 "Taj Mansingh hotel")
“The right name on Mansingh is Taj, ” said a light projection on the iconic facade of the Lutyens-Delhi situated hotel on Thursday evening. The writing on the wall was clear.
The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) completed 45 years of its crown jewel, the Taj Mahal hotel in New Delhi, also popularly known as Taj Mansingh, after retaining the right to run it for the next 33 years in 2018 after winning a public auction by the New Delhi Municipal Corporation. The group has since been working to refurbish and renovate the iconic property.
The hotel has spent close to Rs 250 crores in renovation. These changes — a homage to the past while future proofing the hotel — have been made to cater to the evolving needs of patrons.
“We would not have let this property go and paid a handsome amount to retain it,” said Suma Venkatesh, executive vice-president, real estate and development.
In a fresh push to the accommodation section, the hotel has refurbished its suites, which make up 20 per cent of their rooms. A second presidential suite, and a Maharah Suite have also been created. Additionally, the hotel has added two floors of luxury apartments. “We created higher category rooms, taking their average size close to 50 sq mtrs, which is what some of the new hotels now offer.”
In the process, keys in the hotel have gone down from 291 to 213 presently.
In a push to the Food and Beverages section, they renovated the restaurants — Machan and House of Ming, and launched a wine lounge. Venkastesh added that they ‘reimagined’ their business club, The Chamber’s, with the addition of a restaurant and meeting rooms among others. Venkatesh further said that the company is taking this F&B push beyond just the Taj Mahal hotel and expanding its Bombay Brasserie brand, by opening a second standalone unit in Singapore next week.
