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Staff at the Taj ready the lobby for Christmas (above) while doormen at the Trident welcome guests (below) Trident pic/ Bipin Kokate | Open after 26/11, rooms, restaurants get an encouraging flow of inquiries and occupancies
As the Taj and Trident reopen today, a slow but encouraging flow of enquires and bookings have started pouring in. If 105 of the 550 rooms plus suites at the Trident will be occupied on day one, the Taj's Tower wing will play host to 150 in-house guests, plus other diners.
"The Taj Palace and Oberoi were popular among tourists. But since the two hotels continue to remain closed, bookings will be lesser," said travel expert Ashwini Kakkar. Upon opening today, the two hotels will offer a total of 808 rooms to guests.
Trident has 105 of its total room capacity pre-booked and payments done. The Taj Tower, in the absence of the Palace section, will have about 90 rooms occupied.
In table reservations, Trident has an 80 per cent pre-booking at its three restaurants the Opium Den, Frangipani and India Jones. Of the five restaurants in the Taj Tower wing, three Masala Kraft, Shamiana (already full) and Starboard will open for diners today. The Taj restaurants bookings are full up.
"The Taj Lands End in Bandra, which has been taking bookings for Taj Mahal Tower, has been flooded with inquiries. Not all queries have been for the first day. Actual bookings will be only in mid-January," a spokesperson said. He added that 80 per cent of guest's checking-in at the Taj would be Indians since the general trend was that foreigners preferred to head to Goa or Kerala.
Rattan Keswani, president, Trident Hotels admitted that the hotel had faced reasonably heavy cancellations following the terror attacks. "Cancellations have been in the range of 30 to 35 per cent," he said. To ensure a better season ahead, Trident is initiating talks with its stakeholders. "We are working towards weaving out special packages for our guests," Keswani said. The Trident president informed that there would be no big celebrations for Christmas and New Year. "We intend restricting celebrations to a special menu at the restaurants," he said.
Stepping up security
Post the terror attacks, both the hotels have decided to step up security like armed guards, sniffer dogs, x-ray machines and metal detectors at the entrance. Trident and Oberoi together employ 3,585 people in three shifts.
Trident says no to Pak nationals
The Trident hotel, which is to reopen today after last month's terror siege, said it would not entertain any Pakistani national in its luxury establishment.
"Even you must have heard that government of India has made it clear that no Pakistani arrival should be allowed (in hotels)," Trident hotel's President Rattan Keswani said. All guests of other countries would be allowed in the hotel, he added. Keswani said "The hotel was not closing any reservation channel because of the terror attack. All our reservation systems will be back as they always were."
"We need to be careful in trying to find out the identification of an individual, where the person comes from and keep a record of the same," he said. There were no Pakistani employees in its establishment, Keswani added. | 
