Luxury hotel attacked by terrorists welcomes first guests on Indian independence day after £24m restoration Mumbai’s Taj Mahal hotel, which suffered extensive damage from the 2008 militant attacks in which guests and staff died, will reopen this weekend after a £24m refurbishment. The hotel was one of several Mumbai landmarks attacked by Pakistan-based militants in an assault that lasted over 60 hours, killing 166 people. Standing on the grand cantilever stairway today, staff members cheered and tossed rose petals in the air after chairman Ratan Tata garlanded a bust of the founder of the Tata Group, the Indian conglomerate that owns the luxury Taj hotels. “This flagship property, this venerable Old Lady, is going to reopen in the same glory, the same splendour of more than 100 years,” Tata said, his voice cracking. The hotel is due to reopen on Sunday, India’s independence day. Tata had vowed to “rebuild every inch” of the hotel, founded in 1903, and which has played host to maharajas, heads of state, chief executives, movie stars and entertainers alike. Architects, designers and restoration experts from India and around the world spent more than 21 months assessing the damage, then restoring the hotel, said Raymond Bickson, managing director of Taj Hotels. “It was a cast of thousands that undertook the extensive restoration and sensitive restoration of the hotel, staying true to the original design and spirit,” he said. Founder Jamsetji Tata originally shopped for the hotel in London, Dusseldorf, Berlin and Paris, ordering 10 spun iron pillars that he saw at the Eiffel Tower opening exhibition for the hotel ballroom, now redone in tonnes of gold. The hotel, which combines oriental, Florentine and Moorish architectural styles in its vaulted alabaster ceilings, graceful archways and marble floors, houses modern and contemporary Indian art, and now, modern security systems too. The palace wing, built on reclaimed land overlooking the Arabian Sea, is a prime example of Indo-Sarcenic architecture, with cupolas and a dominant dome, which during the 60-hour siege was engulfed in flames and thick smoke from grenades. The company spent some 1.8bn rupees on repair and restoration, Bickson said, and lost more than that in the time the hotel was shut for business

Original Source Taj Mahal hotel to reopen two years after Mumbai attacks