Family staycation cut short after discrimination incident

A radio host told Cayman 27 he cut a family staycation short after hotel security forced him to prove he and his family were guests at the resort.

Dane Ramoon of Cayman 27’s sister station Irie FM said he and his family were celebrating his daughter’s 18th birthday at the Westin hotel last weekend when security approached, demanding proof they belonged on the property.

Mr. Ramoon said he complained to the manager on duty, who said the security guard was simply doing his job.

He said it’s discrimination, and this isn’t the first time it’s happened to him at a local tourism-oriented business.

“I think the service industry needs more culture training to actually figure out what it is the island is about, what are the people about, what are the locals about, and maybe then they tend to find out they’ll treat the locals a lot better if they have that culture training. It should be mandatory if you work in the service industry,” said Mr. Ramoon.

The Westin told Cayman 27  it has since apologised to Mr. Ramoon.

“We are conducting ongoing training for our security staff relative to sensitivity and protocol to ensure we reduce any issues in the future. We conduct regular, ongoing diversity training for all staff members as well,” said the Westin in a statement.