Great Eastern to look like Raffles: Suri

 Lalit Suri, chairman and managing director of The Grand, said Singapore-based Architect 61 had been appointed for giving the hotel a new look. The Grand had acquired the Great Eastern Hotel from the West Bengal government.

 Suri said Raffles and Great Eastern Hotel were very similar properties and like the Raffles, Great Eastern would be a mix of colonial and modern architecture. In keeping with heritage commission rules, the facade would be enhanced and not changed.

 The property would have 250 rooms, up from the present 213 and would include two presidential suites and 12 luxury suites.The hotel would have 3-4 restaurants. Maxim's, a Mecca for the young and not-so young, would be rejuvenated, said Suri, adding: "Maxim's would be retained as a night club and bar".

 The architects had submitted the initial design and planning and reports on the building would be submitted to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) in the next 6 weeks. "We will start work as soon as the clearances are received," Suri said.