Crowborough hotel may finally open next year

SHILLONG: The wait has been long, but come next year and the Crowborough hotel may finally become a reality. By then, it would have been 34 years in the making. Sanbor Shullai, MLA and Chairman of the Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation, along with officials on Monday inspected the project to take stock of the progress of work.The project in-charge informed that the soft opening of the hotel will be done by July-August , 2020.The hotel will have 101 rooms with parking space for around 150 vehicles. A mock room has been constructed which was also inspected by the  MLA.The Crowborough has partnered with France-based Accor hotel group and Novotel. The internationally acclaimed brand will make its debut in the state capital. The hotel will also be able to provide jobs to 150 people as informed by the project in-charge. Shullai asked the project in-charge to employ locals as there are plenty of youth who are now trained to work in the hotel industry and to also give opportunity to local contractors to execute the work to promote self-employmentSpeaking to media persons after the inspection, Shullai said that this will be a five start hotel which will provide employment to many local youths.“ This is probably the biggest hotel in the world as it has taken  more than 30 years,” he quipped.He said that tender for the hotel was floated in  1986 but due to various issues, including litigation, the project was delayed.  The hotel was tipped to be Shillong’s first 5-star hotel, comprising eight economy rooms, 58 standard rooms, 30 deluxe rooms, five suites, a 100-seat coffee shop, 80-seat specialty (Indian/multi-cuisine) restaurant, 50-seat bar, 35-seat lounge, discotheque, banquet hall, convention facilities with state-of-the-art seating and projection facilities, smaller meeting and committee rooms, guest amenities like beauty parlour, health club with a fully equipped gym, steam, sauna and massage facilities.