Hospitality Jamaica :: The Patersons: Doctors Cave guests for 37 years

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George and Isabel Paterson.

The Patersons: Doctors Cave guests for 37 years

Christopher Thomas
Gleaner Writer, WESTERN BUREAU:

Doctors Cave Hotel in Montego Bay, St James, has changed much over the last 37 years, but there is still a constant: long-standing guests, George and Isabel Paterson.

Sitting down with Hospitality Jamaica in one of the hotel's patio rooms, the couple was all smiles as they talked about their decades-long association with Doctors Cave Beach Hotel.

"It's our home away from home," said Isabel beaming.

Scottish nationals who migrated to the United States in 1954, the Patersons lived for many years in Michigan, where George worked for General Motors and his wife studied to become a nurse. They first decided to vacation in Jamaica in 1971.

"We were going on vacation, but we hadn't planned where we were going to go," said George. "There was a commercial that came on television ... and (in the commercial) the girl was at the window and looked around at the ocean, and she said, 'Come back to Jamaica.' And my daughter said, 'There you are, Dad ... why don't you and Mom go to Jamaica?'."

'that's my kind of hotel'

The couple arrived in Jamaica, but stayed at Castle Montego, next door to Doctors Cave Beach Hotel.

"We knew people that were here (at Doctors Cave), and they told us about the treatment they were getting here," George recalled. "So I said to my wife, 'That's my kind of hotel'. So after that, we started coming here."

The couple began vacationing at Doctors Cave Beach Hotel the next year.

"The staff changes - we've seen a lot of changes, but everybody treats us like Mom and Dad. And it doesn't matter when we come, and if there's different staff, it's still the same. They're all very friendly, like a family. And that's good in a hotel; you're not just a room number."

The couple has grown so close to the hotel staff that, on a number of occasions, they have been included in various activities, including weddings, birthdays and staff parties held at the facility. The Patersons even recalled how once the staff held back a party just for them.

"Why would we go anywhere else when everyone here is friends?" Isabel asked.

"We've walked into Montego Bay many times and we sit at Sam Sharpe Square, and we meet a lot of people, (including) old staff members. Nobody bothers us. Even the taxi drivers don't say, 'Taxi!' They just look at us and say, 'Oh, welcome back'."

Jamaica's heritage

They have also learned of Jamaica's multi-national heritage through their frequent stays at the hotel.

"We found out that a lot of Jamaicans have Scottish ancestry, and very proud of it too," George said. "One of the staff members used to deliver my paper every morning ... His name was Ian McIntosh. You couldn't get any more Scottish than that," he added with a smile.

The elderly couple, both in their 80s, celebrated their 50th and 60th wedding anniversaries at Doctor's Cave, both times compliments of the hotel. The Patersons have been married for 62 years and have five children, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, all of whom have been to Doctors Cave as well.

"We all assembled at the front lawn and had our pictures taken, and it was in The Gleaner; and the headline was 'The Patersons Keep Coming Back'," George recounted.

The Patersons declared that they would keep coming back to Jamaica and to Doctors Cave as long as they are able to do so.

"I just like coming home," said George. "That's what I email the hotel when I'm coming - I say, 'I'm coming home'."