A portrait of the president greets you at reception, the managers espouse socialism, the guests wear red T-shirts and the decor promotes Latin American solidarity: Welcome to Hotel Chavez.
What used to be the Caracas Hilton today soars over Venezuela’s capital as a bold symbol of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s leftist revolution, a 36-story, state-run declaration of intent.
The government took over from the US hotel chain two years ago as part of a sweep toward greater state economic control. Renamed Alba — “dawn” in Spanish and also the acronym of Chavez’s regional alliance, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas — the hotel hosts summits that condemn US imperialism and chart a brighter, leftist future.
“We are the first socialist hotel but hopefully not the last,” said Katiuska Camaripano, its general manager.
Last week it acquired a sister: The government seized the Hilton on Margarita island, Venezuela’s tourist playground. It had angered Chavez during a meeting of African leaders he hosted at the hotel.
“The owners tried to impose conditions on the revolutionary government. No way. So I said: ‘Let’s expropriate it.’ And now it’s been expropriated,” Chavez said.
A presidential decree transferred its assets, including 280 rooms, 210 suites, shops, restaurants and a casino to the tourism ministry. A Hilton spokeswoman said the chain was “evaluating” the government’s action.
The state’s Margarita acquisition may also be renamed Alba, consolidating the brand name. Venezuela has also partly funded a small Alba hotel in Managua, capital of its leftist ally Nicaragua, Camaripano said.
“It would be wonderful if we became part of a socialist chain,” Camaripano said.
Two years after it became a political as well as geographic landmark, the Caracas Alba draws mixed reviews. Managers say it blends socialist values with business savvy and top-notch service. Critics say it is a dump in which nothing works.
There are some striking changes. Gone are the American and European managers and well-heeled foreign guests who used to snap up jewelry and cosmetics in the shops. Red-clad government officials and Cuban delegations have largely taken their place.
“Business is dead. All we’ll sell is chewing gum and antibiotics,” one store owner lamented.
The Italian restaurant now serves more Caribbean fare such as chicken in coconut sauce and cachapa, a corn-based pancake. The gift shop offers a range of ceramic Chavez mugs and sculptures ranging from US$20 to US$240.
The hotel has 900 rooms, but under Hilton management only 545 were in service, a number the Alba has increased to 782. Last year’s 90 percent occupancy rate owed much to government delegations, Camaripano said.
Occupancy this year has fallen to 65 percent, but the hotel still makes a profit.
“We are getting a lot of ordinary tourists as well as official delegations,” Camaripano said.
Travel agents dispute that. Venezuela’s capital has a shortage of hotel rooms, but foreign tourists often refuse to stay in the Alba, citing bad service, credit card rip-offs, musty smells, tatty furniture and overpriced food.
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
RSS