VacantReady

A few days ago Sheikh Abdel Aziz Ibrahim bin Ibrahim of Saudi Arabia, owner of the Grand Hyatt in Cairo banned the sale of alcohol at the hotel. Apparently the owner arrived at the hotel and ordered a massive amount of booze from In Room Dining. Hotel staff obliged and delivered bottle after bottle, which he then poured down the sink (literally).

This gesture marked the beginning of a ban on the service of alcohol at the 716 room Grand Hyatt Cairo. The Muslim religion denounces the consumption of booze, and the owner has seemingly made a grand statement about the sort of guests he wants staying in his hotel. All guests are welcome of course, just as long as they follow certain aspects of Islam.

No doubt the Hyatt corporation will have a thing or two to say about this move—to say nothing of the opinions of many thousands of non-Muslim hotel guests. An official no-liquour policy, if it remains in place, would surely have a huge impact on guest room production from many non-Muslim nations. I can only imagine how much liquour revenue (and banquet business) will be lost in the future at this busy property. Can an international hotel maintain a five star, or even a four star rating without the availability of alcohol? I doubt it.

Within reason, the owner of a hotel can do whatever he wants at his property. However, having an operating agreement with a large multinational brand like Hyatt complicates things in a big way, and I seriously doubt that Hyatt will accept the situation as-is without a contractual fight. After all, their brand consistency is on the line.

The gossip in Cairo is that the owner has been trying to dissolve his relationship with Hyatt for some time, and clearly this move could be sabre-rattling on a big scale. Either way it’s an interesting piece of information for competitive luxury hotels in Cairo who are certainly watching events as they unfold.

APF covered the story in a short piece, and I was also delighted to find a comment from a London-based frequent business traveller and (former) Hyatt fan:

“The Hyatt hotel chain is pretty good, I have to admit, good rooms, good customer service, good frequent user programme and so on and so forth. But hey, no drinks, no stay. After a long day at work, you need a drink.”

Linkage
APF Story [Saudi sheikh bans alcohol at Grand Hyatt Cairo]
Blog Comment [Daily Salty]

2 comments | Permalink | Middle East & Africa • Cairo • Gossip

Vancouver’s upcoming Shangri-La Hotel opening seems to be creating considerable PR buzz. Surprisingly, local hotel professionals located as far away as Cairo, Egypt (Vacant Ready’s new home-base) are watching the opening of the Shangri-La with some anticipation.

The Vancouver Sun reported today that renowned French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten (now hailing from New York City) is negotiating to open a new restaurant in the Vancouver property. No agreements have been formalized yet, but Jill Killeen, Director of Public Relations at the Shangri-La Vancouver confirmed that talks are currently underway.

Vancouver culinary scene insider Andrew Morrison of UrbanDiner.ca already caught wind of discussions with Jean-Georges earlier this week, and member comments on Urban Diner reveal some excitement about the potential opening.

The Vancouver Sun article by Bruce Constantineau tempers any exuberance however, with a comment from Barbara-jo McIntosh, owner of Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks store in Vancouver:

“It’s a sign that Vancouver is becoming recognized as a growing metropolis with a culinary scene that is worthy of these grand chefs’ attention,” she said in an interview. “It’s fine, and kind of neat, but it doesn’t excite me to an exultant level because we already have a great culinary community.”

I don’t know who Barbara-jo is (apart from a local Vancouver shop owner), but I certainly share her belief in Vancouver’s culinary prowess. Living in Cairo is full of delights and excitement, but the food scene is definitely not one of the world’s seven wonders.

Apparently there have also been rumours circulating in Vancouver that the Shangri-La was trying to entice celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay to open a restaurant in the property, but Killeen has denied any such discussions.

The Shangri-La continues to build momentum on its journey to opening day in January 2009 (already postponed from their expected 2008 opening). Let’s hope they don’t fall into the same opening date delay quagmire faced by the nearby Loden Vancouver.

Linkage
Image thanks to Flickr member [suntom]

0 comments | Permalink | Canada • Vancouver • Gossip

Since its inception almost ten years ago, Hcareers continues to be one of the most visited hospitality job boards online.

For the most part, Hcareers’ focus (and success) has been on recruiting for management positions. The cost per posting is simply too high for most organizations to consider Hcareers when recruiting individual entry-level hospitality positions. Further, many hotels have begun posting available jobs on their own websites.

Earlier this month Hcareers’ parent company, onTargetjobs, announced that it has acquired the assets of JobLoft.com, an interesting new hospitality and retail job board located in Toronto. Jobloft’s job search strategy is based on locational searches by postal code. Canadian job results within the specified geographic area are fed along with a map of the job location.

Jobloft has generated much buzz about their technology and the quality of their member employers, however, penetration in the Canadian hospitality sector remained quite low.

All that’s going to change now that Hcareers has purchased JobLoft, and apparently the focus with this partnership is going to be front-line and non-management positions. There is no word yet on the actual cost for posting hospitality gigs on JobLoft, but I’ve heard that the standard $469 per posting on Hcareers will be cut in half.

This is terrific news for many hospitality organizations looking for more affordable recruitment options.

Congrats to the team at JobLoft--recent Ryerson University grads who developed an interesting job site!

0 comments | Permalink | Canada • Gossip • Marketing

Thanks to one of our tuned-in viewers, we received a tip about an interesting website called ”UnionFacts.com”.

The site reveals some serious allegations of mischievous behaviours within UNITE HERE that stem from the very top levels of the organization in the U.S.

While Vancouver’s UNITE HERE Local 40 was busy leveraging a strike notice to negotiate their collective agreement with the Big-Four hotels last month, it appears that their brothers and sisters in senior union leadership probably had other things on their minds.

Corruption, union dues misappropriation, unfair labour practices, ties to organized crime...the list of allegations (and convictions) goes on and on. Talk about feeding stereotypes!

Check out UnionFacts.com for more revealing information, or you can check out another iteration of the same site at UNITE HERE Exposed.

0 comments | Permalink | Gossip • Hall of Shame

Last month we posted a Hotel Georgia development update after speaking with Michael Hamnett, sales ops manager for the hotel and private residences. Michael told us that the Texas-based Valencia Group was partnering somehow with a “renowned” local chef.

Urban Diner revealed yesterday that Michael’s hype was indeed true, and that the renowned Executive Chef is actually David Hawksworth, currently of West Restaurant in Vancouver.

Hawksworth is a past recipient of Vancouver Magazine’s “Chef of the Year” honour, and is rumoured to be the owner of the new restaurant space in the Hotel Georgia development when it re-opens in three years.

First Loden Hotel Executive Chef Marc-André Choquette was wooed from Vancouver’s Lumiere, and now David Hawksworth from West...looks like hotel kitchens are en vogue again!

Linkage
Hawksworth in the Hotel Georgia [Urban Diner]

0 comments | Permalink | Canada • Vancouver • Development • Gossip