I just read this in the news. Daily Times has reported the inauguration of The Centaurus, Pakistan’s first seven-star hotel project, in Islamabad.
I am left wondering what are these people thinking? Can Pakistan afford, and sustain, a 7-star hotel? Do we really need one? And what is a 7-star hotel, after all? We can barely maintain a decent 2 or 3 star hotel in our major cities. Are we now competing with Dubai for architectural grandiosity? And whoever came up with the name should probably look for a job in Hollywood…
ISLAMABAD: The Centaurus, Pakistan’s first seven-star hotel project, was inaugurated on Thursday. The $350 million complex is planned to have a 37-storey deluxe hotel, with two 21-storey residential towers, a 25-storey corporate office complex, and a 5-storey shopping mall. The complex will have a parking lot that would accommodate over 2,000 vehicles. The project will be completed in three years… The Pak Gulf Construction Private Limited company (PGCL) and Messrs Atkins engineering company – the constructors of Dubai’s renowned Burj Al Arab – are executing the project. Saudi Arabian Al-Tamimi Group and the Sardar Group of Companies are making the investment….
President General Pervez Musharraf on Thursday said it was “the right time to invest in Pakistan� because of the country’s positive economic policies of de-regulation, liberalisation and privatisation coupled with a liberal foreign exchange regimen. “We have opened all sectors of the economy for investment and the scourge of red-tapism and bureaucratic delays are being done away with,� said the president at the foundation-laying ceremony of The Centaurus.
“All of us Pakistanis are always interested in India their movies, their call centers, their music, their cricket”
Actually, believe it or not, I am not at all interested in Indian movies and music. And I don’t think I read news articles about India more carefully than about other countries. I hate Indian movies but before you call me hateful, I hate Pakistani movies as well.
Also, I wasn’t trying to be a smart alec by asking this question.
On the hotel. Bilal raised some interesting questions which also made me think, but overall I also say, well why not. Is this the most important thing Pakistan needs, probably not. But its not as if there is anything wrong with it either. If the investors think they can make money on this, then good for them. My real surprise is that there is even such a thing is a 7-star. There is only one real 5-star in Islamabad (and I think in Pakistan), that’s the Sarena. Marriot is technially a 4-star. So, what is it that makes a 7-star a 7-star. I guess we will find out ;-)
Eidee Man, I hope I misread the sarcasm in that last sentence. Why does it matter to you that Jyoti is interested in Pakistan. All of us Pakistanis are always interested in India (their movies, their call centers, their music, their cricket) so why not the other way round. I hope you were being playful in your comment, otherwise it may seem rude.
Jyoti, I at least welcome your and other Indian’s interest in Pakistan. As long as there is no malice, plesae stay interested.
Jyoti,
so India does not have 100 times more projects like this going on? As I stated twice before, I’m not against this project.
You do seem to take a lot of interest in Pakistani affairs.
WEIRD comments people. If someone has money and wants to open a business, thats their problem!!! If you dont like it, instead of spending your money there, give it all to the earthquake fund then. You want Pakistan to stay backwards, so you can go to other countrries and spend your money there? No wonder why people arent investing in pakistan as much as we need it. This is a SHOPPING MALL, OFFICE BUILDING, REVOLVING RESTAURANT, APARTMENTS, not just a HOTEL, so chillax, we need 100’s more of these things going on in Pakistan.
A MEGA PROJECT IN THE CAPITAL OF PAKISTAN. WHY NOT. HAS ANY ONE BEEN TO ISTANBUL LATELY. IT HAS TENS AND TWENTIES OF SUCH HOTELS ALL OVER THE CITY AND THEY ALL ARE THRIVING. YES ONE COULD SAY THAT PAKISTAN IS NOT TURKEY. YES THAT IS TRUE, BUT IT COULD BE LIKE TURKEY AND ISLAMABAD COULD BE LIKE ISTANBUL (ORIGINALY NAMED ‘ISLAM- OPLE’) IF WE TRY HARDER. WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR MIND SET AND STRIVE FOR EXCELENCE. THE SKY IS THE LIMIT.
”an investment is a business decision….” Yes that is for the investor to decide….
(by the way, when petro dollars r spent, from madrassas to luxury hotels to jets, who knows who’s decision it is!!)
However, the national wealth (proceeds from the sale) belongs to the nation…..better spent on domains beneficial to the deserving many (also citizens!) than on the perpetual well being of the few. Money circulated through investment in the education (of many), health, environment, infrastructure than through consumption (of few)seems to me a much better proposition.
the person who conceived the idea, and his collaborators, should be buried beneath its rubble without their fateha being said