The grand opening of Indulgence by the Sea was this past weekend. They opened to a long line of eager customers in need of some genuine TLC.
Health & Beauty was able to sit with the charismatic owner, Angie, who gave us a small taste of her story:
“I took the first commercial flight into St. Maarten with Insel Air. It was October 18; and after what I’d heard from the Irma reports, there was every intention to return to shut down the operations. After the messages and videos I’d received, I didn’t imagine anything could be salvaged. This location was recently renovated, but once I saw the pictures of what it looked like, I fell to my knees devastated by what I had seen. Aside from that, the absolute worst part was waiting for a headcount of my team and other friends who were here.
“The plane was filled with other people like me who were finally able to come home for the first time after the devastation. There was a deep and sombre silence as everyone took in this new sight. As if to add to the shock, the passengers were ushered to tents on the tarmac instead of inside of the building to pick up luggage right on the runway. Still more silence. How could I look at this and imagine anything would be the same anymore? While I was still in Aruba, a friend of mine had asked if it was worth it; all the stress and money I was putting into the place. I had to step back and think. Landing here and seeing everything made me realize it wasn’t.
“In my rental car, fresh from the plane, I headed straight to Divi. After a bit of turning around and being cleared by a very attractive Marine, the staffers were so welcoming and happy to see me, which was a warm sight after so much. The General Manager and I finally did a walkthrough. So much was lost and damaged. The spa looked like it was a total loss, but leave it to me to see hope in the hopeless. Six feet at some parts, three feet at other and only a few inches in the reception area, this was only part of what we were working with. I asked for four workmen to help me get the sand out of the rooms. I had three nights and four days to get everything done.
“The location at Oyster Bay looked less damaged in the pictures, but turned out to need much more work than anticipated. I called in my six longest working employees for a meeting. I knew that if there was hope, they would be the ones to help me work it out. When I met with them, they were all dressed up, with hair and makeup done. They were ready to work. And when I got them in my arms and looked them in the eyes, I could see hope. We sat down and shared our stories. I sat down and asked, ‘How can we open if the resorts aren’t even open as yet?’ Margarita replied, ‘The locals.’ The girls told me about how many people had approached them about opening back up. The island needed healing and comfort. It needed love and care.
“I went back to Aruba and prayed about what to do about this. Eventually, I decided to start back up our dollars for guilders campaign. The girls and I worked tirelessly to get the spa ready in time for the opening; there was major renovation done on our Divi location and it was ready. This past weekend when the doors opened, my heart warmed to see the kind of love and support the people of St. Maarten gave us. We’ve recovered and are waiting for some new equipment; but thanks to this opportunity, we can add some new parts to the spa and have some surprises for our guests over the course of the next few months. I would also like the people of St. Maarten to know that we are fully here to support them in rebuilding and we’re here to provide whatever assistance we can – onwards and forward.”
