The criticisms made by Chairman of the Pegasus Hotel, Robert Badal about the Marriott Hotel did not come as a surprise to President Bharrat Jagdeo who believes that Badal’s ‘monopoly’ would be threatened with a more advanced hotel in Guyana.

            Speaking to the media at a press conference today at the Office of the President, the Head of State said were he to be in Badal’s shoes, he would try to kill every effort for other hotels in the country since it would allow him to maintain a monopoly and charge high rates.
            The Head of State alluded to what he described as “crappy service,” at the Hotel which many foreigners complain about including Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) whom he said complained personally to him about leakages in the ceiling caused by too much condensation from the air conditioning unit.
            President Jagdeo said the staff of the hotel is not to be blamed for such negligence but the absence of financing needed to refurbish the amenities.
“This is supposed to be our premiere hotel in the country,” President Jagdeo reminded.
President Jagdeo also responded to Badal’s comments about committing tax-payers’ dollars for the benefit of Marriott International, noting that if Badal is so concerned he should have refused to commit a number of acts including refusal to pay for constructing a wharf on land that belongs to National Industrial & Commercial Investments (NICIL) Ltd.
Within three years Guyana will be home to the first Marriott Hotel in the Caribbean and Latin America with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the United States Green Building Council.
Marriott International Inc. announced its readiness to open its hotel that will boast 160 rooms and will operate under a management agreement with Atlantic Hotel Inc. which is currently owned by the Government of Guyana as part of a public-private partnership between Government and private sector investors.
President Jagdeo is however still not convinced that this is enough.
“I think we need not one but three more modern hotels for this country, not captured by the narrow vision by people like Badal and the others… we have to grow this market by ensuring that you have the facilities there so you can go out and aggressively market for people to come to Guyana because if you market for them to come and you don’t have the facilities, it doesn’t make sense.”