A love affair of moments

The Chedi Lustica Bay, how do I even begin to describe the hidden gem this place is. In the words of general manager Jan Albers “We focus on creating moments”. So, I think let’s roll with that. Let’s look at some moments I experienced at the Chedi.

The moment of arrival.

The friendly reception girl greeted us with a smile that lit up the open truss lobby with its big glass doors overlooking the yachts in the marina. The first impression entering the doors is one of awe. This hotel truly is beautiful. But its also one of confusion. See, as beautiful as it looks, it also gives off a feeling. A feeling of home. Explaining the exact feeling is harder than it sounds but it feels like you have arrived at your new home. The comfortable informal yet stylish couches and seating all over the lobby is exactly the kind of laid-back relaxation I would have in my own home.

Receiving the eco friendly wooden room key is a special touch. Let’s face it, when receiving your room key at a hotel you don’t look at it twice. You open the door and put the card in the slot and never lend a second thought to it. Not this one. The key makes you think. A subtle touch telling you that this place is different.

Walking down the passage to your room with motion sensing lights illuminating as you progress to walk past the beautiful landscape paintings hints at the hotel watching over you – in a none creepy way. Sensing what you need without being asked. Fully intending to meet your every need and make you feel like the most important person in the world. A motion to be proven true during our stay at the Chedi.

The breathing in moment.

Walking into your hotel room after 20 hours of traveling is usually a good feeling. I normally want to get in the room, have a shower and sleep it off for an hour or two. The surprise you get when entering your Chedi room is that it messes with your ‘flow’. My normal suddenly disappeared. The room is neat, clean, perfectly finished off and well kept. It’s spacious. It even has a guest toilet, cooking facilities and a little dish washer. I have never seen this in a hotel room before. But that aside, opening the sliding door invites in the fresh ocean breeze that invigorates you with new energy. Yes, I still wanted a shower but there was no way I wanted a nap anymore. I stood on the balcony and breathed in the fresh air, embraced the serene space in the room and allowed myself to feel the peace that comes with this place. The yachts dobbing from side to side in the water, warm sun entering through the glass doors and that breeze. All you want is more. More of this. More of this place. Sleep? Definitely not.

The awkward moment.

The Chedi Lustica Bay hosted our very first Luxe Global Awards Gala evening. We have been organizing this evening of glitz and glam together with the Chedi team for most of the year. Video calls, phone calls and emails have been exchanged for months. But meeting someone in person is often times different to chatting electronically. Going down for the first in-person meeting is always a little intimidating. That intimidation quickly faded away as the girl-power team of Bruna, Tamara and Ana radiated their positive energy, big smiles and ever willingness to adjust plans and do everything in their power to make the evening a success. And what a success it was. Nothing stops these girls. No problem is too big and no issue too serious. Besides taking everything in their stride, they made us feel not like colleagues but like family. By the end of the weekend, it felt like we had made friends for life.

The trying moment.

So, you have your favorite dinner spot in your city or your beloved lunch corner at the local coffee shop. Yes-yes, we all do. And you love it, right? It’s familiar. You have been going there for years and you know the staff, the menu, you even know the Friday night playlist that never changes. It feels like home. You feel welcome, safe and amid family and close friends. Close your eyes and grab hold of that feeling. Feel it? The warmth and sense of belonging. Now ok, you will never get this feeling from a hotel restaurant. Sure, the staff are friendly most of the time and the lights are dimmed to create a romantic ambiance. But do you ever get to know the staff? Do you ever feel at home? Not really.

You don’t feel at home or like family after visiting the Chedi restaurant two or three times. I kid you not, from the moment you sit down on the veranda and that fresh ocean breeze hits your senses you are at peace. At home. The warmth of the overhead heaters is only overshadowed by the warmth from the staff welcoming you and taking the time to have a chat and find out how your day was to make sure you feel cared for.

You become so familiar so quickly that you start to take a few liberties. On the Sunday evening we wanted to watch the formula one race on television. This is not a sports bar but even so the staff went out of their way to set it up in the bar area of the restaurant for us. After we sat down we decided it would be nice if we could be even more comfortable and asked if there was any other place we could watch from. Without flinching they took us up to the lobby area to sit on the comfortable couches and started repeating the setup process for one of the promotional tv’s in the lobby. This is the restaurant staff I am talking about. Going out of their way and setting us up in a different part of the hotel and doing it with a smile!

The moment you know.

At this point I can go on to mention the magnificent spa area, how the reception got the hotel engineer to help us adjust a belt, how they helped us with a laptop charger when we forgot to bring the right plug adaptor and the list goes on. But really, on the morning of day three at breakfast there was a moment. The moment that I knew we had become family. A moment where that warm feeling of familiarity came rushing over me and I knew. The Chedi is the one. And it’s a simple moment really. I got up from my chair and turned around to walk to the bathroom during breakfast. On the way I passed our waiter Nikola who had been serving us the past two mornings. I looked at him and intended to ask him for two more cappuccinos. As I looked at him with my intention, he looked at me, smiled and said “I have already ordered your cappuccinos”.

“We focus on creating moments”. And how you do. Thank you, Chedi. Thank you, staff. Thank you, family. We are sad to leave. Until we meet again.

Reviewed by: Ruan Van Dijk

The Chedi Lustica Bay hosted our very first LUXE Global Managing Director