December 21, 2008
FINAL preparations were under way overnight in Mumbai for the re-opening of the two luxury hotels recently stormed by Islamist militants, amid tight security and pledges to return to business as usual.
The modern Tower wing of the Taj Mahal hotel and all of the nearby Trident hotel are due to relaunch Sunday, less than a month after the devastating attacks that left 172 people dead, including nine of the 10 gunmen.
Guests will begin checking in at the Trident from this morning, while more than 1,000 key clients and guests have been invited for a private reception at the Taj before an evening reopening, officials at both hotels said.
"It's the best thing that could have happened," the general manager of the Trident, Sanju Soni, told AFP when asked about the swift reopening. "A hotel without guests is very depressing, especially after what happened.
"We are all looking forward to it. The sooner life gets back to normal the better."
The Trident opened its doors to the media Saturday, allowing access to its gallery of high-end shops, reception and restaurant areas, as finishing touches were put to the decor and fittings.
Female hotel workers in saris handed out yellow roses to reporters after stringent checks on identification, bags and frisking by security guards.
Armed police were positioned behind sandbags at the entrance and access roads were blocked off. Roads were also closed around the Taj and the landmark Gateway of India monument opposite.
The president of Trident Hotels, Rattan Kewani, paid tribute to the efforts of the staff to get the hotel back in shape, saying he felt "deep pride" for their work both during and after last month's attacks.
"Yes, there is grief, there is definitely a huge amount of sadness in everybody's mind because of colleagues and guests that we lost," he told a news conference.
"But since those days and the days after that, they have been committed 100 percent to whatever the needs are and they are desirous that the hotel bounces back as quickly as possible."
A total of 22 guests and 10 staff were killed at the Trident during the November 26-29 siege.
No date has yet been set for the reopening of the adjoining Oberoi hotel, which was more badly damaged during the siege and rescue operation. Bullet marks can still be seen on its whitewashed, sea-facing facade.
The 105-year-old palace wing of the Taj, which was badly damaged by fire and gunshots during the 60-hour siege, is also closed, pending painstaking renovations to ornate wood and marblework and lavish furnishings.
Fifty-two people died at the Taj, state officials said on December 5.
Kewani estimated that the cost of repairs to the Trident would be about $100,000 and up to $10 million dollars at the Oberoi. Physical traces of what happened would be erased but memories would not, he added.
Some 100 of the 550 guest bedrooms at the Trident will be occupied tonight, with all meeting rooms and the hotel's four restaurants open for business.
A total of 268 rooms will be available at the Taj, plus seven eateries, although officials said no immediate figures were available for bookings.
About 30 to 35 percent of prospective Trident guests cancelled after the attacks, in line with other hotels in the city and across India on security fears, but bookings were buoyant for January, Kewani said.
On security, he said specialist consultants had been drafted in, while both overt and covert methods would be used to improve safety, but he doubted whether anyone could have prevented such an unprecedented attack.
"Was it possible to have a deterrent for the kind of armed assault that was there? The answer is no," he said.
FINAL preparations were under way overnight in Mumbai for the re-opening of the two luxury hotels recently stormed by Islamist militants, amid tight security and pledges to return to business as usual.
The modern Tower wing of the Taj Mahal hotel and all of the nearby Trident hotel are due to relaunch Sunday, less than a month after the devastating attacks that left 172 people dead, including nine of the 10 gunmen.
Guests will begin checking in at the Trident from this morning, while more than 1,000 key clients and guests have been invited for a private reception at the Taj before an evening reopening, officials at both hotels said.
"It's the best thing that could have happened," the general manager of the Trident, Sanju Soni, told AFP when asked about the swift reopening. "A hotel without guests is very depressing, especially after what happened.
"We are all looking forward to it. The sooner life gets back to normal the better."
The Trident opened its doors to the media Saturday, allowing access to its gallery of high-end shops, reception and restaurant areas, as finishing touches were put to the decor and fittings.
Female hotel workers in saris handed out yellow roses to reporters after stringent checks on identification, bags and frisking by security guards.
Armed police were positioned behind sandbags at the entrance and access roads were blocked off. Roads were also closed around the Taj and the landmark Gateway of India monument opposite.
The president of Trident Hotels, Rattan Kewani, paid tribute to the efforts of the staff to get the hotel back in shape, saying he felt "deep pride" for their work both during and after last month's attacks.
"Yes, there is grief, there is definitely a huge amount of sadness in everybody's mind because of colleagues and guests that we lost," he told a news conference.
"But since those days and the days after that, they have been committed 100 percent to whatever the needs are and they are desirous that the hotel bounces back as quickly as possible."
A total of 22 guests and 10 staff were killed at the Trident during the November 26-29 siege.
No date has yet been set for the reopening of the adjoining Oberoi hotel, which was more badly damaged during the siege and rescue operation. Bullet marks can still be seen on its whitewashed, sea-facing facade.
The 105-year-old palace wing of the Taj, which was badly damaged by fire and gunshots during the 60-hour siege, is also closed, pending painstaking renovations to ornate wood and marblework and lavish furnishings.
Fifty-two people died at the Taj, state officials said on December 5.
Kewani estimated that the cost of repairs to the Trident would be about $100,000 and up to $10 million dollars at the Oberoi. Physical traces of what happened would be erased but memories would not, he added.
Some 100 of the 550 guest bedrooms at the Trident will be occupied tonight, with all meeting rooms and the hotel's four restaurants open for business.
A total of 268 rooms will be available at the Taj, plus seven eateries, although officials said no immediate figures were available for bookings.
About 30 to 35 percent of prospective Trident guests cancelled after the attacks, in line with other hotels in the city and across India on security fears, but bookings were buoyant for January, Kewani said.
On security, he said specialist consultants had been drafted in, while both overt and covert methods would be used to improve safety, but he doubted whether anyone could have prevented such an unprecedented attack.
"Was it possible to have a deterrent for the kind of armed assault that was there? The answer is no," he said.
Source:The Australian from Agence France-Presse
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