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{{Use British English|date=April 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2013}}
{{Infobox hotel
| hotel_name = The LaLiT Great Eastern Hotel
| image = Great Eastern Entry.jpg
| caption = The LaLiT Great Eastern Hotel, Entrance
| location = [[B.B.D. Bagh]], [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| coordinates =
| opening_date = 1840 (closed 2005) Reopened 19 Nov 2013
| developer =
| architect =
| operator =
| owner = The LaLiT Hotels
| number_of_restaurants = 5
| number_of_rooms =
| number_of_suites =
| floor_area =
| floors =
| parking =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}

The '''Great Eastern Hotel''' (officially '''The LaLiT Great Eastern Kolkata''') is a colonial era hotel in the [[India]]n city of [[Kolkata]] (formerly Calcutta). The hotel was established in 1840 or 1841; at a time when Calcutta, the seat of the [[East India Company]], was the most important city in India. Referred to as "the Jewel of the East" in its heyday, Great Eastern Hotel hosted several notable persons visiting the city. After India's independence in 1947, the hotel continued its business and later the state government took over the management. In 2005 it was sold to a private company and was reopened in November 2013 after an extensive renovation.

==History==

[[File:Great-eastern-hotel.jpg|right|thumb|The Great Eastern Hotel (Calcutta) in 1865]]

The British brought modern hotels to Kolkata. The oldest was [[Spence's Hotel|John Spence's Hotel]]. Spence's, the first ever hotel in Asia was opened to the public in 1830. The Great Eastern Hotel was established in 1840 or 1841 by [[David Wilson (Calcutta)|David Wilson]] as the Auckland Hotel, named after [[George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland]], then Governor General of India.<ref name=frontline>{{Cite journal|last= Chattopadhyay |first=Suhrid Sankar|journal=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]|date=13 August 2005|volume=22|issue=17|accessdate=11 April 2013|url=http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2217/stories/20050826001608400.htm| title=Hotel with a history}}</ref> Prior to opening the hotel, Wilson ran a bakery at the same site.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Massey|first=Montague|title=Recollections of Calcutta over Half a Century|page=69|year=1918}}</ref> The hotel opened with 100 rooms and a department store on the ground floor (Spence's Hotel, established in 1830 but no longer in existence, is considered to be the first major hotel in Calcutta).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Denby|first=Elaine|title=Grand Hotels: Reality and Illusion|publisher=Reaktion|date=April 2004|page=197|isbn=9781861891211|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NhLyGME7734C&q=%22Great+Eastern+Hotel%22+%22Spence+Hotel%22&pg=PA197}}</ref> The Auckland was expanded in the 1860s and its managing company renamed from D. Wilson and Co. to Great Eastern Hotel Wine and General Purveying Co. It was also amongst the first to have an Indian on its board of directors, in 1859.<ref name=frontline/> It became the Great Eastern Hotel in 1915.<ref name=dna>{{Cite news|last1=Mookerjee|first1=Madhumita|last2=Chaudhuri|first2=Sumanta Ray|work=DNA|date=20 November 2005|accessdate=11 April 2013|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/10591/report-end-of-an-era-great-eastern-changes-hands | title= End of an era: Great Eastern changes hands}}</ref> In 1883 the premises of the hotel were electrified, thus probably becoming the first hotel in [[India]], to be illuminated by electricity.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Chattopadhyay|first1=Suhrid Shankar|title=Hotel with a History|url=http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2217/stories/20050826001608400.htm|accessdate=20 May 2016|volume=22|issue=17|publisher=Frontline|date=13 August 2005}}</ref>

[[File:Greta eastern hotel calcutta old image 1870.jpg|thumb|Another image, taken between 1850 and 1870]]

During its heyday, the hotel was known variously as the "Jewel of the East"<ref name=frontline/> and the "Savoy of the East"<ref name=dna/> and was prosaically described by [[Rudyard Kipling|Kipling]] in his short story ''City of Dreadful Night''.<ref name=frontline/> It was said of the hotel in 1883 that "a man could walk in at one end, buy a complete outfit, a wedding present, or seeds for the garden, have an excellent meal, a burra peg (double) and if the barmaid was agreeable, walk out at the other end engaged to be married".<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Dasgupta|first1=Minakshie|last2=Gupta|first2=Bunny|last3=Chaliha|first3=Aya|title=Calcutta Cookbook: A Treasury of Recipes from Pavement to Place|date=March 1995|publisher=Penguin Books|page=158|isbn=9780140469721|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=btECzLTe6kMC&q=%22Great+Eastern+Hotel%22&pg=PA158}}</ref> The hotel has housed many famous personalities including [[Nikita Khrushchev]] and [[Nikolai Bulganin]],<ref name=dna/> [[Elizabeth II]],<ref name=frontline/> [[Mark Twain]],<ref name=dna/> [[Dave Brubeck]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Crist|first=Steven A.|journal=Journal of Musicology|volume=26|issue=2|date=Spring 2009|pages=133–174|jstor=10.1525/jm.2009.26.2.133| title=Deff Brubeck and Cold War politics|doi=10.1525/jm.2009.26.2.133}}</ref> and possibly [[Ho Chi Minh]].<ref name=frontline/> The management of the hotel was taken over by the state government in the 1970's and continued operations for over 30 years.<ref name=frontline/> The state sold it to the private group The LaLiT Hotels, Palaces and Resorts in 2005.<ref name=dna/> Until its closure for restoration in 2005, the hotel was the longest continuously operating hotel in Asia.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dutta|first=Indrani|title=Great Eastern Hotel set for re-launch|newspaper=The Hindu|date=20 November 2012|accessdate=11 April 2013|url=http://www.thehindu.com/business/companies/great-eastern-hotel-set-for-relaunch/article4112459.ece}}</ref>

[[File:Great Eastern Hotel Kolkata (4).jpg|thumb|Renovation going on after it was taken over by LaLiT]]

The hotel remained closed for a number of years for extensive renovations. It reopened with a soft launch as The LaLiT Great Eastern Hotel on 19 November 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title=Revamped, renamed, Kolkata's Great Eastern Hotel returns Nov 19|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/revamped-renamed-kolkatas-great-eastern-hotel-returns-nov-19/1159807/|accessdate=4 October 2013|newspaper=Indian Express|date=25 August 2013}}</ref> The building is registered as a heritage structure and the renovations maintained essential features of the building, such as its facade and the grand staircase.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Pandey|first=Jhimli Mukherjee|date=17 May 2012|accessdate=11 April 2013|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-05-17/kolkata/31748802_1_staircase-new-hotel-building|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413231434/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-05-17/kolkata/31748802_1_staircase-new-hotel-building|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 April 2013|work=[[The Times of India]]| title= Swanky new Great Eastern may be thrown open by year-end}}</ref> The hotel has been divided into three parts - Heritage I, Heritage II and New Block.<ref name=ttganesha>{{cite news|title=Mamata's Ganesha unveils new-look Great Eastern|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1131120/jsp/calcutta/story_17590948.jsp#.UozkKMRkNzs|accessdate=20 November 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=20 November 2013}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:The Lalit Great Eastern Hotel.jpg|View of The LaLiT Great Eastern Hotel (Kolkata) from Hemanta Basu Sarani
File:Lalit Great Eastern at Night.jpg|The LaLiT Great Eastern Hotel (Kolkata) Night View
File:Great Eastern Loby.jpg|The LaLiT Great Eastern Hotel (Kolkata), Lobby
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist|33em}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Great Eastern Hotel (Kolkata)}}
*[http://www.thelalit.com/the-lalit-great-eastern-kolkata/ The LaLiT Great Eastern Kolkata official page]

{{coord|22.5684|88.3495|type:landmark_region:IN|display=title}}

[[Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1841]]
[[Category:Hotels in Kolkata]]

Great Eastern Hotel (Kolkata) - Revision history

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