The head man at a South Shore resort has shot back at claims from an a anonymous letter writer.

Elbow Beach is working hard to compete in the international resort market, said the hotel's general manager Bill Shoaf yesterday.

"In today's global economy we believe that each member of our team must have the tools and up to date job knowledge if Elbow Beach is to survive in the international resort market.

"And we are putting our money and human spirit where our mouth is.'' But he added: "It was disturbing and frustrating, however, to have these efforts tarnished by a series of `facts' about our relationships with our associates that are, in reality, simply not true or manipulated to validate a predetermined thought pattern.'' Mr. Shoaf was referring to an inflammatory Letter to the Editor by `Concerned Future Hotelier' entitled `Rethink hiring practices' in the May 29 issue of The Royal Gazette .

The nameless writer praised the hotel's physical plant improvements before calling on people to question Elbow Beach's hiring practices.

It was alleged that a number of Bermudian managers had been made redundant or resigned and had been replaced by non-Bermudians.

The letter went on to claim the replacement wait staff hired to work in the resort's new restaurants were non-Bermudian while it was Bermudian wait staff that had been made redundant when the hotel closed its old facilities.

"This is a sad indictment of our hotel industry,'' said the nameless complainant.

But Mr. Shoaf responded that the positions of Executive Housekeeper, Director of Sales and Conference Manager were vacated for various reasons and then filled by Bermudians.

The positions of Food and Beverage Director, Director of Security and Financial Director were also vacated, he continued.

The Food and Beverage position is not going to be filled, Director of Security is currently open and the position of Financial Director has been advertised repeatedly but no resumes have been received from Bermudians.

And Mr. Shoaf said the Activities and Concierge Departments were both managed by Bermudians and over 85 percent of their staff were Bermudian.

Turning to the hotel's restaurants, Mr. Shoaf pointed out that every member of Ondine's staff were offered the option of staying with the hotel and getting the first choice of working in its new restaurants or taking redundancy payments.

All the staff except for two non-Bermudians elected to take the redundancy.

He noted: "As for wait staff presently employed, we advertised on three separate occasions and formally elicited the assistance of the Bermuda Industrial Union to find Bermudian applicants to fill the wait staff openings.

"We received six applications and three of those applicants currently work at the Surf Club.'' Two of the three Surf Club managers and all the Seahorse Grill managers are Bermudian, continued Mr. Shoaf.

The GM also pointed out that the hotel had given out $60,000 in scholarships over the past five years to aspiring young Bermudians.

Another $150,000 was spent on sending Bermudian managers and line staff to Europe and the US for training at other Rafael Hotels.

And over the past 12 months seven Bermudians have been promoted to management positions from hourly positions.

Meanwhile, every manager has been professionally trained and certified to be a trainer in order to create an on going learning environment for all staff.

Detailed job standards have also been developed for every staff member.

In closing, Mr. Shoaf, who started his hotel career in Bermuda 23 years ago, said: "I returned to Bermuda to join a group of terrific people at Elbow Beach and to help them bring this property back to a five-diamond level. And they will do just that.

"So, by way of this letter, I give `Concerned Future Hotelier' an open invitation. Join us. You will find a dedicated, hard working and caring group of people.

"But come ready to roll up your sleeves and get to it, because this team is about getting it fixed, not discussing why it's broken.''