An iconic Mumbai five-star hotel severely damaged in the 2008 terror attacks fully reopened yesterday with hundreds of people thronging its newly renovated lobbies and restaurants.
The 107-year-old Taj Mahal hotel was one of the main targets of the three-day rampage across India’s financial capital by 10 young men armed with assault rifles and grenades. Its famous dome was singed by flames and its walls and windows were shattered and pocked with gunfire.
The 60-hour siege, which also targeted another luxury hotel, a Jewish center, a popular restaurant and the city’s main train station, left 166 people dead across the city, 31 of them at the Taj Hotel.
The damage to the hotel’s heritage wing took more than 22 months to repair and cost about 1.75 billion rupees (US$37 million). A newer wing of the hotel opened for business just three weeks after the attacks.
The heritage wing, which opened yesterday to coincide with India’s 64th Independence Day, has 285 rooms with prices that start at US$625 a night.
The hotel has also revamped its security arrangements.
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