PM to inaugurate InterContinental Dhaka Thursday

Senior Correspondent: The government owned 5-star ranked hotel InterContinental Dhaka is going to be inaugurated tomorrow (Thursday) after four years of renovations. The hotel was formerly known as Ruposhi Bangla and Sheraton.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Shahjahan Kamal said at a press briefing at the secretariat here on Wednesday.

Shahjahan said, “We are all set to inaugurate the renovated hotel. Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will formally open it at 7.30 pm tomorrow.”

The hotel will be put into commercial operation in November next after completing training to its staff, he added.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Md Mohibul Haque, BSL acting Managing Director Mokabbir Hossain and other high officials were also present at the press briefing.

“Everything of the hotel has been changed except its walls and roof,” Mohibul Haque said at the briefing, adding that the total renovation cost was Taka 620 crore.

Previously, the hotel had 270 rooms, each of 26 square metres, a size not suitable for a five-star hotel. Hence, 270 rooms were made into 226 rooms with the size of minimum 40 square metres. Of them, 201 are premium or deluxe rooms, 10 deluxe suites, five superior suites, five diplomatic suites and five presidential suites.

“The room size of the hotel has been extended to 40 square metres from 26 alongside the meeting spaces as well,” said Mohibul Haque, who is also chairman of Bangladesh Services Limited (BSL) under the civil aviation and tourism ministry, the owner of the hotel.

At the renovated hotel, one ballroom can accommodate 1,000 people, double the previous capacity, he said.

There are five restaurants, including all-day dining with buffet, lobby cafe, club bar, pool bar and restaurant and specialty restaurant.

Other features include a temperature-controlled swimming pool, gymnasium, steam room, sauna and spa treatment rooms.

Since its inception in 1962, the 5-Star hotel has been known by many names such as ‘InterContinental Dhaka’, ‘Hotel Sheraton’ and ‘Ruposhi Bangla’. The hotel is now getting back its previous name ‘InterContinental Dhaka’.

Sheraton took responsibility of the hotel’s management of InterContinental Dhaka in 1987. In 2011, the hotel came to be known as ‘Ruposhi Bangla’ after Sheraton stopped operations and Bangladesh Services Limited (BSL) under Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism took over the administration.

Later, the British global hotel chain InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and BSL signed an agreement to manage the property for 30 years in 2013. The renovation work began in 2014.


risingbd/Dhaka/Sept 12, 2018/Noimuddin/AI