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The Ministry of Tourism announced with great sadness, the passing of someone who was dearly loved and respected in the Nevis tourism industry, Dr Adley Abdel Meguid. He was the founder, owner and chairman of the Mount Nevis Hotel. Dr Meguid was known as a kind, fatherly and understanding individual and although he was not a Nevisian by birth, he certainly was one at heart. He was adored by visitors and locals alike for his rapport, engaging spirit and the personal attention he gave to his guests.
Dr Meguid, simply known as ‘Doc’ to many, was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1928. In November, 1989, he opened the first ‘modern’ hotel on the island and was the only property on the island at the time that offered TV, telephones, cassette players and air conditioning in all rooms – this, of course, gave Mt Nevis a distinct competitive advantage. The hotel will this year celebrate 32 years of operation.
Meguid also opened Pizza Place, the first pizzeria on the island. Sixteen years ago, Doc also took another pioneering step and opened the 100 seat capacity Mt Nevis Conference Centre. This facility has been re-named the Oral Brandy Conference Centre after the man who gave Meguid the idea and strongly encouraged him to go forward with the project.
Dr Meguid’s professional training at the masters and PhD levels was in the field of Economics. He worked at the United Nations for 25 years in the area of investment and export development for developing countries. Upon retirement from the UN, he set up a consulting firm in New York and one of his first clients was the government of St Kitts and Nevis. He worked for them for 6 years and that is where he met Mel Henville, who was at the time the Head of the St Kitts and Nevis Tourism Department office in New York. Mel invited Meguid to Nevis and showed him the famous view overlooking St Kitts from the land on which the property now stands and that is when Meguid made a decision to build a hotel on that site.
Several individuals influenced Doc, but he singled out John Staus, one of the former General Managers of the Four Seasons Resort Nevis. Staus gave him some advice which remained with him throughout his career ‘ Place yourself in the shoes of the guest, from arrival to departure’. Meguid wholeheartedly embraced this empathetic and common sense approach to hospitality and strongly believed in working closely with locals. He believed that this approach would result in other people advertising and marketing you, when they share their positive experiences with others. During a 2015 interview when he was featured on ‘Faces of Tourism’, when asked what he liked best about his job, he stated that he liked contributing to the island, providing employment, revenue and media exposure for the people of Nevis. It is no small wonder that Dr Meguid received numerous awards during his tenure from the Nevis Island Administration, the Ministry of Tourism and other public and private entities.
Dr Meguid oversaw the expansion of the hotel by 36 suites, which increased the room capacity of Mount Nevis Hotel to 72 rooms.
Family life was very important to Doc – he and his late wife, Sally had one son and three daughters, as well as several grandchildren.
This stalwart hospitality practitioner was always full of sound advice and often exhorted his colleagues to recognize that in the tourism business, the sky is the limit. He felt that a good attitude and passion about one’s work could take one anywhere in the world. The guest, to him, was of paramount importance. The key, for Doc, was to please guests and to provide them with a satisfying and memorable experience that would inspire them to want to return to the island of Nevis.
The Ministry of Tourism, Nevis deeply appreciates his generous support of the Tourism Junior Ministers Breakfast and several other initiatives spearheaded by the Ministry. We join all tourism stakeholders and the island of Nevis as a whole in expressing our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of our dearly departed Dr Adley Meguid, the Mount Nevis Hotel community and all those he knew and loved. May his kind soul rest in eternal peace.