InterContinental Dhaka

InterContinental Dhaka

The hotel seen in 2006
Former names Hotel Inter-Continental Dacca
Dhaka Sheraton
Ruposhi Bangla
General information
Status Under renovation
Type Hotel
Location 1 Minto Road, Ramna, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Opening 1966

The InterContinental Dhaka is a prominent luxury hotel in Ramna in central Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was the first international five star hotel in the country and opened in 1966, as the Inter-Continental Dacca when the city, (then known as Dacca) was the capital of East Pakistan. Its architect was William B. Tabler.[1]

The hotel played host to many important political events in the run up to the independence of Bangladesh, including negotiations on the transfer of power after the 1970 elections. During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, it was declared a neutral zone by the International Red Cross.[2] Many buildings in its surrounding neighborhoods were targeted by the Pakistani military, including newspaper offices and university halls.[3]

The InterContinental Hotels Group continued to operate the hotel until 1983, when it was taken over by Sheraton, becoming the Sheraton Dhaka Hotel. In 2011, Sheraton announced that it would end its contract with the Bangladeshi government to manage the hotel, which was renamed the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel.[4] In 2013, it was announced that ICHG would return to Dhaka and undertake a major renovation of the hotel, which is scheduled to reopen in 2016 as the InterContinental Dhaka.[5]

The vicinity of the hotel includes the Shahbag roundabout, the Suhrawardy Udyan, Ramna Park, the Dhaka Club, the University of Dhaka, BSMMU, BIRDEM Hospital, the Bangladesh National Museum and official state guest houses.

References

  1. "InterContinental Hotel Corporation Digital Archives". Neal Prince, AIA, ASID.
  2. H.D.S. Greenway. "The War Hotels: Bangladesh". GlobalPost.
  3. Ahmed, Anis (3 October 2014). "Hotel InterContinental : Memories abound as Inter Continental returns to Bangladesh". The Daily Observer (Dhaka).
  4. "InterContinental returning to Dhaka". newstoday.com.bd.
  5. "Ruposhi Bangla ends operation". The Independent (Dhaka). 2 September 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.

Coordinates: 23°44′28″N 90°23′47″E / 23.7410°N 90.3965°E / 23.7410; 90.3965

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