Designed by the Indian architect company Studio Symbiosis, as the sun's rays fell on the glass of the Hilton, designed by the Indian architect company Studio Symbiosis, the colorful flags of the Buddhist monasteries reflecting the Nepali culture and the view of the mountains reflected the changing colors.
The private Gharana Shankar Group was running a large business conglomerate of 40 different brands including Mining, Cement, Steel, Real Estate, Hydro, Synthetics, Textiles, Auto, etc. for 45 years.
When Shankar Group, which employs around 15,000 people, launched the premium hotel Hilton in Naxal last year with an investment of Rs 8.5 billion, this business house reached the peak of discussion in the tourism sector. The arrival of Hilton has taken Nepal's hospitality industry to the next level.
When rumors spread that Jayveer, son of former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, also had an 'investment' in Hilton, it pushed Hilton's positive brand reputation, which was at its peak, into disrepute.
This 'uproar' spread through social media and other media online, not only Hilton, but Nepal's tourism industry was devastated in 72 hours. In other words, the next day of the Jen-G movement, on August 24, the flames of the fire that the protestors threw at the Hilton Hotel spread from the ground floor to the 17th floor, and it took almost three days to bring it under complete control.
After J-G's agitation, demonstrations and looting did not only turn the business dreams of Shankar Group into ashes, but the bright future of Nepal's tourism industry and tourism market was covered with black smoke. An earthquake has occurred in Nepal's tourism market after the death of an Indian pilgrim who came to see Pashupati Darshan at this hotel, armed robbers attempted to attack the crew of Hong Kong's Cathay Airlines who were guests in the same hotel room.
Shankar Lal Agarwal, chairman of Shankar Group, who made Hilton's dream a reality out of a tragic situation in Nepal, is shocked after J-G's protest against corruption after the KP Sharma Oli government shut down social media.
President Agarwal, who is out of Nepal for treatment, is saddened by the arson incident in the hotel which was set up to fulfill the dream of 'bringing more and more lakhs of tourists' to Nepal's tourism industry.
Let the atmosphere be calm. We will bring a foreign expert to conduct a detailed technical study of the hotel," Chairman Agarwal, who said that he was in the hospital for the operation, said in a conversation with Kantipur on Friday afternoon, "The technician gave a report that it can be operated after repair. If we have to demolish it, we will set up another Hilton in Naxal within a few years.
Many years ago, he said that he had made a design that he liked in Singapore and had it installed in the Hilton. I can't remember exactly which brand it was, but I took a photo and brought it. It was designed by an architect company in Thailand 11 years ago by placing it on the map, he said. According to
online, Hilton is the sixth largest hotel chain in the world. In 1919, American citizen Conrad Hilton opened the first Hilton hotel in America. Currently, Hilton is managing more than 7,000 hotels-resorts from luxury to budget in more than 100 countries of the world.
President Agarwal said that Hilton's design has also won an award in a hotel built by Shankar Group in Nepal. "The design we built was awarded by Hilton as the best hotel in its network," he said.
When constructing the Hilton, the project was designed by the well-known Studio Symbiosis in London, Delhi and Mumbai, and the Nepali architect Divesh Bhattarai, who was involved in the project, referred to Kantipur.
According to architect Bhattarai, who is also involved in the reconstruction of Singha Darbar after the earthquake, Studio Symbiosis is the company of famous Indian designer Amit Gupta. This is the same Amit, who is an architect associated with many projects of famous British architect Zaha Hadid.
The work of Zaha, the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize, which is considered the Nobel Prize for architecture in 2004, has spread from the London Olympics to Beijing Airport. Amit, associated with architect Jaha, had a view of Nepal's mountains at the Hilton. Nepalese hospitality was combined with world-class hospitality.
The construction of this project started in 2016 and was completed in July 2024. A foreign architect designed the project inspired by Nepali culture. "The design of the hotel was inspired by prayer flags popular in Buddhist, Swayambhu and other places in Kathmandu," architect Bhattarai said. The 'vertical fins' were made of flag-shaped laminated dichroic glass, where the angle of the sunlight during the day, the fins cast a colorful aura into the surrounding environment. At night, when the lights were lit from below, the light spread upwards and the cultural beauty of Nepal was reflected in the skyline of Kathmandu.' Purushottam Dangol and other Nepalese engineers were also associated with Amit from the initial concept of the building to the passing of the map and bringing it into operation.
Engineer Dangol said that he was directly involved in the design of the Hilton Hotel. "I joined Shankar Group as soon as I saw the conceptual design of Hilton," said Dangol, a seismologist and managing director of ER Tech Company, "Hilton's design and construction was a landmark for Nepal." Construction of the Hilton was started after the earthquake. Engineers built it keeping in mind the earthquake-prone area and using modern seismic control equipment. Kathmandu, including the area where the hotel is located, is in a very dangerous earthquake zone. After studying all these issues in a serious manner, the building was made safe from earthquake damage using modern technology.
Hilton Hotel is the first commercial building built using dampers in Nepal, Dangol said. "In Hilton, American company dampers and servals were kept up to the top. It is considered a modern earthquake-resistant technology. The use of these technologies makes the building safe against earthquakes. Serwals are strong vertical walls built inside buildings. "There was a lot of space inside this building because of the serwall. Otherwise a big pillar should have been placed. Which takes up a lot of floor space.'
Hilton's building also includes foreign engineers and technicians. Dangol said that based on the knowledge of both Nepali and foreigners, Serwal and Damper were used in Hilton. "This technology gave a message to the engineering world outside Nepal that safe and durable buildings are being built in Nepal," Dangol said.
The hotel was built on 3157 square meters in the area of 19 thousand 351 square meters of land. Including the two underground floors, it had 19 floors. There were more than 180 rooms here. There were also 5 specialty bars and restaurants. The interior decoration of the
hotel was designed by PIA of Thailand in a style reminiscent of Nepali Dhaka. Bhattarai says that 80 percent of the total investment in the hotel is in construction. Chairman Agarwal claims that only the glass visible on the outside of the hotel is worth Rs 40 to 50 crores.
Agarwal says that in one year when Hilton has been in operation, it has done around 700 million transactions. More than 200 people were employed here. Of the total cost, 5 billion 25 crores was the bank's investment. Last year, we paid 15-20 crores in tax," said President Agarwal.
Director General of Tourism Department Narayan Regmi said that Hilton Nepal has a new dimension in tourism. “This was not just a hotel but a model of modern luxury. Environmentally friendly practices were adopted there. The operation of Hilton started a new chapter in the tourism of Nepal.' President Agarwal said that the rumor spread about the
investment was the main reason behind the attack on the hotel. Have some peace. we speak Our hotel became a target due to the rumor spread by linking the name of Sher Bahadur Deuba's son. I challenge, if anyone proves that they have shares in Hilton, I will give all the shares to the government.'
Sahil Agarwal, Managing Director of Hilton, said that it will take a few weeks to get the report as the study is being done on how much damage has been done to the hotel due to fire. A Nepali architect and engineer called the damage in Hilton a big loss in Nepal's architecture sector.
"Hilton was the next jump for architects in Nepal," said Bhattarai, a senior architect involved in the reconstruction of Singha Durbar, "Hilton was an example of showing that engineers and architects living in Nepal can do good work."
