Contact
Languages
Paola García, manager of the Riu Palace Aquarelle: “managing the opening of a new hotel has been a very exciting challenge.”
10 April, 2025 Share
Each new hotel opening is an adventure involving months of work, preparation, and a good dose of excitement. In early May 2024, RIU welcomed its seventh hotel in Jamaica: the Riu Palace Aquarelle, a new paradise in Falmouth that opened its doors with Paola García at the helm as its manager. A year on, we sat down with her to look back at the challenges and achievements of this first year of operations, full of emotion and lessons learnt.
The challenge of opening a new hotel
Paola began her career at RIU eight years ago, in the Riu Ocho Rios, as part of the assistant manager’s team. After this initial step, in 2021, she took on her first challenge as manager of the Riu Negril, just after the pandemic, a twofold endeavour that tested her in a unique way. Last year, she faced a new challenge: running a new hotel from scratch: “The countdown to the opening began months beforehand. Although the opening was in May, in March we were already working alongside with the construction site and making sure that everything was adapted to the needs we would have on a day-to-day basis. At the same time, our team was receiving intensive training to ensure that everything was ready for that big day. It was a very stressful time, with a brand new team needing to assimilate the RIU standards quickly. We had to pay attention to every detail, from the logistics to the training of each team member. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth the effort. The feeling that everything was falling into place, and seeing the smiles on the faces of the guests, made all that hard work become an incredibly rewarding experience.”
“I started as an assistant manager intern at the Riu Ocho Rios and then I was given the opportunity to manage a hotel.”
The Riu Palace Aquarelle is not only the most recent opening in the Caribbean country, but it also introduced several innovative concepts to the hotel chain’s entertainment and culinary offer. “We were the first to offer the new American Country concept, which has already been exported to other destinations, and we were the first hotel in the chain to offer swim-up suite rooms on the top floor.” What’s more, as part of the Proudly Committed sustainability strategy, it was also the first destination in the Caribbean to install solar panels.
According to Paola, being a hotel manager is very rewarding because there are exciting challenges every day. To keep everything running smoothly, you have to monitor everything constantly, and she emphasises that she has an extraordinary team, characterised by their human qualities and a great atmosphere. “They are all highly professional, I feel very calm with them around”, she emphasises.
Jamaica: a destination to fall in love with
When you ask Paola what brought her so far from her homeland, she smiles and spells it out: “Jamaica is special.” Although it was a big change culturally, especially in terms of customs, there is something magical about the island. The warmth of its people, its music and its natural landscapes touch everyone. And, of course, Falmouth, with its proximity to Montego Bay airport, has been the perfect setting for this new adventure.
After starting out in Ocho Rios, on the eastern side of the island, her new adventure has now taken her to Falmouth, very close to Montego Bay, the island’s tourism hub. So far, the response has been very positive, largely thanks to the family-friendly facilities, with a range of entertainment options for all ages, including Splash Water World, the RiuLand children’s club and a variety of live shows. “Customers really like the new location, and it’s also very close to Montego Bay airport”, she adds.
Jamaica, with its vibrant soul, has left its mark on Paola. As she herself says, “I will always carry a little piece of Jamaica with me.” A destination that, like the hotel, invites you to go back time and time again
