By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Crowborough Hotel at Khyndailad, conceptualized way back in the 1980s, is expected to be commissioned by August next year.
Indicating this here on Thursday, the Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) chairman Ronnie V Lyngdoh informed that the lessee — Lessly Shylla — has sought help of an international firm — Novotel — to complete the building.
The hotel occupying 28,869 sq. ft. area has been leased out to Shylla – a coal trader from Jaintia Hills — on May 28, 2008 for 33 years.
According to Lyngdoh, the rooms of the proposed hotel were quite small and even the pillars were embedded in the walls and even the design was old which forced the lessee to bring the international firm to complete the project.
“We have told them that it will be the last extension and we will not give any more extension after this,” he added.
As per the lease agreement between the MTDC and Shylla, the private developer was to complete the project within one year. But the party has defaulted, following which extension was given by the Board till November, 2010 and then upto November, 2011, and now till August 2013.
He stated that major chunk of the proposed hotel is being re-modelled to make the hotel more attractive.
The 104-room hotel will have 8 economy rooms, 58 standard rooms, 30 deluxe rooms, 5 suites, 100 seater coffee shop, 80 seater specialty (Indian / Multi-cuisine) restaurant, 50 seater bar, 35 seater lounge, disco, banquet hall, convention facilities with state of the art seating and projection facilities, smaller meeting and committee rooms, guest amenities like beauty parlor, health club with fully equipped gym, steam, sauna and massage facilities besides other facilities.
As per the Expression of Interest (EOI) floated by IL&FS then, eight parties expressed their interest out of which four were shortlisted. Shylla being the highest bidder and who also fulfilled the criteria of the EOI was awarded the work.
