St Chris students make a splash at swim contest

Gulf Daily News
Saturday, 10th January 2015
3
Hotels clamp may
be lifted soon
Email: [email protected]
l Code of
ethics on
the way
By AHMED AL OMARI
RUMOURS have emerged
that a ban on alcohol and
live entertainment in threestar hotels will soon be lifted.
The GDN spoke to representatives of two prominent hotel
management groups, who said
that they had both heard from
well-placed sources that the
ban would be lifted within a
month.
However, with the culture
sector currently in limbo following the dissolution of the
Culture Ministry in last year’s
cabinet reshuffle, no authority
is in place to officially confirm
or deny the rumours.
n Three-star hotels are hoping to get their live entertainment back
Caravan Hotels Group chairman Shaikh Mohammed bin
Abdulrahman Al Khalifa said
“influential people” had told
him that the ban, imposed by
the former ministry last year in
a bid to improve Bahrain’s image, would soon be lifted.
“I have heard that it will be
lifted by January 15 from some,
while others say it will be by
the end of the month,” he said.
“If it happens then all threestar hotels need to be on the
same page to make sure that the
ban is never reintroduced.
“There is no need to tar all
hotels with the same brush be-
cause a couple had violations.”
Shaikh Mohammed said that
only a “handful” of hotels had
violated rules related to profit
taking, approved hours and the
promotion of indecent activities.
“We need to be better represented so that we are not all just
lumped together,” he said.
n The alcohol and live entertainment ban has led to massive
drop in number of tourists in three-star hotels
“If the ban is lifted we need
to work together so that it
doesn’t happen again – and this
will only happen if we have
representation like the five- and
four-star hotels.
“We should also agree on a
code of ethics that all three-star
hotels will abide by.”
Imperial Hotels Group Bahrain general manager Vivek Raj
told the GDN that three-star hotels would jump at the chance
to be better represented.
“I have also heard talk that
alcohol will be allowed to be
sold in three-star hotels again,”
he said.
“I think it will happen but I
have no idea when.
Representation
n St Chris swimming competition winners with their coaches
St Chris students make a splash at swim contest
A GROUP of 14 St Christopher’s
swimming squad members travelled to
Doha to compete in a gruelling threeday swimming competition hosted by
H2O.
It started with the longest event of
the competition, the 800m freestyle.
Yaseen Le Falher won fourth place,
Roma Vrijhof came ninth and Farah
Van Der Kooi was awarded a bronze
medal.
Students won 77 medals in total
– 27 gold, 27 silver and 23 bronze,
placing the school in second position
overall against all other Gulf competitors.
Asma Le Falher won the highest
points trophy for age nine, Louise
Leijonberg won the trophy in the
14-15 age category, Cheyma Le Falher came second in the 16 and over
age group and Farah Van Der Kooi
emerged third in the 10-11 age category.
“The only real difference
between a three-star and a
two-star hotel to a customer is
the availability of drinks – the
number of rooms doesn’t really
matter to someone looking for a
place to stay.
“This ban made the two-star
ratings effectively the same, so
now there is little point to even
have a three-star as it provides
the exact same services to a
customer as a two-star does.
“With this in mind I definitely think not only the three-star
but the one- and two-star hotels
need representation.
“I know almost all hotels
would be very eager to get on
board.”
The ban on alcohol in threestar hotels has drastically affected the nature of the hotel
management business, Mr Raj
said.
He claimed it had led to a
“massive drop” in the number
of tourists frequenting threestar establishments.
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