2.2 billion rupees invested, 40 percent work completed
What you should know
The first five-star hotel in the Far Western Province is about to be built in Dhangadhi. With preparations to bring it fully operational within the next 18 months, a hotel operation agreement was signed between Holiday Inn by IHG Management and Dhangadhi-based Club Chaulani Limited at a program organized in Kathmandu on Monday.
At a ceremony organized at the Hotel Holy Day Inn Resort in Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu, the Chairman of Club Chaulani Limited, Dr. Rajendra KC, and Sudeep Jain, Managing Director of South Asia of Holiday Inn by HG Hotels and Resorts, signed the agreement.
With this, the first five-star hotel of an international chain is going to be built in the Far West. Jain said that Holy Day Inn is a chain hotel with a network all over the world. The hotel is going to be built in the same place as Club Chaulani in the main market area of Dhagadhi and 40 percent of the work has been completed, said Mansingh Saund, the operator of Club Chaulani and the hotel's managing director.
Although preparations are underway to bring 35 rooms into operation within two months, Saund says that the five-star hotel will be fully operational in the next 18 months. An investment of Rs 2.2 billion is going to be made in the construction of the hotel. The operators have said that 65 percent, or Rs 1.43 billion, will be invested by bank loans and Rs 770 million by the promoters.
The hotel will have 115 rooms of international standards. Among them, there will be 5 premium suite rooms. The hotel, which is to be built on 18,500 square feet, will have a casino, a 700-capacity banquet hall, a rooftop swimming pool, a multi-cuisine restaurant, a state-of-the-art fitness center and meeting rooms, said Managing Director Saund.
Despite the negative message sent to the international community after the arson attack in the hotel area during the Genji movement, another operator of Club Chaulani, Deepak Pandey, said that Sudurpaschim, which does not have a single five-star hotel, saw an opportunity to operate a five-star hotel. ‘We have taken a risk,’ said Pandey, ‘but we have also seen immense potential. Sudurpaschim itself is an area with immense heritage for tourism. Badimalika, Khaptad, Ramaroshan, Shuklaphanta are in Sudurpaschim. A large population of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in India is also connected to it.’
He said that the five-star hotel to be established in Dhangadhi will be an important bridge to attract Indian tourists. "Around 1,500 people will get direct employment, including the casino," he said. Pushkar Ojha, president of the Kailali Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says that the operation of a five-star hotel to be built in the Far West, which could be a hub for spiritual tourism, will provide international-level hospitality and attract tourists, which will be an important dimension for the economic development of the province.
