hotels.

The team managed to keep the costs down by using furniture saved up from previous front of house upgrades along with fabric no longer used in the resort. The outcome of the improvement was well received by the team who now thoroughly enjoy the space.

The culinary team under the supervision of Executive Chef and Sous Chef managed to put out a phenomenal menu together. It is a 14-day rotational menu, build the same way for the main guests of the restaurant. However, since the resort team live and work on the island, the menu starts from 06h00 and last meals are till 21h30, with the main set times and snack meals in between for those who might be off or missed a meal period. In addition to this the team have the option of a Coffee Café plus the Chefs are planning to add an a la carte menu starting January which will be a choice of items on the guest In Villa menu or from the outlets such as Azzuri Mare (Italian) and Suan Bua (Thai).

The resort property was fortunate enough to grow net promoter scores by more than 14% year on year, plus have been awarded various certificates by World Luxury Awards, TripAdvisor and Hotel of the Year, in addition to the great growth in guest and mystery guest scores, so it is only fair to give such a lovely space to a well deserving team.