Alcohol banned at Grand Hyatt Cairo
The owner of Cairo’s luxury Grand Hyatt hotel flushed $300,000 down the toilet.
Abdel Aziz Ibrahim, a member of the Saudi royal family decided to get rid of 2,500 bottles of alcoholic beverages in stock by ordering their content drained into the sewers, without providing any notice to the American hotel chain managing the property, Hyatt International.
Fathi Nur, president of the Egyptian Hotel Association, is threatening to drop the hotel rating from five to two stars by July 2.
Drinking alcohol is considered contrary to Islam but it is not banned by Egyptian law. Hotel rules dictate that any hotel above two stars must serve alcohol. An owner is also not allowed to interfere in the running of affairs when there is a managing company.
Grand Hyatt spokeswoman Sally Khattab said the two parties were currently in talks to resolve the issue.
I welcome comments from someone who knows the consequences of flushing 2,500 bottles of alcoholic beverages into the Nile.
