Bel Air Hotel re-opens |10 August 2013
After undergoing major renovations for the last 12 months, the Bel Air Hotel re-opened its doors to clients on Thursday.
It was the Bishop of the Anglican Church French Chang-Him who had the honour of cutting the ribbon to mark the re-opening in the presence of Tourism and Culture Minister Alain St Ange, Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) chief executive Sherin Naiken, the hotel’s owners – Roland and Natasha Rassool, the builders, friends and members of staff.
As its name suggests, Bel Air Hotel is situated in the Bel Air district, more precisely at the Bel Eau junction. Having opened its doors in 1973, the small seven-room establishment is among the oldest hotels in the country and one of the first Seychellois-owned.
In a short speech to mark the occasion, Mr Rassool said that when 40 years ago his parents decided to turn their family home into a hotel, he was skeptic about the sustainability of the project as all hotels constructed before were on the beach, but he was wrong:
“As a teenager at the time, I thought that our locations on the hill overlooking Victoria did not lend itself as well as other hotels and guest houses which were close to the sea and the beach. After all, this is what attracted most of our visitors to Seychelles in the first place. But looking back, I now realise that my parents had a lot more foresight than I credited them with at the time, since our best value is indeed our location. We can proudly say that Bel Air Hotel has over the years been the most popular town hotel both for business clients as well as those visitors transiting between Mahé, Praslin or La Digue.”
Mr Rassool added that the other values of the Bel Air Hotel are in its service delivery and family atmosphere with a feeling of “home away from home”.
And, as a successful business venture usually depends on the collaboration of a good business partner, Mr Rassool said he was lucky to marry Natasha who has helped her manage the place for the last 19 years, and for whom he is full of praise.
“In mid-1994 I managed to woo a young lady by the name of Natasha whom I thought would be the most eligible person for a “vacancy” at “my Bel Air”. I can happily say that I got a lot more than I bargained for, since not long after that, Natasha and I became an item. Natasha has been a tower of support not only in running Bel Air Hotel but also in terms of the value she has added to improve the quality of our product,” he said.
Recalling that the Bel Air Hotel was the place where as a child he had his first ice-cream, Tourism and Culture Minister St Ange said his ministry and the STB are grateful for the dedication shown by the Rassool family to the trade.
He stressed that it is important for Seychellois to be involved in the industry in order to offer a more local atmosphere.
Mr St. Ange, however, regrets the lack of hotels and Creole establishments in Victoria, and has in this regard pledged his ministry’s continued support for Bel Air Hotel and for other entrepreneurs who will dare do such investments in the future.
In spite of the renovations, the hotel has kept its original design. However, the interior has been coated with an attractive local wood design, and space has been added to the balcony and restaurant areas, both overlooking and offering a splendid view of Victoria.
The Rassool family has also been living in the hotel building since its erection, but with the ongoing construction of their new home the hotel will soon be able to offer more rooms.