Dear Bonaire forum members
after visiting Bonaire for more than five times we are all the time surprised by room rates and friendliness ,the room rate is not corresponding in any regards to the staff .
If I have to pay 150 $ and up per night without breakfast I can at least expect a clean and in good condition room plus or some helpful and cheerful staff members well this is not happening .
Generally there is no smile at many Bonaire resorts from the staff people .
Please do not misunderstand me we like Bonaire very much and we will come back again but if you compare the island with other`s in the caribbean Bonaire is lacking in that respect.

I don't know - we stay at the Belmar and the staff there always stops by when we are hanging out between dives on the patio to talk - they're usually smiling too.

Daniel, Just an observation by a 20+ year visitor. I find that many of the local staff go about their duties with poker faces. What I did was spend extra time trying to draw them out a little bit. I made a challenge that before I left they would know me and I would know them a bit better. The "game" paid off for both of us now I have many warm acquaintences on trips. But it is a job. I suppose that especially in some areas of the service business there may be a natural tendency to be task oriented and not so much people oriented. After all every week or two you see a set of new faces.

I've found that if I smile at people and say hello, they smile and say hello back. Not just on Bonaire, but anywhere.

We stay at Captain Don's every time we go to Bonaire(I think it's been 8-9 times now) and always found the staff friendly and welcoming, and that they remember us every visit. From the desk staff to the people cleaning the rooms, we've found a friendly word and a smile can make a big difference.

Is it possible that you were just faced with shyness?

Hi Daniel

I would take the quiet politeness of Bonaire residents over the in-your-face "friendliness" of some other locations (e.g. certain areas of Mexico) who are only friendly so long as your wallet is open. I feel the Bonaire residents carry a certain pride...what I have found are some visitors who typically expect to be waited on hand and foot (I'm not implying you are one of these) do not like Bonaire as much as, say Cozumel...my two cents...We were treated wonderfully at Capt. Don's

Hi Daniel

We are also multiple repeaters in Bonaire, the staff always crack me up with their dry humour and sense of fun.

In general (worldwide) I think a smile is a mirror of how you approach others.

Well Daniel, welcome to the board.
But between you & me I have always found that when you smile at someone in good faith, over 90% of the time they smile back. Say good morning to someone & they will most assuredly smile back at you & say the same.

We also stayed at the BelMar and found that the staff was always friendly and smiling. We liked it so much, we'll be back in 1 month. Woo hoo!!!