Grand Hotel (Kolkata)

2021-12-13T15:17:25Z

2409:4043:2C1C:15FC:AFA8:9AF2:BE8:9346: robot: Update article (please report if you notice any mistake or error in this edit)

{{EngvarB|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Other uses|Grand Hotel (disambiguation){{!}}Grand Hotel}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Oberoi Grand
| former_names = Grand Hotel
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| image = OberoiGrandHotelKolkata_gobeirne.jpg
| image_alt =
| image_size = 250px
| caption = The Oberoi Grand Hotel
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| owner = [[Oberoi Hotels & Resorts]]
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| location = [[Chowringhee]], Central Kolkata
| address = 15, [[Chowringhee Road]]
| location_town = [[Kolkata]]
| location_country = [[India]]
| coordinates = {{coord|22|33|40.42|N|88|20|56.46|E|display=title}}
| groundbreaking_date =
| start_date = Late 19th century
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The '''Grand Hotel''', now known as the '''Oberoi Grand''', is situated in the heart of [[Kolkata]] on [[Chowringhee Road]]. It is an elegant building of [[British India|British]] era and is a famous building in Kolkata. The hotel is owned by [[Oberoi Hotels|Oberoi chain of hotels]].

==History==

[[File:Grand Hotel Calcutta (c. 1903).jpg|thumb|Grand Hotel (Calcutta) in 1930s]]

The house was converted into a boarding house by Mrs. Annie Monk who later expanded her business to include Numbers 14, 15 and 17. 16 Chowringhee was occupied by a theatre owned and managed by [[Arathoon Stephen]], an [[Armenia]]n from [[Isfahan]]. When, in 1911, the theatre burned down, Stephen bought out Mrs. Monk and, over time, redeveloped the site into what now makes up the modern hotel.<ref name=denby>{{Cite book|last=Denby|first=Elaine|title=Grand Hotels: Reality and Illusion|publisher=Reaktion|date=April 2004|pages=197–198|isbn=9781861891211|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NhLyGME7734C&q=%22Great+Eastern+Hotel%22+%22Spence+Hotel%22&pg=PA197}}</ref> Built in an extravagant neoclassical style, the hotel soon became a popular spot amongst the English population of Calcutta. It was known, in particular, for its annual New Year party that, along with iced champagne and expensive gifts, involved the release of twelve piglets in the ballroom. Anyone who caught a piglet, could keep it.<ref name=denby/>

[[File:Street in front of the Grand Hotel, Calcutta - LIFE.jpg|thumb|Old [[Chowringhee Road]] in front of Grand Hotel (Calcutta)]]
[[File:Grand Hotel Ad.png|alt=Old Advertisement|thumb|Old Advertisement]]
In the 1930s, sometime after the death of Stephen, a typhoid epidemic in Calcutta resulted in the death of six people at the hotel. The drainage system at the hotel was suspected and it was closed in 1937. The property was leased by [[Mohan Singh Oberoi]] who reopened the hotel in 1939 and was able to buy the property outright in 1943.<ref name=denby/>

The hotel got a major lift during World War II when about 4000 soldiers were billeted there, and would party regularly. Events like the U.S. Marines' Ball at the hotel remind visitors of such times.

==Features==
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2021}}
The hotel features a large white building covering an entire block, colonnaded verandahs and balconies on the upper floors, projecting portico for the entire length of the block supported on paired columns with Ionic capitals, and stucco ornamentation in the facade.

==Awards==
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2021}}
*Top Hotels in India ... [[Zagat Survey]], Top International Hotels, Resorts and Spas 2005
*Best Business Hotel in Asia: Nominated ... International Business Asia and [[CNBC]]
*Best Hotel in the Five Star Deluxe Category in Eastern India ... Department of Tourism, [[Government of West Bengal]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:OberoiGrandHotelKolkataCourtyard gobeirne.jpg|The Interior Courtyard of Grand Hotel (Kolkata)
File:First Floor Lounge - Oberoi Grand - Kolkata 2013-05-23 8235.JPG|First Floor Lounge of Grand Hotel (Kolkata)
File:Ball Room - Oberoi Grand - Hotel - Kolkata 2014-05-23 4724-4726.TIF|Ball Room of Grand Hotel (Kolkata)
File:Ball Room Lobby - Oberoi Grand - Kolkata 2013-05-23 8045.JPG|Ball Room Lobby of Grand Hotel (Kolkata)
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata}}
*[https://www.oberoihotels.com/hotels-in-kolkata/ The Official site]

{{Kolkata topics}}

[[Category:Hotels in Kolkata]]
[[Category:The Oberoi Group]]

{{India-hotel-stub}}

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Grand Hotel (Kolkata)