The 165-year-old Great Eastern Hotel, Asia’s oldest, has been purchased by Delhi-based hotelier Lalit Suri for 11.5 million dollars.
The Great Eastern, Known as the “Jewel of the East”, has played host in the past to American writer Mark Twain, Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Queen Elizabeth of Britain.
Suri said the hotel will be developed into a five star deluxe hotel and will partially become operational by next year and will employ 300 employees.