Hotels get cricket bookings but rooms still available
-some cancellations follow India, Pakistan knockout
By Nicosia Smith
Stabroek News
March 28, 2007
City hotels still have rooms available but expectations are high that more bookings will come with the first world cup cricket match set to begin today.
Regency Hotel on Hadfield Street reported on Monday that over 50% of their bookings were Cricket World Cup (CWC) related.
Operations Manager Joylin Greaves said that bookings are coming along nicely and was confident that additional bookings will come. Regency has received bookings from within the region as well as extra-regionally.
Regency has 40 rooms and over the past months has conducted a series of upgrades to give the rooms a "homely" feel, according to Greaves.
Regency also had several calls from India on Monday but could not confirm if these calls were to make additional bookings or to cancel bookings in light of India no longer participating in the CWC.
Grand Coastal Inn at Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara last week had experienced some cancellations when Pakistan was knocked out of the tournament. This hotel was also set to host cricket fans supporting India and had revealed that these bookings may also be in jeopardy.
The 43 rooms at this facility had 50% CWC-related bookings as of last week, but it also had a number of its regular corporate clients. Hotel officials were not available Monday for an update.
The newly-constructed Ocean Spray International on Vlissengen Road was fully booked but its bookings were not confirmed.
Stabroek News understands that 11 of the 21 rooms which are operational were booked but these bookings were yet to be confirmed. Each of the bookings is CWC-related with the guests booked to stay for at least one week each.
King's Plaza on Main Street on Monday was still waiting for the CWC buzz to come their way, but hotel officials said that regular bookings have kept them satisfied.
"Yes, we are satisfied," said Manager Stevelyn Panday, although she "expected more of a buzz."
She said that the Plaza had expected guests staying over for one or two weeks and more foreign guests than just its regular clients.
Around 75% of the 33 rooms at the Plaza got confirmed bookings, but only four bookings currently are CWC-related.
This newspaper was told that the CWC guests currently at the hotel are attached to the work ongoing at the Providence stadium and they have stayed at the hotel intermittently since last month.
Most of the booked guests are its regular corporate clients and guests received from tour operators.
Nevertheless, the Plaza was expecting short-term guests for several of the cricket matches, but these are likely to stay about two to three days.
Managing Director Gregory Lewis of Waterchris Hotel and Bar at 184 Waterloo Street told Stabroek News on Monday that of his 18 rooms around 80% received CWC-related bookings and he was satisfied with that rate. He noted that one could say that the hotel was fully booked, but he did not determine if all of the bookings were confirmed. An official from Hotel Tower on Main Street on Monday morning confirmed that CWC-related bookings were received but was unable at the time to give details; asking this newspaper to contact the hotel in the afternoon. However, efforts to do so Monday afternoon proved futile.
A number of hotels were recently constructed to meet the large influx of visitors expected for the six CWC matches to be held here, but to date few hotels have reported fully confirmed bookings for the March 28 to April 9 match period.