The state-owned Bangladesh Services Limited will renovate the Ruposhi Bangla hotel at a cost of $40 million before handing over its management to Intercontinental Hotels Group.
The 16-month renovation work will start after the completion of the ICC World Twenty20 tournament, which is scheduled to begin in April 2014, announced the Ruposhi Bangla management at a press briefing at the hotel on Thursday.
After the renovation, Ruposhi Bangla hotel will be renamed as Intercontinental Dhaka. But the hotel will have 231 guest rooms instead of the existing 272 as the room size will be expanded from 26 sqm to 40 sqm.
The dining hall and swimming pool will be relocated under the renovation plan which will offer some added services and benefits, they said.
Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, which is operating under the ownership of state-run BSL, planned an extensive renovation after it signed a 30-year management deal with the world’s largest hotel chain IHG in February 2012.
During the renovation period, the operation of the hotel will be suspended completely as the construction and other works would create disturbance to the guests.
‘But during the renovation phase all the permanent and contractual employees will be retained. Some of them will be shifted to Bangabandhu Conference Centre which is owned by Ruposhi Bangla,’ said BSL managing director Lutfur Rahman.
He said some of the employees will be working in the hotel during renovation and some other will be sent to different hotels under Intercontinental for training.
‘Employees will be paid the basic salary and other benefits during the renovation time,’ he said.
He said the BSL will bear the renovation cost partially from its own fund and the rest from bank loans.
The renovation project will be managed and operated by Hong-Kong based firm InProjects.
‘The idea of the renovation for Intercontinental is to restore the originality of the hotel as this hotel was launched under the Intercon brand in late 60s,’ said Christopher Cribb, the project director.
He said the meeting rooms and restaurants will be centralised in two different sides of the hotel.
The kitchen and other supporting mechanism will be in the middle part of the hotel to serve both meeting clients and other clients in a better manner, he added.
‘We are planning to blend the local culture with the international standard through the renovation which is a signature of the Intercontinental brand,’ said Ruposhi Bangla general manager James McDonald.
Civil aviation and tourism minister Faruk Khan said the renovation of Ruposhi Bangla hotel needs to endorse the spirit of the liberation war as the hotel played a significant role during the war.
‘There should be a theme corner highlighting the spirit of the liberation war,’ he said.
Intercontinental ran the state-owned iconic Dhaka hotel from 1966 to 1983. Sheraton took over its operation and management in 1983 for the next 25 years that ended in December 2008.
The government, however, requested Sheraton to continue the operations of the hotel until April 30, 2011 for the World Cup Cricket tournament.
Starwood, the mother company of Sheraton, gave the BSL conditional extension offer in 2009, but there was a disagreement between Starwood and BSL authorities over the renovation cost and the fate of the employees.
Eventually, the BSL took over the operations of the hotel under a new banner of Ruposhi Bangla.
-With New Age input
