Marriott Hotel to open in March; General Manager boasts of quality service

By Tracey Khan – Drakes

[www.inewsguyana.com] –The nine storey Marriott Hotel Located at the mouth of the Demerara River in Kingston, Georgetown is set to open its doors for business sometime in March this year, according to its General Manager, Roberto Grisi.

During an exclusive interview and tour of the hotel by iNews on Wednesday, February 05, Mr. Grisi boasted of the high quality of service the hotel will offer when it is open for business.

“The idea is to do the Marriott service standard, as a Marriott managed property; we are obligated to provide the same level of service here as anywhere else.”

Mr. Grisi also shared his expectations for doing business in Guyana once the hotel is open.

“My expectation is that the hotel is going to do very well, we are certain that the hotel is going to fulfill a need of having a hotel with this caliber; we have a sales department that is in this town, but we have a global sales organization that is helping us to make sure that all the companies that they have to do business with, they are going to come do business at the Marriott here.”

Emphasis was also placed on the fact that the hotel’s staff complement is 95% Guyanese, who are currently undergoing training.

“Obviously considering that there is no hospitality industry here, we are going to be doing a lot of training and that’s why we started early on the training…we are also doing cultural, hospitality and services training.”

The hotel’s 230 employees will offer the same quality service that it offers to it’s over 4,000 hotels worldwide.

The General Manager did not want to pronounce too much on the continued political squabbles over the operations and financing of the hotel.

“I am not from Guyana and I don’t have anything to do with that, so I am maintaining myself as a neutral, because we are operators, we are here to operate a hotel not to make any kind of comments on the political situation in the country.”

The luxury hotel brags of 197 guest rooms and suites that offer views of the ocean at every turn. Its Ballroom has the capacity to accommodate between 400 to 700 persons at any time depending on the set up. It can also be transformed into four sections to host smaller events.

The hotel also has five boardrooms and an open style kitchen to allow patrons to dine in the restaurant and watch their meals being prepared by their expert chefs.

Its indoor gym will cater mainly for its guest but membership will eventually be offered to members of the public. In addition, daily passes will also become available once the hotel is open to the public.

The hotel has made two levels for its Presidential suite that are wide in space and breathtaking in style. Currently, management is focused on the interior decorating along with minor fixtures to the building. The setting is unique and offers style with a difference to Guyanese that they too can boast of.