Rwanda Development Board (RDB) on Friday, December 26, announced that Château Le Marara hotel in Karongi District which was in July ordered to close has now been granted a temporary tourism operating licence. According to RDB, the authorisation follows compliance assessments conducted by relevant authorities that confirmed that the hotel has “met the necessary requirements to resume operations.” RDB announced the temporary closure of Château Le Marara hotel on Monday, July 21, after a probe into allegations of poor service. At the time, the hotel was found to be operating without a tourism operating licence and the closure order took immediate effect. ALSO READ: Château Le Marara accuses customer of blackmail, RIB launches review The July decision followed complaints from some customers who attended a wedding ceremony at the lakeside hotel in early July and later accused its management of poor service, negligence, and a lack of accountability in refunding guests for what they described as the hotel’s own failures. ALSO READ: RDB probes into poor service claims at Château Le Marara hotel The dissatisfied customers said they raised concerns about the quality of food and the overall service with hotel management but were either ignored or put on indefinite hold. After the claims circulated on social media, RDB chief executive Jean-Guy Afrika told The New Times, on July 15, that a probe into the alleged poor service at Château Le Marara was launched to establish the facts of the matter, adding that any decisions would be made according to tourism laws and regulations. The hotel management also filed a complaint with Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB), accusing the client who used their services between July 3 and 6 of blackmail and failing to pay bills. They also alleged that the client threatened the hotel with defamation.
