The Hotel itself is a magnificent structure - five stories tall, with two wings, seventy-eight (78) rooms, a swimming pool, gym, café, a poolside restaurant, two bars, a gourmet restaurant, a conference/banquet room and a comfortable lobby area. In terms of physical resources, the Hotel is well endowed. It is the second largest Hotel in the country today.

Guyana

Facts at a Glance
Full country name: Co-operative Republic of Guyana
Area: 215,000 sq km (83,850 sq mi)
Population: 825,000
Capital city: Georgetown (pop 200,000)
People: 51% East Indian, 43% Afro-Guyanese, 4% Amerindian, 2% European & Chinese
Language: English (though most Guyanese speak a creole), also Hindi and Urdu
Religion: 57% Christian, 33% Hindu, 9% Muslim
Government: Democracy
President: Bharrat Jagdeo

Environment
Roughly the size of the UK, Guyana is bordered by Venezuela to the west, Suriname to the east, and overshadowed by Brazil to the south. Its northern coast abuts the Atlantic Ocean. The country's most prominent geological feature is the Guiana Shield, a vast crystalline upland north of the Río Solimões, the Amazon's major channel. From Mt Roraima (2772m/9092ft), on the Brazilian border, the shield recedes in steps all the way to the coast. Thick rainforest covers great chunks of the interior, though southwestern Guyana features extensive grassland. About 90% of the population lives on the agriculturally rich coastal plain.

Guyana's varied and spectacular wildlife includes brightly-plumed birds and mammals such as tapirs, ocelots and monkeys. The equatorial climate results in high temperatures, tempered by cooling sea breezes. There are two rainy seasons: from May to mid-August and from mid-November to mid-January.

History
The aboriginal inhabitants of the Guyanese coast were Carib Indians who had driven the peaceful Arawak north and westwards into the Antilles. European settlement didn't occur until 1615, when the Dutch West Indian Company erected a fort and depot on the lower Essequibo River. The Dutch traded with the Indian peoples of the interior, and established riverside plantations - worked by African slaves - and sugar quickly became the dominant crop.

While the coast remained firmly under Dutch control, the English were busy establishing sugar and tobacco plantations west of the Suriname River. Conflict between the two countries meant parts of the region changed hands a number of times, but by 1796 Britain had become the major power. In 1834, slavery was abolished forcing many plantations to close or look for another source of labor. The British solved the problem by shipping indentured workers from India. From 1846-1917, almost 250,000 laborers entered Guyana, dramatically transforming the country's demographic balance and laying the basis for persistent ethnic tensions.

Guyana achieved independence in 1966 and four years later became a co-operative republic within the Commonwealth. The sugar industry was nationalized and the country's economic base diversified through production of rice and bauxite. However, Guyana's economy was in almost permanent recession up until 1990 as it slid out of mainstream engagement with the rest of the world and experienced the exodus of much of its educated class. Its domestic economy was not helped by border disputes with neighboring Venezuela and Suriname.