Royal Revival: The Oberoi Grand is gearing up for a new look and feel

From Mrs Monk?s modest boarding house on No. 13 Chowringhee to the grand design of Armenian estate baron Arathoon Stephen to Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi?s sparkling centrepiece of a sprawling city ? The Oberoi Grand has seen many avatars.

The grand dame of Chowringhee ? once ranked among the four jewels in the East alongside Oriental in Bangkok, Raffles in Singapore and Strand in Yangon (then Rangoon), but now struggling to make up hospitality ground lost to the Taj Bengals and Sonar Banglas ? is gearing up for a royal revival.

The Chowringhee Wing of the hotel, non-operational for over a decade, is set to reopen next year with 24 ?exclusive? suites set to ?redefine luxury? and aimed at becoming the preferred haunt for heads of state and business barons. ?Both Calcutta and Yangon had suffered a slump in the hospitality industry as business moved away. But we feel the city is now prepared for such lavish luxury and we would like to be ready with an apt rendezvous,? says Amitabh Rai, general manager, The Oberoi Grand.

Every suite would be distinctive and elicit a ?wow!?, he promises. From the rustle of silk to the whisper of taffeta, 24-carat bathroom fittings to dedicated steam chambers and the ?finest of handpicked art?, every facet will be designed to pamper the guest to the lees.

The Grand design is clearly a pointer to the buoyancy in the city?s hospitality trade. As far as sheer opulence goes, ITC Sonar Bangla Sheraton & Towers, which has hosted the likes of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, boasts a Presidential Suite spread across 1,800 sq ft. The plush trappings include a sitting area, a dining area with balcony, bar, pantry, butlers? room, a bedroom with a balcony, office space?

Taj Bengal, too, has its Presidential Suite and Peacock Suite, home to the likes of Hillary Clinton, Amartya Sen, Sonia Gandhi and numerous heads of state. Says R. Pashupathy, general manager of the Alipore hotel: ?We are very happy with the growth the city is showing and we hope the market scenario continues to grow.?

The crowning glory of what is being viewed by the trade as a critical step in a Grand turnaround, would be the Presidential Suite in the Chowringhee Wing, complete with two bedrooms, study, a huge living room, dining room, pantry and an attached chamber for health assistance.

?The theme will be elegant old-world charm and we want to give our distinguished guests elements they would want to replicate at home,? says Rai. International designers are being shortlisted and work is expected to commence by April 2006.