THE two new state of the art hotels going up at Providence on the East Bank Demerara are changing the landscape on the East Bank Demerara.
And with the imposing cricket stadium nearby, this could become the new entertainment hub in Guyana.
On a visit to the Casique Palace hotel being constructed just behind Buddy’s International Hotel and next to the stadium, President Bharrat Jagdeo said he was impressed with what he saw and paid tribute to owner, Ms. Beverly Arthur.
“I am very impressed with what I have seen. The architecture is amazing and the quality of work exquisite and I think it is going to be something that everyone is proud of,” President Jagdeo told reporters after touring the facility.
As we note in our report today, the task of completing the hotel in time for Cricket World Cup next year looks monumental.
But Ms. Arthur, a Guyanese-born United States re-migrant, is very optimistic the hotel will be completed by the end of January and opened for Mashramani on February 23.
It took money, but, given the gloomy outlook some people persist in about Guyana, it also took a lot of guts for Ms. Arthur to embark on a project of such magnitude.
Like Buddy’s International Hotel, which is nearing completion nearby, the Casique Palace hotel is taking the hotel business in Guyana to new levels.
Noting that “a lot of work has been done” on the Casique Palace hotel and with the optimism from Arthur that it would be completed and ready by February next year, President Jagdeo said “if that happens, then we would be able not just to have it for Mashramani but to host the Rio Group meeting and the World Cup cricket and on that basis we will probably move to contract the rooms like we did with the Buddy’s hotel.”
Buddy’s International Hotel is intended to be Guyana’s first and only four-star-rated international facility.
Located immediately south of the cricket stadium in Providence, the hotel will be six storeys high and the rooms will feature two queen-size beds, chairs, tables, desks, hot and cold baths, television, radio, and other facilities.
Even with Buddy’s - which will effectively be the country’s biggest hotel - offering the most diversified features in terms of conveniences and entertainment, there remains still a great need for more hotel rooms for the anticipated influx of visitors to Guyana, thus the urgent push for alternatives such as ‘Bed and Breakfast’ facilities.
Those behind the two new hotels have shown that the odds can be beaten and their determination should serve as an example to others in the sector.