EGYPT: No more liquor at my hotel!

In a stunning display of religious rigidity, the Saudi owner of a five-star hotel in Cairo recently banned the serving of liquor by reportedly dumping more than $1 million of beer, wine and whiskey into the Nile River.

Sheikh Abdel Aziz Ibrahim, a relative of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, has ordered that no more cocktails will be mixed or stirred at his Grand Hyatt Cairo. Goodbye, martini; hello, fruit punch. The move is a gesture to bring his business into conformity with Islamic standards. That may be so, but the Egyptian Hotel Assn. has its own rules.

The organization has given Ibrahim an ultimatum: Either put the liquor back by July 2 or have his hotel demoted from five to two stars, according to Agence France-Presse. Although alcohol is forbidden in Islam, Egyptian law allows the consumption of booze in hotels and other tourist haunts. Tourism is one of this nation's biggest industries, and Cairo doesn't want to give the impression that conservative Islam is spreading.

"If he doesn't want to serve alcohol, it's his choice. If that doesn't comply with our regulations, he has to bear the consequences," Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah said.

However, Ibrahim has found support for his decision. In an online forum hosted by the popular Islam Online Website (a Qatari-funded and Cairo-based Islamic website that covers religion, news, society and culture), some visitors hailed the move as "great news."

"Thank you Grand Hyatt, this is a great step and I hope that all hotels in Egypt and Muslim countries do the same," wrote a visitor of the same forum.

— Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

Photo: Grant Hyatt Cairo. Credit: Cris Bouroncle  AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[onlooker]

egypt should be open to business as it is, but if anyone wants to do business there, they should comply with egyptian regulations. saudi money has a very negative impact on egypt.

[Amir]

A hotel is a lodging place where a guest (a mature person) has the right to chose to drink or not to drink. Similar to if he want to eat chinese food or italian. Or want to swim or not to swim. The owner of the hotel has no right to impose his own believes on his guests. Is he going to prevent women from swimming in bikinis too!!

[webo]

You are a role model, for every respectable business man.
some hypocrites will stand against you, but don't worry God is with you.

Thank you

[robert huffstutter]

I would suppose that the owner of a business should have the right to dictate the policies of his business. It is unfortunate that in America, stars have no bearing on the rules. For example: no smoking bans in bars in certain cities. There is no alternative options. The non-smokers have slapped the face of free enterprise. One would think that the smoking issue should be up to the owner. If the Sheik prefers no booze, no booze--it is his cash. But not in the fast-becoming socialist state of America. What a shame to see our freedoms snuffed out. Here is a good one: one spends three grand on a luxury private room on Amtrak to go on a two week vacation.......but no smoking. That's right. If you want to smoke, get your ass off the train and go stand on the platform and blow smoke. I no longer travel Amtrak. Another shame that Amtrak is the only choice in this fast-becoming socialist state of America.