Issued By Bureau Of Standards
Certificates of compliance presented to accommodation operators in Grenada
Fifteen properties in the accommodation sector were recently awarded certificates of compliance from the Grenada Bureau of Standards as a result of meeting the requirements in the certification standards established for the accommodation sector in 2003.
In February 2008, the Grenada Bureau of Standards launched the implementation program for the compulsory standard GDS 25: 2003 – Specification for Requirement for Assessment, Licensing, and Registration of the Accommodation Sector in Grenada. The program, referred to as the Certification Program for the Accommodation Sector, is a joint initiative of the Grenada Board of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism, and Grenada Bureau of Standards. It involves the registration, pre-assessment, auditing, follow-up visits, and certification of hotels, apartments, villas, and guest houses as specified in the national compulsory standards.
The compulsory standards requires that all properties in the accommodation sector be audited using a general checklist that covers from fire plan to the safety of swimming pools and recreational facilities.
Head of Standardization Division at the Bureau Mrs. Lena Downes-Belgrave explained that the general requirements involves auditing the availability of printed information on the rate racks, information in regards to hotel policies relating to credit, payment by check, foreign exchange rate, canceling of bookings, checkout times, and guest registration records.
Speaking about Building Safety she said, “This involves an inspection on the building structure, as well as an examination of emergency lighting, garden lighting, light levels in other parts of the building, and an examination of swimming pools and other recreational waters for protection against electrical shocks.”
Other areas are food safety and sanitation, fire safety, furnishings and finishings, and the safety of wwimming pools and other recreational waters. In the first year of the program - February 2008 to March 2009 - thirty-three facilities were audited; of these, eleven or 33 percent met the requirements of the standard. In the second year of the program - March 2009 to March 2010 - twenty-five facilities were visited, and of these, fifteen were audited.
Down-Belgrave said that progress of the certification program is on target to have all 80+ accommodation facilities visited and where possible audited within three years. A list of properties receiving certificates are: Petit Anse Hotel, Maca Bana, Inside Out, Woburn Villa, Jerry’s Apartments, Mango Palma, Mandela Court, Petit Bacaye Cottages, La Sagesse Nature Center, Relax Inn, La Heliconia, Rohanthon Dubissettes Guesthouse, Monmot Hotel, Vision View Apartment, and Grand Anse Beach Palace.
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