The Cecil is a historic luxury hotel located in the hill station

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the States and union territories of India, northern Indian state of Himachal Prade ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The Cecil's address is at Chaura Maidan. At an elevation of seven thousand feet, it sits at the foothills of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

and overlooks nearby mountains and valleys.

History

The hotel was established in 1884 by the British but was later purchased by one of its employees,

Mohan Singh Oberoi Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi (15 August 1898 – 3 May 2002)Mohan Singh Oberoi< ...

, who later founded the

Oberoi Hotels The Oberoi Group is an award-winning luxury hotel group with its head office in New Delhi, India. Founded in 1934, the company owns and operates 32 luxury hotels and two river cruise ships in 7 countries, primarily under its Oberoi Hotels & Re ...

group, which presently owns and operates the property Mohan Singh Oberoi, 103, A Pioneer in Luxury Hotels
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

, May 4, 2002''.The centennial Man
''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

'', 1 September 2001. The Cecil had quite modest beginnings in 1883 as a one-storied house, the Tendril Cottage with its famed inhabitant,

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

. It is claimed that Kipling frequented the house where he wrote his novels, including

Plain Tales from the Hills ''Plain Tales from the Hills'' (published 1888) is the first collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. Out of its 40 stories, "eight-and-twenty", according to Kipling's ''Preface'', were initially published in the '' Civil and Military Ga ...

, which was inspired by Shimla. According to an account, Kipling would book himself into the cottage every summer for five consecutive years, making his journey from

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

to the British retreat. The author first set foot on The Cecil in the summer of 1883 when he was just 17.

Oberoi acquisition

Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi came to Shimla while he was a jobless newlywed to find work in the government. However, he was employed at The Cecil in 1922, starting as a staff in the boiler room, tasked with weighing coal sacks for the hotel's water heaters. He rose from the ranks until finally, he was able to acquire The Cecil as a part of the acquisition of the Associated Hotels of India in 1944. Oberoi's experiences, since he took every job possible at the hotel, helped him learn the hospitality trade and understand what motivates various classes of hotel guests. Under his ownership, The Cecil became the address that everyone wanted to be seen at and it was able to establish its own legacy of luxury. For instance, the famous Balls and Floor shows and Lola, the dancer added to the reputation of the hotel. The hotel was closed in 1984 for extensive renovation and refurbishment and was reopened in 1997. The renovation included a heated swimming pool, billiards rooms, and a children activity center along with the customary amenities such as fine-dining restaurants and luxurious room.

Literature

References

External links

The Oberoi Cecil
Homepage The Oberoi Group Hotels in India Buildings and structures in Shimla Heritage hotels in India Hotels established in 1884 Houses in India {{India-hotel-stub