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Offline Michael-j

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Hotels in T&T Thread.
« on: April 05, 2010, 02:51:04 PM »
Free drinks flow at Hyatt
Akile Simon akile.simon@trinidadexpress.com
Monday, April 5th 2010
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/nart?id=161622145



FREE DRINKS flowed at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Port of Spain on Saturday night and yesterday, two days after the Express reported that the hotel did not have a licence under the law to sell alcohol beverages.

A source at the hotel told the Express that patrons got their ’drinks on the house’ after the director of Food and Beverage at the hotel gave instructions that customers be given ’free drinks’ rather than shutting down the bars at the pool-side and the lobby area.

’It was like a free-drinks party on Saturday night. The lobby area was in a mess, with people drinking and liming and having a good time,’ the source said.

According the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, a similar ’unofficial’ party was expected to take place last night.

The ’free drinks’ were not advertised, but customers were told their drinks were ’on the house’ after they requested a bill. This situation caused scores of people to flock to the establishment on Saturday night, the Express was told.

The decision not to sell beverages to customers came after the hotel’s application for a new alcohol licence was denied by the Liquor and Licensing Committee, headed by Senior Magistrate Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan, at the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

Cardenas-Ragoonanan dismissed the application after Neelanda Rampaul, the person who requested the application, failed to appear in court on two consecutive occasions, when the matter was called. The hotel’s previous licence, which was valid for one year, expired on Wednesday March 31, at midnight.

Rampaul, the former Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) chief operating officer, resigned hours after Prof John Uff presented the report of the Commission of Enquiry into UDeCOTT and the construction sector to President George Maxwell Richards last Monday.

When the Express visited the hotel yesterday, drinks were being served to customers as usual. After ordering two beers, a Shandy Carib and a pina colada, the barman was asked for the bill.

The barman responded, ’The drinks you have had is on the house. We cannot charge you for the drinks. So, do hope you enjoy your Easter weekend.’

When questioned why the hotel was giving free drinks to its customers, the man said, ’Apparently there were some discrepancies regarding the licence to sell alcohol, so therefore we cannot charge you for the drinks. It’s all on the house, sir.’

However, a senior police source said it was still illegal for the hotel to distribute the drinks, even if they were free of charge, since the licence covered the storage and sale of alcoholic beverages.

’What they are doing is still wrong. If there is nothing stored at the hotel, then there is no reason for anything to be distributed with or without a fee,’ the lawman said.

He was also critical of what he described as the inaction by his colleagues to act in accordance with the law and seize the alcohol from the hotel.

Head of the Port of Spain Division, Snr Supt Paul Rodriguez, was mandated by Acting Police Commissioner, Gilbert Reyes, to investigate the incident and take the appropriate action. Attempts to reach Rodriguez were unsuccessful, as calls to his cell phone went unanswered up to late yesterday.

Checks revealed that officers had not visited the hotel and made any enquiries relative to the business place’s alcohol licence up to last evening.

On Good Friday, one day after the application was thrown out, alcohol was still being served at the hotel. On that occasion, an employee said that ’everything was sorted out’ when the Express queried why alcohol was still being served when the licence had been denied by the courts.

Offline Flex

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Re: Free drinks flow at Hyatt
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2010, 06:28:25 AM »
Story on Hyatt TT wins award in London.
T&T Newsday Reports.


Recently in London, Hyatt Regency Trinidad was highlighted at a media event during the annual World Travel Market, attended by thousands of travel industry professionals. The UK Chapter of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation held its fifth “Host and Reward the Media” during which ministers and their delegations, UK Chapter members and an array of consumer and trade media gathered to recognise top editorial pieces on the Caribbean from the past year.

Joanna Booth’s article, titled Dancing in the Streets appeared in the March 26 issue of Travel Weekly and was awarded Best Travel Trade Feature.

“We are honoured that Joanna’s wonderful story highlighting our hotel was selected as a winner in these prestigious awards,” stated Russell George, general manager of Hyatt Regency Trinidad. “Thanks to the efforts of our public relations agency, Cheryl Andrews Marketing, we were able to host this important trade journalist during Carnival, Trinidad and Tobago’s most famous celebration.”

Joanna Booth was a part of a press trip organised and hosted by the hotel during the island’s world-renowned Carnival with support from the Tourism Development Company.

Booth described the Hyatt Regency Trinidad as “the island’s most luxurious hotel” and notes that “the service in particular makes this hotel a real standout — it’s impeccable, while retaining that famed Caribbean friendliness.”

Hyatt Regency encompasses the full spectrum of hotel types, which are conveniently located in urban, suburban, airport, convention and resort destinations around the world. Properties range in size from 200 to more than 2,000 rooms, feature intimate and large meeting spaces, and offer a full range of services and dining options tailored to serve the needs of conventions, business travellers or resort vacationers. Hyatt Regency enables all guests — whether they are travelling to work, unwind or gather in celebration — to feel productive and revitalised.
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Offline Flex

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Re: Free drinks flow at Hyatt
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2014, 03:03:33 AM »
$.3b HYATT HITCH
Howai doesn’t like proposed settlement for hotel profits
By Asha Javeed (Express)


Finance and Economy Minister Larry Howai says financial settlement arrangements being proposed to settle a three-year-long arbitration between international hotel chain Hyatt Corporation and the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT), which would yield $300 million to the State enterprise, are not acceptable to Government.
Howai told the Sunday Express that UDeCOTT’s proposal, which seeks a Government guarantee, could burden the Exchequer with additional debt.
UDeCOTT contends that if the arbitration is settled, Hyatt will release the $300 million which it owes the State company in owner remittances.
Three years ago Hyatt Corporation, the manager of the Government-owned hotel on the Port of Spain Waterfront, initiated arbitration proceedings against UDeCOTT at the International Court of Arbitration for “multiple breaches” of its Hotel Management Agreement, which it signed in July 27, 2005.
Hyatt claimed that UDeCOTT’s transfer of its ownership interest and site (the property is leased from the Port Authority) to a subsidiary, the Port of Spain Waterfront Development Company Ltd (POSWDL) left it in doubt as to who was the rightful owner of some US$20 million in profits. Hyatt claimed it has been forced to place the funds in a separate account, pending resolution of this.
The profits accrued now stand at US$50 million).
In court documents, the hotel also claimed that its ability to provide management services was “severely compromised”, as UDeCOTT has refused to approve plans for the completion of the hotel and related services such as the construction of an additional food and beverage outlet and retail space, the upgrade of infrastructure as well as the management of the parking garage next to the hotel.
UDeCOTT’s counter claim was that Hyatt failed to pay distributions owed between 2008 and 2011 and the company’s claim that it is unsure as to whom the funds are entitled was “misconceived”.
The arbitration was suspended last year for three parties—Hyatt, UDeCOTT and the government—to work out a suitable multi-party agreement (MPA).
UDeCOTT and Hyatt agreed to certain terms- that the Government would provide a guarantee over the facility and that it would write to Hyatt stating that UDeCOTT was the rightful owner of the hotel.
UDeCOTT’s chief executive Kurt Ramlal, in a statement to the Sunday Express on Friday said:
“Hyatt and UDeCOTT entered into arbitration proceedings as a result of Hyatt’s refusal to pay monies due to UDeCOTT from the operation of the hotel since 2008.  At this time the arbitration proceedings are in abeyance while the parties attempt to settle the matter.
The settlement involves the grant of a guarantee by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to the Lenders in the Waterfront Project.   The Guarantee has been approved for execution and now awaits the attention of the Minister of Finance.”
UDeCOTT chairman Jearlean John directed Sunday Express queries to director Shankar Bidaisee, who is also chairman of the company’s Hyatt Committee.
He said: “UDeCOTT prepared a brief outlining the draft MPA arrived at UDeCOTT and Hyatt, a draft letter to be signed by the minister along with other documents (including a legal opinion from attorney Akbar Ali) for his consideration. The ball is in his court.”
He noted that Hyatt was a profitable hotel and the increased revenues from Carnival would remain with the company until the matter is resolved.
In response to questions by the Sunday Express on Government’s delay in seeking a resolution to the impasse Howai said, “The settlement arrangements being proposed are not acceptable to Government.”
Howai explained that the mortgage over the property was security for a loan from US-based bank Wells Fargo.
That, he said, is different from the guarantee, which UDeCOTT proposed.
“What is now being requested is a Government Guarantee. Some years ago UDeCOTT had transferred the property into a separate company which gave rise to the arbitration,” he said.
“The original arrangement was for the Government to provide a mortgage over the facilities not a guarantee and we would prefer to retain the original arrangement rather than burden the Exchequer with any additional debt.”
The Sunday Express understands that POSWDL was not the only subsidiary company set up by UDeCOTT to manage its hotel business. The company had also set up the International Waterfront Resources Ltd (IWRL) to staff the hotel.
Sources told the Sunday Express that Hyatt’s insistence on not recognising UDeCOTT as the rightful owner, despite the fact that UDeCOTT’s bar licence is vested in its chief operating officer Greer Quan, had compromised its ability to upgrade the hotel as needed.
Despite not recognising UDeCOTT as the rightful owner of the hotel, last month Hyatt wrote to the State company seeking approval to host its annual Carnival fete, LIME, on February 26 which is budgeted at $4 million.
The Sunday Express tried unsuccessfully to contact Hyatt’s vice president of corporate communications Farley Kern, as well as its directors of corporate communications in the United States Amy Patti and Katie Rackoff for comment.

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Offline Brownsugar

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Re: Free drinks flow at Hyatt
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2014, 05:03:00 PM »
Ah have a question.  Perhaps I missed it in the article but the three party discussions are between UDECOTT, Hyatt and the Government.  Larry Howai, Min of Finance, is now saying he is not happy with the request for a government guarantee. 

So mih question is, which Ministry represented the Government in the discussions?  Because it seems as though Howai now seeing the outcome of the discussions and is not in agreement.  So how come the Ministry of Finance was not involved in the discussions??
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Offline elan

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Re: Free drinks flow at Hyatt
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2014, 05:29:02 PM »
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/blUSVALW_Z4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/blUSVALW_Z4</a>

Offline Flex

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Re: Free drinks flow at Hyatt
« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2016, 06:36:08 AM »
$5m heist: Hyatt warehouse raid caught on neighbours' cameras.
By Shaliza Hassanali (Guardian).


Police are now on the lookout for people who may have been duped into buying what they thought were high-priced flat screen televisions for use as CCTV monitors at cut rate prices.

The 177 flat screen televisions sets were in fact part of $5 million in items stolen by bandits from the Hyatt Regency hotel’s warehouse last week.

With three days to go before Christmas, residents in East Port-of-Spain thought they were getting a steal of a deal, having paid between $500 and $800 for the 55 and 65-inch LCD televisions, which are sold in some stores at between $12,000 and $18,000.

Thinking that they were given a steal of a deal, the buyers, some of whom were from Beetham Gardens, later discovered that their new Christmas gifts were not programmed for residential use. Many of them decided to use the TVs as monitors for CCTV cameras but may now run afoul of the law if caught.

The robbery was committed last Friday (December 16) by a group of brazen bandits at the hotel’s Warner Village, Bejucal warehouse. The warehouse was used to store brand new items which were to be installed and outfitted as part of the a major physical upgrade planned by the hotel.

Among the items stolen were 177 flat screen televisions, eight chandeliers and 335 artwork frames valued at US$ 552,609.03. Other miscellaneous items which were also carted away bring the total figure to $5 million, the T&T Guardian was told.

The hotel contracted a French firm to supply and outfit the items for its refurbishment exercise.

Hyatt Regency is owned by the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott).

A source told the Trinidad Guardian that the thieves entered the compound of the warehouse, where they held up and hog-tied three security guards and then disconnected the building's CCTV cameras.

The bandits then gained entry into the building by cutting the locks on the doors. Seconds later, two trucks and 12 cars pulled into and outside the compound and the items were hastily loaded onto the vehicles, following which the thieves made good their escape.

“Some people are of the firm view that it is an inside job. But the joke is the LCD television sets they stole are virtually useless to them because it is not programmed for residential use. What is amazing is that the thieves did not cover their faces, nor did they hid the number plates of the vehicles,” the source said.

Fortunately, the robbery was captured on the closed circuit televisions of nearby residents, which was submitted to the Chaguanas police.

“That is what the perpetrators did not bargain for,” the source said.

Photographs taken from the video, which the T&T Guardian obtained, showed the bandits committing the robbery.

While some of the items may yet be recovered, the source said the way the thieves hurriedly packed the items into the vehicle, they were certain a number of televisions were damaged.

“More than likely, Hyatt would have to re-order all the items that were stolen.”

The source said, none of the items were insured.

Some of the television sets were sold at reduced prices to unsuspecting Beetham Gardens residents between last week and yesterday.

“They were sold for peanuts compared to its original price of between $12,000 to $18,000. When the buyers realised they could not use the TVs, they began selling it as monitors for surveillance cameras.”

Police arrest 7 with stolen items

The Hyatt Regency hotel is currently doing a major refurbishment exercise, as part of a requirement that it undergo such exercises every seven years, a source told the T&T Guardian yesterday.

On the Hyatt’s website, a notice states the hotel is undergoing a refurbishment exercise, which will be done in phases and completed at the end of April 2017.

Areas to be refurbished are the hotel's entrance, lobby, bar, sushi bar, restaurant and its 428 luxurious guest rooms.

Upon receipt of the items, the hotel stored them in its warehouse, which they have been using for years.

On Tuesday, officers from the Port-of-Spain Criminal Investigation Department (CID), led by Snr Supt Radcliffe Boxhill and ASP Ajith Persad, Sgt Austin, arrested five people after they went to Romain Lands, Morvant, executed a search warrant and seized a 65-inch television set identified as one stolen from the warehouse.

Two people in Beetham Gardens were also arrested yesterday after police recovered another 65-inch television.

Persad said yesterday the investigations are ongoing.

Marketing communications manager of Hyatt, Neemah Persad, admitted yesterday that the robbery had taken place, but opted not to issue a statement as the matter was still being investigated.

Chairman of Udecott Noel Garcia refused comment.
 
Stolen items*Quantity*Unit Price in US*Total cost in US

LG 65 inch LCD colour TV*159*$2,690.31*$427,759.29

(model 65L X 570H)

LG 55 inch LED LCD colour TV *18*$1,891.43*$34,045.74

(model 55 LX 570H)

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Offline Flex

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Hotels in T&T Thread.
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2020, 04:01:00 PM »
Solid performance by POS hotels for Carnival 2020.
T&T Guardian Reports.


The Tourism Min­istry is re­port­ing that Car­ni­val 2020 is set to be a suc­cess, as the more promi­nent ho­tels in the cap­i­tal city, Port of Spain, have been sold out.

The news was re­vealed at a re­cent fo­rum for hote­liers host­ed by the Min­istry of Tourism, and host­ed by the min­is­ter, Ran­dall Mitchell, and the chair­man (Howard Chin Lee) and the CEO (Hei­di Alert) of Tourism Trinidad Lim­it­ed (TTL), dur­ing which stake­hold­ers shared their con­cerns about chal­lenges with­in Trinidad’s ac­com­mo­da­tion sec­tor.

At the meet­ing on 22 Jan­u­ary 2020, which is a first in a se­ries of ho­tel fo­ra, and which in­clud­ed some of the ma­jor ho­tels in Trinidad, it was not­ed that ho­tels with­in the Port of Spain and sur­round­ing en­vi­rons present­ly are wit­ness­ing a 100 per­cent oc­cu­pan­cy rate for Car­ni­val 2020.

Stake­hold­ers re­port­ed that some ac­com­mo­da­tion prop­er­ties were com­plete­ly sold out since June 2019. They al­so in­di­cat­ed that guests al­ready have be­gun to make book­ings for Car­ni­val 2021.

Ac­cord­ing to an of­fi­cial state­ment from the Tourism Min­istry, this year’s Jan­u­ary and Car­ni­val sea­son is even bet­ter than in 2019, as there have been very few book­ing can­cel­la­tions.

There was strong wide­spread com­mit­ment from the hote­liers to work with Gov­ern­ment in col­lab­o­rat­ing to dri­ve the growth of vis­i­tor ar­rivals in the off-peak months, es­pe­cial­ly for ho­tel prop­er­ties out­side of the cap­i­tal city who have been im­pact­ed by the changes in the oil and gas sec­tor.

The hote­liers urged Tourism Trinidad to proac­tive­ly bid to host con­fer­ences and have a stronger mar­ket­ing pres­ence in world renowned con­fer­ences and oth­er busi­ness shows such as IMEX in Las Ve­gas. More­over, stake­hold­ers called for more ef­fort on max­imis­ing the po­ten­tial of sports tourism in Trinidad, es­pe­cial­ly for win­ter team train­ing, giv­en the high-qual­i­ty fa­cil­i­ties at the Aquat­ic Cen­ter and Cy­cling Velo­drome, as well as the coun­try’s rep­u­ta­tion for host­ing and man­ag­ing suc­cess­ful re­gion­al and in­ter­na­tion­al events.

The min­istry says this high-lev­el en­gage­ment with promi­nent ho­tels in Trinidad came at a time when the is­land has en­joyed a 3.3% in­crease in ar­rivals in 2019 in com­par­i­son to 2018; this, af­ter three (3) con­sec­u­tive years of de­cline (2016, 2017 and 2018).

Ac­cord­ing to Tourism Min­is­ter Ran­dall Mitchell, ar­rivals in­creased in every month in 2019 ex­cept for Jan­u­ary, with the largest in­crease oc­cur­ring in the month of Oc­to­ber 2019 (more than 15%). The min­is­ter al­so re­port­ed a to­tal of 367,119 vis­i­tors to Trinidad in 2019; an ab­solute in­crease of 11,588 tourists.

“While we cel­e­brate these small wins, we must now look for­ward to build­ing on these achieve­ments in 2020,” the min­is­ter ob­served, “as we con­tin­ue to work with our val­ued in­dus­try part­ners and stake­hold­ers, to fur­ther de­vel­op and en­hance Trinidad’s tourism prod­uct.”

Min­is­ter Ran­dall Mitchell and Howard Chin Lee, TTL’s Chair­man, al­so used the op­por­tu­ni­ty to in­form the gath­er­ing of gov­ern­ment’s ac­tions mov­ing for­ward with re­gards to the in­dus­try.

Among the oth­er mat­ters dis­cussed at this hote­liers’ en­gage­ment were the im­ple­men­ta­tion of Des­ti­na­tion Trinidad’s brand iden­ti­ty; dig­i­tal mar­ket­ing ini­tia­tives; im­proved vis­i­tor safe­ty and se­cu­ri­ty pro­grams; in­creased scruti­ny of the Airbnb mar­ket in Trinidad; and ac­ti­va­tion of a com­pul­so­ry cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­gram for the tourism in­dus­try.

Rep­re­sen­ta­tives at the Ho­tel Fo­rum in­clud­ed the Ex­ec­u­tive Man­age­ment of some of the largest ho­tels in Trinidad:

• Chief Ex­ec­u­tive Of­fi­cer and Group Chief Fi­nan­cial Of­fi­cer of the Radis­son Ho­tel, Mr. Ashram Ram­nar­ine

• Man­ag­ing Di­rec­tor of Kapok Ho­tel, Ms. Jane Chan

• Di­rec­tor Sales and Mar­ket­ing of Hilton Trinidad, Ms. Dar­lene Mc Don­ald

• Di­rec­tor Sales at Mar­riott Ho­tel, Ms. Liselle Ali Bood­han

• Di­rec­tor Sales at Hy­att Re­gency Trinidad, Ms. Maris­sa Di­az

• Gen­er­al Man­ag­er of Nor­mandie Ho­tel, Mr. Ray­mond Chin Lee; and

• Gen­er­al Man­ag­er of Cara Suites, Mr. Has­sel Thom

The tourism min­is­ter al­so re­cent­ly had talks with Mr. Richard West­ell, Gen­er­al Man­ag­er of Hy­att Re­gency Trinidad, at the ho­tel it­self.



Port of Spain hotels reporting 100% occupancy rates for Carnival 2020

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Offline Flex

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Re: Hotels in T&T Thread.
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2020, 06:25:04 AM »
Bookings for Carnival 2021 already taking place—hoteliers.
T&T Guardian Reports.


If you are think­ing about book­ing a ho­tel room in or around Port-of-Spain for your friends and fam­i­ly to come for Car­ni­val 2020 then think again.

Be­cause, ac­cord­ing to Tourism Trinidad Ltd (TTL), there is no room at the inn.

A re­lease from TTL yes­ter­day said ho­tels with­in the Port-of-Spain and sur­round­ing en­vi­rons are present­ly wit­ness­ing a 100 per cent oc­cu­pan­cy rate for Car­ni­val 2020.

In fact, some ac­com­mo­da­tion prop­er­ties in­di­cat­ed they were com­plete­ly sold out since June last year, TTL stat­ed.

“In­deed, guests have al­ready be­gan to make book­ings for Car­ni­val 2021. This year’s Jan­u­ary and Car­ni­val sea­son is even bet­ter than in 2019 as there have been very few book­ing can­cel­la­tions,” it stat­ed.

Tourism Min­is­ter Ran­dall Mitchell, to­geth­er with TTL chair­man Howard Chin Lee, and TTL’s chief ex­ec­u­tive of­fi­cer, Hei­di Alert, host­ed a fo­rum for hote­liers on Jan­u­ary 22, to speak to Car­ni­val 2020 ex­pec­ta­tions and al­so to ad­dress any con­cerns and chal­lenges with­in the Trinidad’s ac­com­mo­da­tion sec­tor.

This meet­ing, which is a first in a se­ries of ho­tel fo­ra, was held at Tow­er D Lev­el 18 Con­fer­ence Room of the In­ter­na­tion­al Wa­ter­front Cen­tre.

At the meet­ing there was “strong wide­spread com­mit­ment” from the hote­liers to work with the Gov­ern­ment in col­lab­o­rat­ing to dri­ve the growth of vis­i­tor ar­rivals in the off-peak months, es­pe­cial­ly for ho­tel prop­er­ties out­side of the cap­i­tal city who have been im­pact­ed by the changes in the oil and gas sec­tor, TTL stat­ed.

“The hote­liers urged TTL to proac­tive­ly bid to host con­fer­ences and have a stronger mar­ket­ing pres­ence in world renowned con­fer­ences and oth­er busi­ness shows such as IMEX in Las Ve­gas.

“More­over, it was point­ed that more ef­fort must be placed on max­imis­ing the po­ten­tial of sports tourism in Trinidad, es­pe­cial­ly for win­ter team train­ing, giv­en the high-qual­i­ty fa­cil­i­ties at our Aquat­ic Cen­tre and Cy­cling Velo­drome and the coun­try’s rep­u­ta­tion for host­ing and man­ag­ing suc­cess­ful re­gion­al and in­ter­na­tion­al events,” it stat­ed.

“This high-lev­el en­gage­ment with promi­nent ho­tels in Trinidad came at a time when the is­land has en­joyed a 3.3 per cent in­crease in ar­rivals in 2019 in com­par­i­son to 2018; af­ter three con­sec­u­tive years of de­cline (2016, 2017 and 2018). Ar­rivals in­creased in every month in 2019 ex­cept for Jan­u­ary; the largest in­crease oc­curred in the month of Oc­to­ber 2019 (+15 per cent),” the TTL stat­ed.

A to­tal of 367,119 vis­i­tors were wel­comed to Trinidad in 2019.

This was an in­crease of 11,588 tourists.

“While we cel­e­brate these small wins, we must now look for­ward to build­ing on these achieve­ments in 2020, as we con­tin­ue to work with our val­ued in­dus­try part­ners and stake­hold­ers, to fur­ther de­vel­op and en­hance Trinidad’s tourism prod­uct,” Mitchell stat­ed.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Hotels in T&T Thread.
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2020, 03:56:08 PM »
Hilton to lay-off staff from tomorrow
By Rhondor Dowlat-Rostant (Guardian).


Staff at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre in St Ann’s have been temporarily laid off with no pay effective April 1 as the closure of borders in light of COVID-19 pandemic has hit the hotel industry.

A letter dated March 25 signed by Stacey Ann Sylvester, director of Human Resources, stated that the hotel was already operating on a skeletal staff and that staff was given the option to proceed on vacation leave to ensure that they receive their March salaries.

“As the public health crisis continues to evolve, we have been faced with a time of uncertainty for the country as well as the hotel. Unfortunately, the occupancy is at three per cent and continues to decrease as decisions are taken to combat the spread if the virus example, closure of borders, limitations on social events etc,” the letter stated.

“At this point in time, it has become necessary for the hotel to escalate its contingency plan and take more drastic measures, in order to secure existing jobs and safeguard the financial health of the business,” it added.

It went on to state that the hotel can no longer sustain the payment of full salaries and wages to all team members, “Therefore, with effect from April 1, all team members will be temporarily laid off (with no pay) till April 30.”

Staff was then given an option to choose three options meted out to them by management, one of which involved working one week per month and being prepared to perform other duties than what’s in their job descriptions.

The options stated in the letter were:

“1. Continue your vacation leave and utilise your entire entitlement for 2020. If said leave expires prior to April 30 and you do not wish to return to work, the temporary-lay off will take effect at that point with no pay.

2. Utilise the remainder of your vacation and then agree to a reduction in your salary by 75 per cent. If this option is chosen, you will be required to work one week (or it’s equivalent) per month and may be required to perform duties that are not in your current description.

3. Cease any vacation/No Pay Leave and agree to a reduction in your salary/work schedule by 75 per cent from April 1 to April 30. If this option is chosen, you will be required to work one week (or it’s equivalent) per month and may be required to perform duties that are not in your current job description.”

Staff members were given by today (March 30) to select an option. If none was selected, employees will be automatically temporarily laid off from April 1.

Staff members were also assured that it would be business as usual once business rebounds and occupancy rates drastically improve.

A worker, who wished not to be identified said they are worried as there’s no money flow for them.

“Some of us are single parents, we have to put food on our tables. Yea, the government asked for rent and loans to be deferred but how are some of us going to get money to buy food because some of us live pay cheque by pay cheque. It’s hard.”

In an immediate response, the National Trade Union Centre of Trinidad and Tobago (NATUC) condemned what it called the “callous, insensitive and inhumane decision of the management to lay off all employees of the hotel, without pay for one month.”

The union called it “a cowardly and backward decision.”

NATUC called on the Government to intervene in the matter immediately and to also review the contracts of employment of the senior management team responsible for “taking such a backward decision.”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline capodetutticapi

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Re: Hotels in T&T Thread.
« Reply #9 on: May 09, 2020, 11:42:52 AM »
Fellas I need some help.... back in the mid 90s there was a hotel on the EMR in Tacarigua...between eddie hart and dinsley junction....I believe there was a bar too.... what was the name of it...I'll get some play if I could give the gyul the correct answer... feel free to message me
soon ah go b ah lean mean bulling machine.

Offline asylumseeker

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Re: Hotels in T&T Thread.
« Reply #10 on: May 09, 2020, 12:04:35 PM »
Fellas I need some help.... back in the mid 90s there was a hotel on the EMR in Tacarigua...between eddie hart and dinsley junction....I believe there was a bar too.... what was the name of it... I'll get some play if I could give the gyul the correct answer... feel free to message me

Dahis a transferable privilege?  :rotfl:

Yuh might be at ah impasse. It have men who know de answer but might be PMing you fuh de woman name.   :rotfl:

Offline capodetutticapi

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Re: Hotels in T&T Thread.
« Reply #11 on: May 09, 2020, 12:17:27 PM »
Let me eat fuss
soon ah go b ah lean mean bulling machine.

Offline capodetutticapi

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Re: Hotels in T&T Thread.
« Reply #12 on: May 09, 2020, 12:19:04 PM »
Is a lil bank thing use to carry they back in the day.... she say name the first place we bull and I'll get another piece....help me
soon ah go b ah lean mean bulling machine.

Offline 100% Barataria

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Re: Hotels in T&T Thread.
« Reply #13 on: May 17, 2020, 05:47:23 PM »
capo!!  long time bro, how u keepin?
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Offline capodetutticapi

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Re: Hotels in T&T Thread.
« Reply #14 on: May 17, 2020, 08:36:30 PM »
All good pardner. How things on your end
soon ah go b ah lean mean bulling machine.

Offline 100% Barataria

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Re: Hotels in T&T Thread.
« Reply #15 on: May 19, 2020, 02:14:51 PM »
All good pardner. How things on your end

pok a pok bredda, everyting home these days as you know, work, school, lime, lol.  So it go, cannot complain, one day at a time sweet Jesus.  Good to see you posting, been a while, you ran across my mind a few times...
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Offline pull stones

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Re: Hotels in T&T Thread.
« Reply #16 on: May 22, 2020, 04:02:51 AM »
I think it was called the flamingo if I’m not mistaking. I remember a hotel up that way where my grand dad used to hang out on weekends and sometimes he would take us there for lunch and then for ice cream on the main road. those were fun days.

Offline capodetutticapi

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Re: Hotels in T&T Thread.
« Reply #17 on: May 23, 2020, 12:30:24 PM »
Flamingo wasn't in st. Clair?
soon ah go b ah lean mean bulling machine.

 

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