http://HIT2020.com Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- A steady flow of cars and guests endured traffic jams, gun emplacements and security checks last night as Mumbai's Taj Mahal and Trident hotels reopened less than a month after terrorists killed 63 guests and employees.
Diplomats, religious leaders and victims of the attacks attended prayers and services to remember those who died. Others came out of curiosity or to dine at the reopened restaurants, which were booked out for the whole evening. For some, including an Aeroflot flight crew that checked in at the Trident, it was simply business as usual.
``I was in Room 602 and the terrorists had rounded us up to use as a human shield,'' said Chennai-based K.R. Ramamoorthy, chairman of ING Vysya Bank Ltd., smiling in the lobby and recounting the night of the attack. ``I came today to attend the memorial service and am staying here.''
Terrorists carrying guns, grenades and explosives entered the luxury hotels on Nov. 26, killing, destroying and spraying bullets. Twenty-five days later, the 105-year-old Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and the Trident Hotel reopened their doors after working day and night to repair damage.
Outside the Taj, a traffic jam of arriving guests snarled the road near the Gateway of India as part of the street was blocked for security. Guests walked past a sandbagged bunker of soldiers to have their bags screened near the steps of the hotel, before passing though a metal detector to enter the lobby.
Inside, the marble-floored hall was packed following the memorial service for about 600 people. Many waited for tables at the restaurants. At the far end of the lobby, through a glass pane, a marble plaque was visible with the names of the 31 people killed during the 60-hour siege.
`Incredibly Moving'
``Today has been an incredibly moving day,'' Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group that runs the hotel, told reporters. ``The Taj has been reopened, after a massive concerted effort, in dedication to all those who lost their lives.''
The Taj, owned by Indian Hotels Co., the nation's second- biggest hotel chain, reopened the 268-room tower wing as well as seven restaurants. By 11 p.m. guests had checked in to about 71 of the rooms. Temporary walls hung with paintings covered the ground-floor passageway of shops and restaurants that had borne the brunt of the damage.
``If someone walked into the Taj for the first time today, they would never have guessed that the passageway looked like a war zone a few days back,'' said Pankaj Shah, a businessman from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, who came for dinner with his family of seven.
Two miles to the west, Paul A. Folmsbee, U.S. consul general, attended the reopening of the Trident with his wife Jaunita, who wore a salwar kameez, a traditional Indian dress.
American Deaths
``We are here to encourage normalcy,'' he said in the hotel's coffee shop. ``Once we came to know it was a terror attack we got in touch with all Americans in Mumbai and after the siege realized six Americans had lost their lives.''
The Trident, owned by EIH Ltd., part of India's Oberoi Group, opened its doors at 1 p.m. It had bookings for 100 of the 557 available rooms, Rattan Keswani, president of Trident Hotels said on Dec. 20.
``It was an emotional moment for all of us, I saw tears in people's eyes,'' said Maulana Syed Arther Ali, a priest invited to hold prayers at the Trident's memorial service. ``Those who attacked were politically motivated and we will not let them win.''
The Trident now has a metal barricade at the foot of the slope leading up to the hotel. Guests pass a sandbagged bunker with three armed police, a bag screening and a metal detector before entering the lobby, where more commandos are stationed.
Need for Security
``Everybody understands the need to have this kind of security,'' said Kanan Udeshi, communications manager at the Oberoi Group, India's biggest hotel chain.
The siege at the Trident and adjacent Oberoi hotels ended after two days, with 451 guests evacuated from the complex. The Oberoi may reopen in six to seven months, the company said.
India cut interest rates and promised to spend more money in the year ending March 31 after the attacks worsened investor confidence hurt by the economic slowdown. The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or Sensex, has gained 11 percent since National Security Guards killed the last terrorists inside the Taj on Nov. 29.
Investors and executives from overseas companies said the attacks won't discourage them.
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MUMBAI Hotel Oberoi Trident 27/11by temychdinych10,975 views
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