Though the Orchid Garden Hotel and Shopping Mall on Mandela Avenue is still a year away from completion two businesses have already opened there.
The businesses that took the leap are Space Gym 2.0 and Chinese restaurant Tian Tian Hot Pot which offers Chinese cuisine in a different format.
Co-Proprietor of the restaurant Patricia (only name given) said she and her partner decided to try the concept of a hot pot here having observed its success in Suriname. She stated that while the restaurant is a step away from traditional Chinese food offered to Guyanese, they have been receiving excellent feedback.
The hot pot concept she said allows patrons to witness the food being cooked on a stove before them. The base of the meal is a flavourful broth to which meat and vegetables of choice are added. Raw ingredients are thinly sliced in order to cook quickly. The items are cooked in the pot before the customer for a few minutes before patrons serve themselves.
“They can order what they want like meats, fish ball, vegetables, seafood and put in the soup and cook for five minutes and then you finish and take it out and eat it with special sauces,” Patricia explained.
She added that while in the past Guyana had hot pots, they recognised it was not a popular choice. However, it was the success in Suriname and the vision to change Guyanese perception of Chinese cuisine, which she said is often “fried rice, fried noodles”, that spurred them to open up the business here.
The business opens from 11am to 3pm and from 5pm to 10pm daily.
One of the challenges faced, Patricia said is finding reliable help to work in the restaurant. The eatery currently employs two persons and plans are in place to hire additional persons.
Meanwhile, Space Gym is expected to open up its modern and upscale fitness facility by May. Initially, the plans were to open at the start of this month but that was pushed back due to shipping delays.
Located on the top floor of the hotel, the gym offers skyline views of the city from a unique angle along with 13,000 square feet for persons to work out.
In a report in Stabroek Sports, Management had said that the facility is ready with all infrastructure in place and once the cargo arrives, the gym would be fully outfitted.
Training for the new staff is ongoing, according to management.
President of China Trading Company, Jason Wang, one of the principals behind the investment yesterday told Stabroek News that while the superstructure for the hotel has been completed they are still to finish internal infrastructural works. He noted that they are currently working on the installation of the central air conditioning for the building, which should be completed by the end of this year.
He explained that the businesses that are starting up have installed their own air conditioning units. A third business, a western themed bar and restaurant is gearing up to open by September.
Wang explained that once the central air conditioning unit is in place, more businesses will have the option to open and they are working towards that.
In terms of the hotel, he explained that they are working to install the necessary electrical, plumbing and air-conditioning infrastructure.
Construction of the approximately US$25M hotel commenced in 2015 and was expected to be completed by 2019 but due to changes in investors it was delayed and then hit with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The initial plan was to construct a hotel with 150 rooms but having found a new investor an additional 90 rooms were added taking the total to 240.
When completed, the complex will accommodate 50 stores, restaurants, movie theatres, food courts, and conference rooms, play areas and a park, a gaming centre, a tourism centre, a medical facility, a laundromat, gym and parking area.
The mall is to also be equipped with three open spaces for natural light, and three reservoirs, each possessing a capacity of over 80,000 gallons. The company is also considering the installation of renewable energy sources such as solar panels.
