Worked out the bidet yet? Get ready for the shatafa!

The British have never really got on with the bidet, so what hope is there for the shatafa?

A metal-clad hose with a directional shower head, the shatafa is the favoured method of bottom-cleaning in the Middle East, a fact not missed by the Landmark hotel in London, which has just installed 100 for the comfort of its many Arab visitors.

Guests unfamiliar with its intended function could well mistake the hose, positioned alongside the lavatory, as a hi-tech toilet brush to aid the housekeepers.

The shatafas have been installed alongside the lavatories in the bathrooms of the hotel's deluxe bedrooms and have already been warmly welcomed, said the hotel's Middle Eastern guest manager, Magdy Rustum.

"It is very important for these guests because Muslims pray five times a day and must be spotlessly clean for prayer. They are not so keen on bidets," he explained.

Rustum has been suggesting that the hotel install shatafas for some time, but the decision to go ahead was taken after a staff ideas session earlier this year.

Landmark general manager Francis Green said: "We first considered shatafas about a year ago, but while we didn't exactly pooh-pooh the idea, it was put on hold. We decided this year that it was right to go ahead."

Personal hygiene has not been the only way the hotel has sought to cater for Middle Eastern guests. The hotel now carries seven Arab television channels and has had a specialist Arabic chef for three years.

The result, said Rustum, had been that the Landmark had done better than most in attracting back guests from the region. In August 2001 the hotel sold 2,200 bednights to Middle Eastern customers, while last month the figure still hit 2000, easily passing Rustum's target of 1,890.

by David Harris

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 5-11 September 2002