Indian-owned Nepal hotel to reopen with Maoist push

South Asia News

Indian-owned Nepal hotel to reopen with Maoist push

Kathmandu, July 8 (IANS) A legendary Kathmandu hotel once associated with a Russian visionary and now owned by Indian businessman Radheshyam Saraf is to reopen after its closure in December - after a Maoist push.

The Yak and Yeti, which metamorphosed into a luxury hotel in the 1970s from a restaurant of the same name run by Boris Lissanevitch, a Russian ballet dancer, hunter and hotelier extraordinaire, closed down in December following heavy losses, capped by a dispute between the management and the employees union.

The premier hotel plans to reopen Aug 1 after the Maoist trade union played a major role in giving it a helping hand.

The hotel has played host to former Indian prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Spain's King Carlos, Hollywood superstar Ingrid Bergman and several international celebrities.

Earlier, the management signed an agreement with the authorised union to reopen the hotel in March but the pact could not be put into action due to political upheaval in the country and falling tourism.

When the royal regime fell in April, the new government of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala took up the issue and asked the hotel to reopen. But the hotel remained closed.

With the new government calling a truce with Maoist guerrillas and the latter coming overground, their once-banned trade union began flexing their muscles in Kathmandu and wanted to enter into negotiations.

A fresh agreement was finally effected last month resulting in the Maoist union lending a helping hand in reopening the hotel.

One of the two approach roads to the hotel was recently walled off by a Nepali company in the neighbourhood, the Nepal Industrial Development Corp, claiming the land belonged to it.

'The road was crucial for operating the hotel,' the hotel's corporate affairs president told the state media. 'Though we agreed to pay rent for using the road, the corporation rejected our request.'

However, following an increase in the Maoist clout in the capital, the rebel union engineered the demolition of the wall.

With the last bottleneck gone, the hotel plans to reopen Aug 1, though on a smaller scale.

In the beginning, only 50 percent of the rooms would be operational and trimmings like the health club would remain suspended.

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Indian-owned Nepal hotel to reopen with Maoist push