The summer silly season possibly hit its silliest point when Rydges Auckland Hotel was forced to stop selling alcohol for a month because of a procedural mishap. The hotel paid its annual licence fee last month but did not make the necessary next step of renewing its licence and paying again for that extension.
So, a business which hosts guests from out of Auckland and beyond New Zealand was forced to sit out the hottest, sunniest summer for an age without offering clients drinks from the bar.
Rydges points out that it might have been worse: its busiest times are when the corporate road warriors are in town through the working year.
Surely some common sense can be applied to licensing conditions. The business had paid for its licence. It was not trying to operate without paying its dues. Once it was known the hotel hadn't ticked off the further box relating to renewing its licence, it would be hoped the licensing official who pointed this out might have come up with a solution, not just the problem.
How hard could it be - even in the dead times of the statutory holiday period - to ensure a tourist and visitor service like a CBD hotel could be provided a temporary licence to trade until formal approvals for renewal could be agreed.
