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ITC Hotel Sonar Bangla Sheraton & Towers Kolkata, India
We've got eco-resorts, business hotels, country retreats, hip urban resting places—you name it. What once was the humble hotel is now a huge hospitality industry, with a hundred different niche markets. So when I was told about a "business resort" in Kolkata (Calcutta) that had opened on New Year's Eve of 2002, I didn't bat an eyelid at the term. After all, people have always combined business with pleasure, haven't they?
Yes, but perhaps not in quite such spectacular style. For the Sonar Bangla Sheraton & Towers, the latest offering from that mega-giant of Indian hoteliering, ITC Hotels Ltd, caters to both business-person and tourist in a state-of-the-art kind of way. Set over 16 acres (6.5 hectares) of land roughly half-way between the city center and the airport, the hotel is an awesome construction. First impressions are of dramatic high ceilings, natural light filtering in from all sides, long internal views and water everywhere; there's a minimal design ethos that never seems empty or sterile. Quite the opposite in fact. As all the rooms, both public and private, are huge, there is a wonderfully spacious, airy feeling throughout—clean and deceptively simple, with a mix of quality artworks, luxurious furniture and small, carefully chosen design pieces.
ITC prides itself on pioneering the concept of "the hotel within a hotel" and at Sonar Bangla, all public spaces are contained within one block, while the rooms are housed separately. This is an inspired idea: the atmosphere in the dramatic, high-ceilinged lobby or in the lounges, bars and restaurants—areas which form the activity hub of the hotel—is buzzy and informal, with a type of European or American luxury pervading throughout. But walk across the lawns or waterways to one of the residential blocks, and immediately all is quiet, calm and serene. Giving the buildings a sense of connection and cohesion is an impressive 120-meter (400-foot) watercourse (right and below) that runs the full length of the hotel—apparently the largest in any hotel in India. Courtyards and colonnades provide breathing space, while brick or wooden screens allow for the dramatic throw of shadow and light.
The rooms (overleaf) are sexy, soft and very easy on the eye. You feel pampered as soon as the door clicks behind you, as there is space and light everywhere, fabrics are luxurious', tones are restful and mod-cons plentiful. Whether you've endured a day of meetings or enjoyed time out at the spa, they are welcoming and super-comfortable. There's a massage chair to soothe sore muscles, huge flatscreen TV and (in some of the higher-end rooms) a giant TV at the end of the tub. If you are watching television and the phone rings, as soon as you pick up the receiver, the volume on the TV turns to mute. Very New York, I thought.
Other thoughtful touches include Japanese fan coil units for silent air cooling, blackout curtains (a boon for the jetlagged) and glass screens separating the bathroom from the living/bedroom. Such are the gizmos of the hotel. The nuts and bolts are equally impressive. There's a chip-and-putt golf course, a massive spa, near Olympic-length swimming pool, tennis courts, jogging track, bars, lounges, seven restaurants and fully digitalized business facilities. Service is efficient, but kind too. And everywhere you go, the design is city-slick and cool.
Singapore-based architect Kerry Hill was the creative force behind the Sonar Bangla. In much of his work, context provides the focus for content, and the Sonar Bangla is no exception. "We took inspiration from the louvers, trellises and shutters in Calcutta's architecture whilst formulating the hotel," he says. "And also the rivers and surrounding water bodies. In the beginning, there was quite a division of ideas between the client and myself, but over the five years it took to plan and construct the hotel, we came closer and closer together. By the end, we were in agreement on most things; I believe ITC is happy with the result."
"Absolutely," confirms general manager, Ranvir Bhandari, "We have created a product that truly reflects the sprit of Bengal." Bhandari points out that many have compared the hotel to the quintessential baganbaari or riverside country house of Bengal's landowners of old. Although there is clearly a lapse of scale in such a comparison, there is a connection to place throughout. For example, art consultant Ina Puri selected a varied and exciting collection of paintings by both old and young artists from Calcutta to grace the hotel's walls and the huge statues in the lobby are copies from Calcuta's Indian Museum. Horticulturalist Suhash Joshi based the landscaping around the plants of east India, collecting many rare specimens and types of bamboo to accompany the water features. And on the culinary front, Master Chef Imtiaz Quereshi, whose ancestors set up the famous Royal Hotel in Calcutta decades ago, has dug out recipes from memory to make sure authentic Bengali food is served in some of the seven restaurants.
Sonar Bangla has a strong modernity that allows it to look to the future whilst still paying homage to the past. It prides itself as a showcase for Bengal and is giving its all to live up to its name (sonar translates as "golden"), Does it exemplify 1he Indian hotel of the future? Watch this space.
1 JBS Halden Avenue, Opp Science City, Kolkata 700 046, India
tel: +91 33 2345 4545 fax: +91 33 2345 4455
email: [email protected]
Ananda—in the Himalayas Tehri Garhwai, India
Ananda hovers, as if in a bubble, high in the Himalayas overlooking the eternal Mother Ganga and the pilgrimage site of Rishikesh. On a clear day you can see the mighty river and the small ashram town far below, but when the cloud comes into the valley, the only sight is of the pristine ochre Ananda buildings bathed in sunlight and caressed with rarefied air. Isolated and serene, it pulses with an energy, yet soothes with quiet and cool. One guest described it as "almost surreal," straddling as it does both the real world (rooms, restaurant, spa) and the ethereal (maharajah's palaces, holy sages, forested mountains, and clear, pollution-free mountain air).
The Ananda experience begins at Haridwar Railway Station or Dehra Dun Airport, where you are picked up by chauffeured jeep. A cassette tape playing devotional music interspersed with information about the resort sets the tone. Crossing the River Ganges, the jeep begins the climb up some 1,000 meters (1,200 yards) through forested hillside to the 100-acre (40-hectare) estate of the maharajah of Tehri-Garhwal. Vultures on blasted trees stare unblinking out to air, eagles lazily circle on the thermals and ubiquitous monkeys scamper from tree to tree. The dense sal forest is home to tigers as well, I'm told.
Crested gates swing open when you reach the top; past the façade of the maharajah's original 19th century palace (right) and on to the Viceregal Lodge he built in 1911 as a guesthouse for the British viceroy (a visit that ironically never occurred). This is the Ananda reception, where all is orderly, calm and soothing. A duo of musicians flanked by Bijapuri arches play on the terrace, and the reception hall where you check in is resplendent with ancestral portraits, black-and-white photographs of past British rulers, including ones signed by Queen Elizabeth in 1937 and Lord and Lady Mountbatten, art deco furniture, drapes and Venetian crystal chandeliers. The welcome is. genuine.
Formalities over, it is from here a short buggy ride along a ridge past the music pavilion, sunset viewing point, squash court, mini golf course and spa to the residential block, A modern structure, it is built over five floors and hugs the edge of the promontory, seeming to float above the valley In a series of tiered steps. Each luxurious room has a balcony—with views either over the valley or back to the maharajah's palace, which looks especially dramatic when lit up at night.
Even though Ananda describes itself as a lifestyle destination spa—which it certainly is—this is definitely