United States-based Guy-anese Walter and Sheron Persaud are now the country’s newest hoteliers, their 36-room Park Vue Hotel and Lime Restaurant having been formally opened on Sunday by President Donald Ramotar.
Situated at Farm on the East Bank Demerara, the Park Vue, Sheron Persaud says, is intended as much to meet the needs of visitors to Guyana on business or holiday as to serve as another hospitality, entertainment and service option for Guyanese residing at home.
The Persauds are the most recent in a succession of investors to pump millions of dollars into the country’s hospitality industry since the 2007 Cricket World Cup induced a host of official concessions for investors in the sector. Nor are they the first Guyanese-born entrepreneurs who, in recent years, have chosen to inject some of returns from their overseas investments into projects at home. It may well be a sign that a greater measure of investor confidence in Guyana is manifesting itself amongst Guyanese in the diaspora.
The multi-million dollar Park Vue investment is a reflection of the accomplishments of the Persauds over their 20 years in the real estate and hospitality sectors in the United States. When Stabroek Business spoke with Sheron Persaud last week, just prior to the opening she said they would seek to infuse their experience in the hospitality sector in the USA into the Park Vue to create standards, which all of its patrons would find pleasing.
Sheron Persaud says the Park Vue is a work in progress so that the size of the investment is unclear at this time.
Not that the formalities associated with an opening last Sunday were premature. The investors are keen to get the show on the road; to ease the Park Vue into its own space on the local hospitality and entertainment landscape at the earliest possible time.
Not far down the road from the Park Vue is the much larger Princess Hotel, a symbol of competition that does not appear to worry the Park Vue’s proprietors. They appear to have taken the view that at home as much as abroad, customer preferences in hospitality facilities vary and that in the final analysis it is the level of comfort and satisfaction that you get for your money that counts.
When Stabroek Business visited, some men who were entertaining themselves at the Lime Restaurant appeared both satisfied and comfortable. The Lime is the first of the Park Vue’s services to open its doors to the public. We scanned the menu in the presence of Pritipaul Bacchus, the Chief Chef and Food and Beverage Manager. It reflected a familiar combination of universal dishes and
local foods. One of the men who were entertaining themselves volunteered a pleasing comment on the quality of the meal. The sterner test will come as the restaurant’s patronage grows, though, with dishes ranging in price from $1,000 to around $2,000 the Park Vue appears to be aiming to pull patrons in long before it is ready to unveil the full and final package. It is a marketing strategy that appears designed to announce the Park Vue’s presence long before the hotel kicks into top gear.
The complete package will comprise 36 rooms, the Lime Restaurant, a Banquet Hall and a Beauty Salon/Spa. The range of facilities suggests that the Park Vu seeks to reach out to the wider Guyanese community offering services for which it knows there is a growing local market.
Sheron Persaud invited us to see the rooms. They are easy on the eye.
The predominant colours are black and white. And she says the colours convey order and cleanliness. The décor is indicative of the inputs of an experienced eye – spacious rooms and the various appurtenances that guests might require. On the northern side of the hotel there is a modest pool.
In its newness, the Park Vue appears to measure up. It is, however, the long haul that counts. The hotel has recruited ten employees and will presumably be seeking more as patronage grows.
It is no secret, however, that there is a serious shortage of skills in the local hospitality sector. Sheron Persaud is not unaware that standards will only be sustained if her own experience coupled with intensive training can be brought to bear in the day-to-day running of the Park Vue.
She prefers to see the Park Vue as still unfolding. The Banquet Hall which will accommodate around 200 persons is scheduled to be completed in 2014. There are plans to create a children’s park and the landscaping remains to be completed. Once those tasks are completed and the beauty salon and spa are up and running the Persauds will be ready to show off the country’s newest hotel.
