No alcohol means fewer stars for Egypt luxury hotel

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

CAIRO (AFP) — Egyptian authorities are threatening to strip Cairo's luxury Grand Hyatt hotel of its five-star status after the owner stopped serving alcohol in the name of Islam.

Last month, Abdel Aziz Ibrahim, a member of the Saudi royal family and owner of the coveted luxury property that sits on a tongue of land at the edge of the Nile, decided to get rid of all the alcohol in stock.

The sheikh ordered the 2,500 bottles of alcoholic beverages at the hotel to be flushed down the toilets, without providing any notice to the American hotel chain managing the property, Hyatt International.

"300,000 dollars went into the sewers after this decision which totally violates Egypt's hotel rules," said Fathi Nur, president of the Egyptian Hotel Association.

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