When Sasha Daley landed a job as a hostess at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Ocho Rios in 2017 she did not expect that just four years later she would have been promoted to floor manager of the establishment.
“I started as a hostess then I moved to the bar as a bartender, and now I’m the floor manager,” Daley said in an interview with LetsTravelCaribbean.com recently.
“I really like the business. I just really wanted to learn it, and I thought that my path was a good one, because I really got a chance to see the business from the bottom up,” she added.
Noting that she believes her journey with the company has prepared her for the new role as floor manager, Daley embraced the “different perspectives” she has encountered throughout the years.
“A lot of times you only get one perspective, [but] I got the perspective from the initial interaction with the guests at the very front, welcoming them to the restaurant and whatever the expectations were at that position. Then I moved to serving guests; both in the bar, because I was a bartender, [and]… I was also on the floor, so I got to see that aspect of the business as well,” she said.
Daley continued, “And now that I’m overseeing it at the floor level I get to see a unique perspective there too.”
Pointing out that with the establishment’s “ultimate goal” to provide a good experience to each of its guests, she said since her promotion in early December she has been more actively involved in the day-to-day running of Margaritaville Ocho Rios.
“A lot is different, but I don’t feel any different because, like I said, the ultimate goal is to make sure we provide a really good experience, so… I’m still on the floor. I’m not the server, but I’m still interacting with guests, I’m still taking orders and making sure that the operation is running well,” Daley said.
She welcomes the task, she told LetsTravelCaribbean.com.
“I do feel like I have a really good knowledge base because I’ve been in the restaurant for so long. I learned some things along the way that I think will help me now in effectively managing the floor, so that we get the best possible guest experience, which is our ultimate goal,” said the floor manager.
Beaming with pride, Daley shared that she believes Margaritaville Ocho Rios is a very “unique” place to work.
“I think Margaritaville Ocho Rios is unique because we are right in the heart of Ocho Rios. At this point we are a landmark; once you come to the town you want to go to Margaritaville. We have the experience of the local population, the cruise ships that are now returning and the surrounding hotels. So blend that all in and you get Jamaica, you get Ocho Rios, and you get Margaritaville on top of that,” she said.
Visitors to the establishment are also lucky to experience this uniqueness, she adds.
“So, if [they] get a cheeseburger in paradise, they get it Ocho Rios style. Our entertainment team is also really good at that, to kind of inject our culture, not just Jamaican culture, but the Ocho Rios culture into Margaritaville. We want to have a good time and we want our guests to also have a good time,” said Daley.
The floor manager now looks forward to not only fun days at Margaritaville Ocho Rios, but many more learning experiences.
“I have so much more to learn. I mean, there’s so much more to learn, but I’m comfortable. I’m comfortable and I like it here,” she said.
