Yigit Oktenoglu, the Turkish Casino Director politely declines to pronounce on an opening date for Guyana’s first ever casino. There is, however, a distinct air of urgency at the Princess Hotel as the facility approaches completion.
Earlier this week myriad tasks were being completed simultaneously in the push towards completion. In the forecourt of the hotel an expanse of lawn was being prepared for decorative landscaping. Just behind the lawn various groups of workmen were busy inside a cavernous section of the hotel’s interior putting the final touches to the construction phase of the casino. The work crews included a small team of Colombian technicians engaged in the installation of an escalator.
Oktenoglu himself is at the centre of the preparations. When Stabroek Business arrived at the hotel he was too busy to meet with us immediately. When we eventually met with him in his office on the second floor of the hotel he was still busy but eager to talk with us. Inside a room adjoining his office a group of young trainees, mostly women, were ‘at work’ on roulette and blackjack tables. On opening night their capacity to cope with the mental exertions of ‘manning’ the tables will be tested ‘for real’ for the first time.
The casino itself is still ‘a work in progress.’ The floor which will shortly be covered with plush red carpet is, for the time being, covered with a loose layer of cement. The walls and ceiling are still dotted with holes where electrical installations poke through. Larger circular designs in the ceiling mark the areas where chandeliers will be installed. If the amount of work that still remains to be done appears considerable Oktenoglu appears unworried. Still, he declines to volunteer an opening date. “The middle of February” is as far as he is prepared to go.
When it eventually opens the Princess Casino will be a landmark development in Guyana’s entertainment sector. It has come through crucibles of robust public and parliamentary debate and eventual legislation and if the amiable Casino Director can be taken at his word the imminent emergence of the physical facility will more than justify the tedious teething process.
Walking through the huge hall that will house the casino you have to visualize the grandeur that is the focus of what the Princess Hotel seeks to provide. Hande Mutlu, a female Turkish Architect is the casino’s designer. From her office on the ground floor of the hotel she showed the plans for two cinemas that are part of the entertainment complex and each of which is designed to accommodate just under a hundred patrons. She talks too about lighting and colour and the effect that these will have on the ambience of the casino. Hande has worked for the Princess group ever since graduating from University and is no stranger to casino design.
Tables offering four separate games – Blackjack, Roulette, Stock Poker and Texas Holdem Poker – have already arrived in Guyana and will soon be rolled out into the completed casino. On opening night the young trainees will take over. They are among the 140 employees who will staff the facility. Oktenoglu says that the table attendants are at least 75 per cent ready for the big day. Inside his office the colourful costumes that will be their uniform hang from racks. Another two table games will be added to the casino later.
Then there are the slot machines, some of which the Casino Director says are designed to pay jackpots of up to five million dollars. The facility will offer live entertainment which, on the opening night will include a group from the Ukraine. A Night Club and a Bowling Alley are also part of the plan a drawing of which is mounted on a wall inside Mutlu’s office. Oktenoglu says that The Princess is seeking to offer “a total entertainment package.”
For the moment, however, the preoccupation is with completing the casino. The fixtures and fittings for an exotic lighting display have been imported from China and will be installed as soon as the final stages of actual construction are completed. The hotel has recruited a team of expatriate Guyanese to undertake the installation of the carpet and wallpaper. It is a considerable undertaking and the hotel was unable to find a local firm able to undertake it to the standard which they say it requires.
Oktenoglu is decidedly unworried by the short period between now and mid-February. He has seen it all before. Over the past fifteen years he has set up and run casinos for the Princess Group in Turkey, Romania, the Czech Republic, Belize and the Dominican Republic. Guyana is just another professional challenge and he is taking it in his stride.
In his office Oktenoglu spoke about the concept of the casino. Contrary to what had been peddled in Guyana when talk of a casino first surfaced the casino will not be, exclusively, the domain of ‘high rollers.’ Oktenoglu says that it is about entertainment for everyone. “Our slot machines are affordable for ordinary people who simply want a good time.” He says that casinos are not about reckless spending. “You budget for entertainment and you work with that budget.”
The Casino is an integral part of what is evidently a broader plan by the Princess Hotel to become the country’s premier hotel and entertainment mecca. Its General Manager, Muharrem Kulekci completes the trio of top Turkish managers running the facility. Over 25 years he has worked with some of the most reputable international hotel and hospitality outfits including the Crown Plaza, the Hilton, the Sheraton and the Radisson. For him, striking a balance between offering a high-quality international hotel and creating a facility that is entirely accessible to Guyanese seeking to experience its splendid facilities is the very essence of his job. Kulekci is enthused about the imminent opening of the casino. He believes that some the wealthy overseas patrons who the facility seeks to attract may well see gambling as just one reason to be in Guyana. It could, he says, open up investment possibilities. At the same time he makes it clear that the Princess Hotel does not seek a reputation for exclusivity.
The Hotel’s marketing drive has both local and international dimensions and Liz Rahaman, its Marketing Manager says that part of its focus is on institutionalizing the Princess image. Buddy’s, the name which it inherited still remains to be removed from public consciousness and inside the foyer a huge, stunningly attractive chandelier with the name Buddy’s prominently inscribed in the metal frame provides a prominent reminder of the hotel’s recent past. It is far too attractive and, undoubtedly, far too costly to be simply taken down and put aside and the hotel will have to find a way of bringing an end to this reminder of what once was.
With 200 rooms the Princess is the largest hotel in Guyana.
The Princess’ target market includes potential customers in the Caribbean, North America and Europe though Kulekci is careful to stress “the Guyanese appeal” for which it strives. Its restaurant is open to local visitors and it welcomes parties, weddings and other public functions. Management has been approached by churches wishing to hold functions there.
Rahaman says that local and regional sports organizations including the local karate and power lifting federations and the West Indies Rugby Union have special arrangements with the hotel for the holding of events and for accommodation. With the ICC Twenty/20 tournament looming bookings have long been made for players and officials.
Kulekci says that as part of its efforts to promote the Princess as a “Guyanese hotel” an outreach initiative into the community has already begun. Gifts have already been presented to the community hospital and to children in Diamond and neighbouring communities.