Hotel general managers share what it's been like to ride out the pandemic at 3 very different resorts, from a private island in the Caribbean to a wilderness lodge in South Africa

Rory du Plessis, general manager of Bushmans Kloof in the Cederberg Mountains of South Africa, has been residing on property during the COVID-19 pandemic. He's been working alongside the reserve's employees while the property is temporarily closed to guests.

Du Plessis oversees the lodge itself, which is situated on about 125 acres of land and spread out over about one mile, as well as the rest of the reserve, which includes 175,000-plus acres of open space. The land is home to many rare and endangered species of animals such as Cape Mountain Zebra and African Wildcats which need to be protected — even during a pandemic.

There are around 90 total employees and 30 children — ranging in age from just six months to 16 years old — currently living on property with du Plessis. Of the 120 who live at Bushmans Kloof, there are just 18 employees who are still actively working to maintain the grounds. The rest of the employees are technically on a temporary furlough, but still have access to onsite transportation services to reach nearby medical facilities and travel to essential services, since the lodge is located 28 miles from the nearest town.

"It has been both a wonderful — yet restrictive — time that has tested us physically and mentally, but has in many ways brought us closer together as a team as we go about maintaining this wonderful property in isolation," du Plessis told Business Insider. "So many things that are taken for granted will never be done in the future. The new normal is certainly going to be interesting."

Without guests, they've been harvesting the produce to feed the staff and the surplus is taken into town to be donated to the less fortunate. Any old spa slippers, gowns, sheets, pillows and uniforms from property are also donated. During their free time, the group will play games and enjoy the vast acres of open land.

"We have some lovely open areas, so in a bit of leisure time we are able to throw frisbees and play cricket, so we at least are able to socially distance too," du Plessis said. "I do believe this has given us a chance to introspect and realize we are being cautioned to change and live closer in harmony with the rest of the planet!"

Dave Huber is the General Manager of chic upscale mountain retreat River Run RV Resort, located in Granby, Colorado, a small town with a year-round population of 2,000 residents at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Huber has a diverse background in the hospitality industry and over the past 20 years has worked for a variety of outdoor recreation and resort operations companies across the country.

His family of five (nine year old twins and an 11 year old daughter) recently relocated from Harrisonburg, Virginia to join five other employees living onsite at River Run property. They were enjoying the Colorado scenery and getting to know their new community for just four weeks before lockdown began and the property closed to guests.

While the resort is officially closed to the public, it has remained open to house the healthcare workers of nearby towns who don't want to endanger their families by potentially bringing home infection.

Huber said that the property has housed on average around three to four first responders per week.

When asked what the experience of housing healthcare workers has been like, Huber started: "When you spoke with them, the incredible impact …" and then stopped to pause reflect back upon the in-depth conversations and the relationships he's continued to build with his guests, who are extremely grateful to have been provided a "worry-free" place to stay in the midst of such stress. "The way that this community has pulled together I think has been amazing."

Huber said that the conversations surrounding when and how they'll fully reopen is an ever changing dialogue. They're working in tandem with guidance from the state of Colorado and Grand County's phased approach to relaxing current restrictions, in addition to guidelines from parent company Sun RV Resorts. However, the key advantage that River Run will have over other properties moving forward is that their space will offer a safer environment, as a naturally socially distant location in the openness of rural Colorado.

"Operationally and geographically, social distancing comes naturally here. Each individual vacation rental is a self contained unit with its own parking, own kitchen, own restrooms and showers ... You don't have to speak with a person face-to-face," Huber said. "You can pay online and we'll check you in, have your unit set up — the way we're set up has allowed us to do this in a very safe way."

General manager Matt Semark, and his wife Anie — who also works as the resort's assistant GM — along with their two young boys (ages six and three) permanently reside on the 115-acre Petit St. Vincent Private Island Resort, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. They have stayed there since the resort shut down in late March. Petit St. Vincent is an island retreat which offers 22 luxurious oceanside one-bedroom cottages and two-bedroom beach villas.

"Any island you go to in this region, the level of community, is so welcoming, so friendly, and so polite ... very natural. Very peaceful. Very safe. Very humble," Semark said.

Guests had to evacuate the island as quickly as possible upon learning of the impending international travel restrictions.

"We had to literally grab all of our guests in-house, go around the cottages and say, 'You need to get on a plane, quickly. Because you may get stuck here.'"

Petit St. Vincent's employees are considered family, with the majority of the team from the surrounding islands — but there are team members working who come from all over the world. Right now just 20 of the 130 crew members remain on the island — some of them are quite literally "stranded" because they couldn't catch a flight home in time as the initial focus was on getting all of the resort's guests home safely.

Just before the property officially closed its doors, the crew was fortunate enough to happen to receive the enormous shipment of frozen meat and dry goods from their food distributor overseas, which was supposed to feed guests on property for the entire summer but will now feed the employees throughout the entirety of island quarantine.

"Even when the full team is here, it's as if we're a big family, because we're all here 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Semark said. "It has in a way been nice, just the 20 of us here, because we've become so close, taking turns cooking for each other, and having picnics and barbecues… we make the best of it."

From standard property maintenance on tennis court floodlights, to ongoing work on an underwater nursery project working to regrow coral (a project that Semark, a longtime diver, is particularly passionate about), the team has undoubtedly grown closer these past couple months.

"One of the things I've been able to do over the last few weeks is to start to teach my eldest son to dive, as I've got a little bit more time with him, now!" Semark said.

These general managers and their families consider "home" to be the property they oversee and its employees as a part of their extended family. Throughout quarantine they've had the opportunity to learn more about the land and its community, and will return to normal resort operations with a better understanding of it than ever before.