Trident hotel will be open soon

MUMBAI: Trident and Oberoi, two best known chain of hotels of EIH, in South Mumbai are fast gearing up to welcome their guests. Barely a day after the terrorists were flushed out of these two hotels, EIH chairman P R S Oberoi said the company will re-open the Trident hotel shortly but will take longer to start the Oberoi. EIH runs the two hotel brands.

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai on Saturday, Mr Oberoi said: ��� We are assessing the damage of the hotels. From our preliminary assessment, the damage at the Oberoi appears to be much more that at the Trident. At this point, it is very difficult to tell you when we can re-open each of these hotels. However, our effort is to open both hotels as soon as we can.��� However, there was no structural damage to the Oberoi, he said.

The Oberoi and the Trident currently contribute to 35% of the inventory and 45% to the topline of EIH. The room inventory at these two hotels is around 1300. Incidentally, the hotels were insured against business loss due to terrorism with United India Insurance Company and New India Assurance.

32 people--four resident guests, 18 visitors who were dining in the restaurants of these hotels and 10 employees-- lost their lives in the terror attacks on these two properties. Three resident guests, four visitors and two employees of EIH were injured. 135 guests were evacuated from the Oberoi while 316 were taken out of the Trident. The deceased employees would be ���adequately compensated,��� he said.

��� My heartfelt sympathies to the families of all those involved in the operation who have laid down their lives. I must mention that had it not been for the courage and presence of mind shown by our staff members, the casualties may have been much more,��� said the doyen of the Indian hospitality industry.

Mr Oberoi strongly denied any linkage between the staff of the hotels and the terrorists, and attached importance of beefing up security further. He said that the company would soon have a dialogue with the state government and home ministry to provide arms to some key security personnel. Once the properties open up after renovation, he hoped to increase the number of cameras inside the hotels.

EIH plans to consult a security expert to take advise on the future security of the hotel. ���We plan to have a dialogue with the concerned authorities to have a security camera installed at certain prominent locations and roads,��� Mr Oberoi said. The group will intensify security measures within the hotel by screening baggage and no parking of vehicles will be allowed at the porch.

EIH vice-chairman S S Mukherjee said the Oberoi was the target of the terrorists because of its open restaurant and lobby which were full on Wednesday evening. ��� Their target was to kill as many people as they can.���Mr Oberoi felt that ���memories are short��� and the hospitality industry would bounce back shortly.