Celebrating the New Year - Island Style

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”

This past year has been one of great change for the Beacon Island and New Year’s Eve is an appropriate time to look back on this past year.

Traditionally, January marks the first day of the Gregorian calendar and is named for the Roman god, Janus. Known as the god of gates, doors and new beginnings, Janus is represented as having two faces, one looking towards the future and the other towards the past. This is a time of reflection and celebration of new beginnings and is true this year at the Beacon Island more than any other since its opening in 1972. The renovation of the hotel has both staff and guests looking towards the future with pleasure and anticipation of many more years enjoying the best of the “BI”.

To ring in 2012, the Island Diner put together an epic feast and party which will be remembered for many years. The Sea Lounge and Indigo Bay were decorated in a festive “Salsa” theme with a dance floor on the deck. The evening was warm and the excitement in the air was palpable.

To start the evening off, guests were served a welcome cocktail, bread basket and a salad bowl for the table. The feast began with a starter platter including crispy crumbed mushrooms, Beef trinchado and mild Peri-Peri chicken livers. In true Island Style, the main platter included fresh seafood: Queen prawns in lemon and garlic, fresh Line Fish, local Mussels in a creamy garlic, white wine and parsley sauce and crumbed calamari strips. Mouth watering! If that wasn’t enough reason to celebrate, there was also juicy Rump Espetada and mushroom Chicken Fillet!

Dessert was white chocolate mousse with a sweet berry topping and biscotti, with champagne chilling in anticipation of midnight. Out on the deck, the music played a soundtrack to the end of a year and the beginning of a new one and it didn’t take long for the diners to digest their feast and put their party shoes on!

For those looking for a more elegant celebration, the Coral Reef restaurant was set up to see in the New Year in style. This uniquely organic restaurant, with unsurpassed views of the bay, served an exclusive menu. Welcome tastes and drinks were enjoyed in the cool restaurant: French champagne and Cape sherry, toasted almonds, marinated olives and spicy potato skins. The intimate tables were garnished with a bread basket and fresh organic salad. To get the party started guests were offered a starter of Beef Carpaccio, Salmon Nagiri, Coral Prawns, Fried Dim Sum or Caprese. The light and tasty starters served were all natural and organic.

Main course options continued to impress the revellers with an option to suit any fancy. There was a Fillet Roma served with hand cut chips and mushroom sauce, an indulgent shellfish platter with West Coast Lobster tails and Prawns and a slow roasted Karoo Lamb with mint béarnaise. Also on offer were roasted Chicken Breast with an orange and port sauce, fresh Line Fish served with a lemon and thyme sauce and an appetizing Vegetarian peanut satay pastry.

The delectable spread was well received by all diners and finished off with a variety of desserts including white and dark Chocolate Mousse and Crème Brulee then a cheese platter and coffee.

Meanwhile, upstairs the party was getting into full swing with dancers celebrating. The New Year was rung in true Beacon Island Style with the setting off of Chinese Lanterns and a vibrant fireworks display. A very memorable evening in a very memorable hotel!

New Year's Eve- a roaring success

 Lights, flashes and a vibrant flair filled the dining areas of the Beacon Island Lifestyle resort with exuberance as 2010 came to a close. In a fabled fashion, guests celebrated the coming of a new year wearing colourful masks and fancy shoes.

Within a stones throw of Central beach, guests were caught up in the magical stir of the evening, watching the flying fire lanterns rise and twinkle across the ocean. The night air was warm, outside Café Estoril couches were filled with guests drinking wine and enjoying the atmosphere. Inside, toasts were being made with shooters in hand after the food plates had been cleared.

Although there were three venues to choose from, it seemed as though they were joined, spreading across the resort like one massive party. People filled the spaces between the restaurants, standing sitting and some even dancing. From the calm tables inside the lounge area next to Café Estoril to the loud pumping music in the marquee outside Indigo Bay people were enjoying themselves with their families and friends.

The decorations, which were arranged with detail and effort by the Island Diner staff, transformed the usual look of the restaurants into a fantastical feast for the eye. Outside, two women wearing flashing devil horns shot deviant cheeky smiles at whoever noticed. With amazing food and great entertainment, The Beacon Island Lifestyle Resort proved to be the idyllic spot of the season for celebrating New Year’s Eve.

Stepping outside under the marquee, the temporarily fashioned dance-floor was alive, buzzing with exhilaration. Singing the lyrics of the words aloud, “Baby tonight, the DJ’s got us falling in love again…” the diverse crowd were united in the festivities. Twirling around hand in hand, old and young, men and women danced the night away happily. 2011 is sure to be a spectacular year assuming it carries on the way it began that night!