Kolkata, December 31, 2002: ‘ITC Sonar
Bangla’, which aims to be Asia’s finest super-deluxe hotel and a pioneering
world-class business resort, was formally inaugurated today by the Chief Minister of West
Bengal, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mr. Jyoti
Basu, who had laid the foundation stone of the Hotel in January 2001, was the Guest of
Honour at the inaugural function. A entire galaxy of state ministers and bureaucrats, an
array of distinguished invitees, senior ITC managers and the media witnessed the
inauguration.
Built at an estimated cost of Rs 240
crores, the Hotel has 240 super deluxe rooms. The Hotel’s infrastructure is capable
of supporting an additional 200 rooms. Keeping its corporate finger on the market pulse,
ITC will add more rooms and augment conference facilities as demand inevitably picks up
with India’s increased participation in global trade and Kolkata’s evolution as
the ‘Gateway to the East’.
ITC ventured into the hotels’ business
nearly thirty years ago with the launch of ‘Chola Sheraton’ on the
Company’s own property in Chennai. The Company soon followed this up with the opening
of the ‘Mughal Sheraton’ in Agra and the ‘Maurya Sheraton’ (now
rechristened and re-positioned as ‘ITC Hotel Maurya Sheraton & Towers) in New
Delhi. ITC Hotels is today managing 46 properties across the country. The unique and
distinctive value of operating excellence and exemplary architecture that ITC’s
hospitality business strives to offer has been widely acknowledged by celebrated
international business travellers that ITC Hotels has had the privilege of playing host
to.
The unique and elegant aesthetics of the
architecture and design of ‘ITC Sonar Bangla’ bears splendid testimony to the
widely lauded expertise of the internationally renowned architecture and design firm,
‘Kerry Hill & Associates’, who are famous for their conception and creation
of select boutique hotels across the world. The Hotel also stands out for its thoughtful
and brilliant landscaping, with a special focus on plants of eastern India. Special
emphasis has been laid on rearing tropical plants and preserving the natural water bodies
to nurture the native pristine green, in the true ‘ITC-Welcomgroup’ tradition of
consistent endeavour to protect and enrich the environment. Special suites in the Hotel
open out to specially designed gardens. In today’s environmentally conscious world,
the ubiquitous and crystal-clear water bodies that gurgle, course through and circle the
Hotel and create an island-like ambience, the lush green carpeted and canopied walkways
and the feather-like smoothly manicured gardens will irresistibly attract and delight
international business travellers. Even as you cruise into ‘ITC Sonar Bangla’,
what strikes you first is a quiet and gentle waterfall under a huge canopy. As you step
into the stately and majestic lobby, an impressively dense bamboo grove catches your eye
and captivates your fancy. That poignant symbol of green earth accentuates the romance
with water.
‘ITC Sonar Bangla’ is the first
‘ITC-Welcomgroup’ Hotel in Kolkata and in eastern India, and will serve as an
important and strategically significant link to complete the ‘ITC-Welcomgroup’
chain in India. The Hotel will strive to fulfill the need for international quality
accommodation in Kolkata. It will also cater to the international business and leisure
travellers visiting the eastern part of our country, and the contiguous commercial and
business centres in neighbouring countries.
The décor of the Hotel, the services that
it provides and the facilities that it creates, compare with the best worldwide. At the
same time, the design and the architecture strive to preserve and highlight the rich art
and culture of eastern India.
As the ideal business resort for
today’s health-conscious senior manager and global business traveller, the Hotel has
a jogging track, a health club, tennis courts and a swimming pool with an exclusive
pool-side health café.
The incredible range of exotic culinary
fare, that the eight restaurants in ‘ITC Sonar Bangla’ will dish out for its
invaluable customers, will bear out ITC’s worldwide reputation for premium ethnic
cuisine. The choicest fare from ‘Dum Pukht’ exemplifying the specialised cooking
of the Nawabs of Oudh, ‘Peshawari’ celebrating the cuisine of the erstwhile
North-West frontier provinces, ‘Dublin’, ‘Westview’, ‘Pan
Asia’ and the ‘Eden Pavilion’ will jostle with each other to beckon the
valued guest and the connoisseur from a shared home.
The architecture of the Hotel brings out
ITC’s signature concept of ‘ A Hotel within a hotel’. Each accommodation
block, be it the ‘Towers’ or the ‘Executive Club’, has its own
independent lounge. Each block is separated by a massive water body brought to life with
lilies and trees creating an aura of mystical romance. The exclusive pavilions promise
peace and tranquility to those seeking solitude.
The ITC One Block, the heart of the
Hotel which will strive to reach out to the crème de la crème of globe-trotting business
managers, international celebrities and world leaders, is appropriately positioned at the
centre of two towers. Each room in ITC One gives you the feel of an independent
garden overlooking the water body. Loftily ensconced in ITC One, you can savour the
spirit of freedom with natural light gently caressing you at the very special shower
cubicles.
