RADISSON HOTEL FLORIDA:THE RADISSON Resort hotel at the centre of the controversial Fás trip to Florida was bemused by the level of media interest in it yesterday. Shortly after 9am US time, a receptionist said the hotel had already received several queries from Ireland that morning.
Minister for Health Mary Harney and her travelling party stayed at the hotel at Cape Canaveral in July 2004 when she was tánaiste and minister for enterprise.
She had a series of official engagements, including attending the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Fás and the Kennedy Space Centre.
The hotel said it did not know anything about Solutions Unique, a hair and nail salon on Cocoa Beach which was named in documents as having provided hairdressing services to Ms Harney at the hotel.
A bill of $410 for the salon services was included in Fás receipts but it is not clear how much of the bill was incurred by Ms Harney.
Her spokesman said she had availed of standard wash and blow dries in preparation for official engagements but four years later it was impossible to say who had made the necessary arrangements.
A hotel spokeswoman said the hotel did not make arrangements for hairdresser or salon employees to come to guests' rooms.
"Any outside service is provided by the guests themselves. We do not suggest any outside service, unless we ourselves know of them personally," she said. "I am unfamiliar with this salon."
Solutions Unique salon could not be contacted yesterday as it was Thanksgiving Day and a public holiday.
