EIH pegs hotel properties' restoration cost at Rs 50 cr

India Hotel, which owns The Oberoi and Trident, Nariman point, will need to spend more than Rs 50 crore to restore the two luxury hotel properties, executives of the group said ahead of the reopening of Trident, Nariman Point, on Sunday. Trident, Nariman Point was among the three hotel properties which bore the brunt of terrorist attacks on November 26. However, The Oberoi will need more than six months to reopen. The Taj Mahal Hotel Palace, also the epicenter of terrorist attack is also reopening tomorrow.

The preliminary bill for the Oberoi suggests a loss of Rs 40-50 crore, while Trident will cost another Rs 50 lakhs, SS Mukherjee, Vice Chairman, East India Hotels said at a press conference organised to brief media on the reopening of Trident. The New India Assurance Company has already disbursed Rs 25 crore for payment for the restoration work.

The Trident has already received reservations for 100 rooms form Indian and overseas guests, Rattan Keswani, President, Trident hotels said at the conference. “Half of the guests are foreign nationals.’’ After the terrorist attacks, there were fears that overseas tourists may shun key south Mumbai hotel properties. “The company is working jointly with travel partners, airline crew and agents to bring in business,’’ Keswani said.

At first sight the Trident doesn’t reflect the severe damages inflicted by the attackers, that’s because the adjoining Oberoi property bore the brunt.

“Terrorists made their way to The Oberoi through the hallway that connects the two hotels and thus we were spared,” says Raffique Ahmed, the owner of Essa Brothers, a Kashmiri shawls, fabrics and carpet selling shop inside the Trident. Ahmed, a Kashmiri by birth, laments that such terror incidents were common in his homeland but this is the first time he has witnessed in a five-star hotel in Mumbai, the city which is his home for 24 years. Despite risks involved, Ahmed has decided to continue to operate his shop although he expects to see a drop of 70-80 per cent in business. The management has beefed up security after the attacks. One has to make his way through iron barricades, a police bunker, gun-wielding security personnel, metal detecting door frames and manual frisking to get inside the hotel.