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no way to run a major hotel
An old friend was in town and I had arranged to meet him in the Sheraton last Friday. The access road was blocked with traffic so I I left my taxi and walked the least 300 metres. Only at the door was I stopped: "are you staying here sir ?" (replied: no) : "I am affraid the hotel is closed to visitors. All the bars and restaurants are closed"
One day, we are going to want to progress from being a primary economy and pumping gas out of the ground for others. We have to progress towards a tertiary economy: to be the place where businesses have their headquarters, to develope banking and tourism.
What chance have those industries got when the very few decent tourist facilities we have are just closed whimsically.
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brandylady said
good point ...the Sharaton should not close it's doors to anyone, even if there was something special going on that needed privacy, they should have made a concession for visitors and set aside a place for others to meet and have coffee etc x
SeArChEr said
Sheraton hotel frequently ...Sheraton hotel frequently host some events for watever reason & you can see police stopping & checking everybody. Pls avoid these places where you know you will be dealt with rude unprofessional police man. They just spoil your day.
mghozlan said
strange, things like this ...strange, things like this encouraged me to leave doha, nothing happend with me, but i will not wait for it to happen.
everyone on this land should be treated equally.
qatari said
the world doesn't revolve around you! ...maybe you've noticed that Qatar is currently hosting the ENTIRE Lebanese government and power players to try to end the crisis engulfing the country.
It may be that the hotel was closed for security reasons...
---Please read our Community Guidelines before posting on Qatar Living. It will save us all a lot of pain :)
brandylady said
hey Qatari ...no offence meant, oh am having a bad day here on QL as am sure you are aware, :(
Gypsy said
Try reading the papers, the ...Try reading the papers, the entire Lebanese government and the Emir are at the Sheraton to try and bring peace to Lebanon, I think that might take precedence over you and your friend.
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serdal said
no excuse really ...I have learnt since that the closure of the Sheraton was in connection with the Lebanese situation.
It is of course a laudable objective to do what we can to promote peace there, but it seems Qatar was offering facilities it does not have. ie a suitable conference centre.
I reiterate my point "What chance have those (tourist and tertiary ) industries got when the very few decent tourist facilities we have are just closed whimsically." The fact that its for a good cause does not lessen the impact on our tourist industry.
Gypsy said
Perhaps Serdal you should ...Perhaps Serdal you should write the Emir and say
" Look sir, I understand that you wanted to stop the deaths of hundreds (perhaps thousands) of innocent people and prevent a civil war, but my mate and I really wanted to have a drink, so can you please do that elsewhere."
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brandylady said
gypsy ...I did not know this was happening so an apology from me is in order.
The people of Lebanon also xx
exiledsaint said
I must agree with Serdal ...To close hotels to all on a whim is not a way to run a business. I appreciate what Qatar is doing for Lebanon but that shouldn't stop people getting in. Security is not a problem as you make people park away from the hotel and there are metal detectors on the way in as well as security people to check bags. None of us want to go near where the conference is being held but we do want to use other parts of the hotel!!!
Gypsy said
You all seem to forget which ...You all seem to forget which country you live in. If the Emir wants the Sheraton closed, it closes, there are no if, ands, buts or maybes. Frankly I'm not so selfish that I can't live without the Irish Harp for a couple of days to perhaps save a few lives.
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exiledsaint said
Yep I get it Gypsy.... ...However I don't consider it selfish for us to carry on with our lives as normal. I guess the shearton is getting a lot of compensation to shut so they win out of this as well.
I wish them good luck with the peace process but I do not hold out much hope.
Gypsy said
Actually they probably ...Actually they probably didn't get any. What the Emir says goes in this country and they were probably told the day before or day of to shut the hotel.
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diamond said
Closing a hotel for security ...Closing a hotel for security reasons is commonly done in countries around the world when they are hosting events.
www.nfcr.org
Gypsy said
Especially short notice, ...Especially short notice, emergency peace summits.
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mghozlan said
for this one they have the ...for this one they have the right to close the hotel, but there are some other situations like city center thing, which is wrong,
TweetyBird said
Closing down conference ...Closing down conference centers, hotels, etc. for VIP delegations happens everywhere. It's naive to think that a metal detector and scanners at the door will prevent a professional from doing harm within a hotel.
Alexa said
It is perfectly normal to ...It is perfectly normal to close the hotel for such an important event, especially in this situation, where so many of the participants can be targets for certain crazies. I am surprised they did not close off a large perimeter around it.
Try to USE the brain people...please, at least try!
A sense of humour is just common sense dancing, sadly, common sense has left the building and is dancing somewhere else.
Alexa
serdal said
hotel security ...We seem to have drifted a long way from my original point, that these closures are extremely bad for our tourist industry.
As regards what hotel scanners can detect (if they are switched on) and what perimeter one should close, I suspect we are all a little out of our depth. The Sheraton is not a very secure place because it was never intended as a high security installation. Its a hotel ! Any building that is so prominent and visible from such a great distances constitutes an unnecessary risk. You know you can get a stinger missile on ebay now.
My 3 previous posting before Doha were Thailand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, all places witha REAL security problem. Notwithstanding I never saw a major hotel closed in any of those countries.
brandylady said
ignorance ...I need to apologise for my ignorance, I did not know about why the hotel was closed.
fully understand now for the reason behind it and of course with the Emir being there security would be at a maximum.
Understandably so.
I am sure Serdal that you just happened to be there on the one day when it was closed x
Alexa said
Serdal, of course there is ...Serdal, of course there is no protection from missiles in that environment...duh!
But at least they can take the measures available to ensure safety as best as possible.
They do it in Thailand,now Sri Lanka and Pakistan....different story ....let's not even start on that.
A sense of humour is just common sense dancing, sadly, common sense has left the building and is dancing somewhere else.
Alexa
Gypsy said
Actually the Sheraton is a ...Actually the Sheraton is a very well protected hotel, and is designed to be shutoff in exactly that situation. Secondly if you read your own post, you will see that the security guard asked if you were staying there, meaning the tourists (who were staying at the hotel) you are talking about had full access to the hotel, the only people who don't were residents of Doha. So it really doesn't hurt the toursim industry at all. Also in places like Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Thailand the local populace don't use the hotels for recreation like they do here in Doha, and restuarants, etc. are often only used by guests.
Visit www.qatarhappening.com
TweetyBird said
How do you know which people ...How do you know which people in this thread are out of their depth with respect to security and the security profession?
zoltrix said
what tourist industry?! ...SERDAL, its a god damn desert, what tourist industry are you talking about?!
besides they have all the money they need, why would they promote for any tourist industry?