THAT’S WHO WE ARE. Eva Karg, director of Seaside Sandy Beach Hotel
Jul 27, 2023
Eva Karg: “As director of Sandy Beach, the most important thing is to always be there for your guests.”
When you are young, you always have plenty of dreams and desires. But also many fears. Today's Eva Karg (Germany, 1986) still remembers the 21-year-old who came to the Canary Islands for a 9-month stay, feeling quite unsure of herself. And this same person has now been in Gran Canaria for almost half of her life. All this time, of course, as part of the Seaside family. "Now that we are talking about so many years, I think that says a lot about the whole philosophy of the chain and how friendly we are", says Ms. Karg, director of the Seaside Sandy Beach Hotel.
Eva, who started as a waitress at the Grand Hotel Residencia, spent 12 years working with Ms. Úrsula Matas. And after another 2 years as assistant director at Sandy Beach, she is now the current director. A natural evolution that she herself defines as "a super familiar and special experience, with great affection for the product, the customers and the whole team".
Given her position at the head of one of the hotels in the Seaside Collection group, Eva has had to learn languages and, as she laughingly confesses to us, here is the point she is at. "I speak, let's say, three and a half languages: German, Spanish, English and half French; at least it is understood". Nevertheless, Ms Karg explains that the non-verbal language goes way beyond oral communication: "As the director of Sandy Beach, the most important thing is to always be there for your guests; with a smile on your face, because you are responsible for always looking after them".
The Sandy Beach Customer
One of the distinguishing features of Sandy Beach, just like the rest of the Seaside Collection hotels is that most of the customers come back year after year. "We have a clientele of which 80% are repeat customers," explains Eva Karg.
This bond is super special throughout the hotel because, in the end, everyone knows each other, regardless of the language they speak. "Germans, Austrians, Swiss, Spanish, Swedes, from all over Scandinavia, English. There really is a mix of everything," Karg tells us.
There is also a mix of people and age groups, since at the same time a family with two or three children (usually in summer) can coexist with an older couple. They are all looking for one of the Canary Islands' tourist attractions par excellence: "sun and good weather".
Gastronomy at Sandy Beach
But if we have to talk about another of the island's attractions, this has to be gastronomy. "In the cuisine of Gran Canaria, we will always have potatoes, part of the rich Mediterranean diet, first and foremost. But of course, I also want to reach that gastronomy of Seaside Sandy Beach, which is very special, because the client expects a lot, both from the cuisine and from the Seaside chain, because those clients know that when they go to the Seaside chain, they will always eat very well".
This status is very well earned, as all the bakery of the Seaside Collection chain is prepared at Sandy Beach. "Our team of bakers starts working at 1am, the first delivery arrives at Sandy Beach at 4am and by 5am all the fresh bread is delivered to the Seaside Palm Beach and Grand Hotel Residencia hotels," Eva explains. She adds: "It has a very special taste that you can feel with a bread roll when you open it in the middle and it still smells fresh. A very special smell that is a symbol of the Seaside chain and the Sandy Beach Hotel bakery.
But not only the food stands out here, also the drinks: whether you prefer wine or cocktails. For the hotel director, "there is nothing better than sitting at the Pool Bar sipping a drink, in the shade of the palm trees, with music in the background: utter relaxation".
If Eva were to choose three words to define the Sandy Beach Hotel, it would be: "beach, family and the best food" in Playa del Inglés.
