It has become the norm for things that many take for granted in other parts of the world to become an issue of concern on this side of the divide.
It has become the norm for things that many take for granted in other parts of the world to become an issue of concern on this side of the divide.
From maintenance culture which is none existence to the non availability of the most basic amenities and several other issues that may never ever be tackled as long as it has to do with Nigeria.
But when business mogul and boss of SIFAX group, Dr Taiwo Afolabi decided to bring the highly reputed Marriott chain of hotels to Nigeria, many wondered if the five star hospitality that the hotel is known for wherever they are situated on the globe, would be replicated to the letter.
Afolabi allayed their fears, insisting that services provided will be the same as the one the international brand offers all over the world.
While Jim Ovia, Zenith Bank chairman who was also interested in bringing Marriott to Nigeria was still mulling over the project, Afolabi beat him to it and officially declared the hotel open on May 30 2021.
Unfortunately, barely two months after it was officially declared open in a ceremony that had the who is who on the political, social and business scene, the widely acclaimed only five star hotel of international standard in Nigeria, caught an embarrassing Nigerian bug.
The 250 bed, 11 floor hotel was on Saturday July 17, thrown into pitch darkness following an electricity outage.
Instead of the brand new diesel generators to come to the rescue almost immediately, the occupants of the hotel were left in the dark for about nine hours.
The hotel claimed they had issues with their supposedly new generating sets and it took all of that time to get it fixed. This development caused the electronically controlled gates to be operated manually and not a few things had to be put on hold in the hotel.
Many of the guests couldn’t hide their disappointment with a few leaving the comfort of their rooms to go seek fun elsewhere and others checking out the next day to avoid experiencing a repeat performance.
The hotel management full of apologies offered every guest free dinner after the generators manged to roar back to life, to assuage their feelings.
Like some of the guests, we hope Marriott Hotel, Nigeria maintains the known standard the international hotel brand is reputed for.
