As the Hotel Tower prepares for a soft reopening in the next two weeks, the new management is moving to fill 170 vacancies, while working on a new image.
The deal for the sale of the hotel has not yet been closed but the new management is also working to finalise agreements and see how best it can negotiate with and lobby the old owner, West Coast Demerara businessman Salim Azeez, to pay some $5 million owed to former employees of the hotel.
“We are aiming for a soft opening in the next two weeks…,” the new Manager of the hotel Jeanell Williams told Stabroek News in an interview. “We have advertised and have begun hiring but we will need 180 persons… already we have 10 but none are from the old hotel staff,” she added.
She said that ten persons—five room maids, a chef and four security personnel—had already been hired and they had received over 40 other applications, including from former workers. She says the hiring process will be transparent and there will be no bias against anyone who applied.
Canadian company Panther Corporation of Canada announced late last month that it had bought the historic hotel, located on Main Street, Georgetown, in a US$8 million deal. Panther President Michael Mosgrove then announced plans for rebranding even as the Ministry of Labour initiated legal action to get the previous owners to pay the over $5 million owed to workers.
Mosgrove said in addition to the Main Street property, the 200-acre Emerald Tower Resort, located along the Soeskdye Highway, was part of the sales agreement. He said his company is currently exploring design options for the resort.
However, sources familiar with the deal told this newspaper that the lease for the land which the Emerald Tower Resort occupies will come to an end in three years. The Canadian company does not want to enter into an agreement to have the property, redesigned and rebranded and then be faced with government exercising its option to lease it to someone else in 36 months. So, for now, Panther is focusing its energies on just the Main Street location.
Mosgrove had pointed out that Panther will in no way take over the responsibility of paying workers still owed by the previous owners. He said his company will not be responsible for any liabilities of the hotel and debts incurred by the old owners would have to be settled by them. However, he pointed out that since the deal should be closed in another month, he saw no reason why the old owners should not meet their obligations as they would have “more than enough money” to do so.
Williams said Mosgrove was concerned about the workers being paid and had been trying his best to make this a reality. “Mr Mosgrove is concerned about them getting their money and while that was not a part of the deal, he is doing the best he can within the agreement to see they are paid… he wants them to get their money,” she said.
She also disclosed that they were hoping that their soft opening would have been last Thursday but this was not possible as the property is still without power.
Stabroek News understands that some $7.8 million is owed to the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) and the utility company is working with its lawyers to secure its debts.
The attorneys for GPL, Mosgrove and Azeez are currently in talks to work out how debts will be repaid.
Williams said that when power is restored, the hotel will go fully into renovation mode and many makeover plans are in store.
In the short term, the Edge nightclub that is located on the ground floor will remain open but as the hotel begins to acquire guest occupancy, it will be closed. The restaurant and poolside bar will remain.
Williams said she remains optimistic that the new rebranded Tower will attract its old clientele as well as new customers as the plans for rebranding will see a sophisticated yet homely hotel catering for guests of all ages.
Mosgrove had signalled that there will be some rebranding of the entity as his company wants a new image for the hotel, which has in the past been hit hard with negative reviews. “I have a great interest in trying to keep the Tower as part of the name… [but] I think we have to rebrand it in some way shape or form [because] unfortunately the internet has been mean to that hotel. So, maybe we’ll incorporate the name, maybe Georgetown Tower or something to that effect… make it a nice place to be,” he said.
