POSITIONED to be Guyana’s first ‘Five-Star,’ internationally branded hotel, the Georgetown Marriott will open its doors for business next month, amidst the pomp and ceremony of a gala affair, set to be graced with international executives and celebrities.Roberto Grissi, General Manager of the Marriott Hotel, sat down with the Guyana Chronicle for an exclusive interview yesterday and revealed that the administrators are in the final stages of preparations for an opening come March month.

NO RIVAL
Mr. Grissi told the Guyana Chronicle that there is currently no other building in the country that is similar to that of the Marriott.
“This is a really modern property,” said Grissi – a modern property that can hold its own in any city in the world.
According to Grissi, when the facility opens its doors next month there will be no other facility locally that would be able to match or rival that of Marriott, which will boast a Presidential Suite, Casino, Restaurants, Entertainment Complex, Ballroom, Pool and a host of other amenities, inclusive of the largest and most modern conference rooms.
The Marriott Hotel, he said, will be attracting business from the local community as well as conventions and other such events coming from other countries.

“We wouldn’t be here training if we weren’t going to open the hotel” – General Manager Roberto Grissi

QUALITY
Marriott International does not own the Kingston property, but was merely contracted to brand and manage the facility and, according to Grissi, they are very happy with what is erected, construction-wise.
He was speaking specifically to the quality of work delivered by Chinese Contractor, Shanghai Construction Group (SCG), which was engaged by the property’s owner, Atlantic Hotel Inc (AHI), to build the US$58.5M, five-star luxury hotel.
Grissi explained that Marriott has been continuously involved in the construction of the hotel by the Chinese Contractors, to ensure that quality was never compromised and “we are very satisfied with what we are seeing.”
Marriott International, Grissi said, will not accept a property to brand and manage, if it was not built up to standard.
To reinforce his conviction, Grissi told the Guyana Chronicle, “We wouldn’t be here training if we weren’t going to open the hotel.”
Grissi also disclosed that the opening ceremony will see the top brass of Marriott International in attendance.
“There are several celebrities that the owners want to bring,” he declared. He, however, remained tightlipped on some of the details for the opening ceremony.
INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE
Regarding the operations of and sustainability of the hotel project, the General Manager told the Chronicle, “We feel very confident.”
Many have questioned the viability of the Marriott Hotel and according to Grissi, Marriott in its marketing plan will be using its international networks to channel business in Guyana’s direction.
“The way that we sell (market) the hotel basically is we have an organisation abroad, a global organisation that helps us basically to sell (market) the property outside Guyana,” according to the General Manager.
He said “we have representatives in every single country in the world and we work with the majority of global companies that are doing business in Guyana.”
The Marriott General Manager explained that the hotel would also ink agreements with companies across the world that would ensure their staffers and business partners utilise the Hotel when in Guyana.
Marriott Guyana has also employed an El Salvador Specialist, Denisse Olivo, who has been contracted as the Director of Sales and Marketing.
According to Grissi, Ms Olivo will be working along with a group of managers who will be tasked with operating in both a proactive and reactive fashion, marketing not only the rooms on the property but also business confabs such as international conventions.
Olivo, following a tour of the property, explained that the marketing team will, in addition to relying on the global Marriott network to steer clients towards Guyana, focus heavily on regional and local business.
“We have approached players in the industry that we will be working together with,” said Olivo.
The Marketing Director did point out that the Marriott Guyana property will be looking to target primarily a business clientele but added that there will certainly be a component focusing on the tourism aspect of the hotel’s operations.
FIVE-STAR SERVICE
Training is ongoing, as was witnessed yesterday when this publication was afforded a tour of the regal 197 room, nine-floor edifice that sits where the eastern bank of the mouth of the Demerara River kisses the scenic Atlantic Ocean.
A number of young Guyanese men and women were going through the paces yesterday as they readied for the grand opening next month and Grissi has expressed every confidence in their ability to deliver the five star level of service required at the hotel.
The General Manager told the Chronicle that Marriott is currently in the process of finalising the hiring of the more than 235 staff members.
Ninety persons are currently undergoing training with the others coming on-stream before next month’s opening.
He said that while there is “not a great hospitality industry in Guyana…we hire by attitude, and not just by skill.”
Grissi explained that there are persons that are being hired who, while not necessarily being skilled in the hospitality sector, have demonstrated aptitude and a willingness to be trained.
“We are very pleased right now with the 90 employees that we have…we have more or less interviewed over 3,500 in the last four months.”
Confident that the employees will deliver, Grissi did say that it will take “some training but we are going to deliver on the standards that the company (Marriott) has set for us.”
MARRIOTT GM
The Hotel’s General Manager, who assumed his post locally in June last year, began his Marriott career in 1985 as Banquet Manager at the Washington Dulles Renaissance Hotel.
He was Director of Food & Beverage at various Marriott properties spanning fourteen years and in 1999 he was promoted to Director of Operations and then Hotel Manager at the Casa Magna Marriott in Cancun, Mexico.
Grissi was appointed General Manager in 2002 of the Renaissance Jaragua Hotel & Casino in Santo Domingo.
Subsequent General Manager roles include the JW Marriott Caracas Hotel, and Venezuela Country Manager overseeing the operations of the JW Marriott Caracas, the Marriott Venezuela Playa Grande Hotel, and the Renaissance Caracas La Castellana.
He was recently General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba where he successfully opened the hotel in 2013.

(By Gary Eleazar)