The Pan Pacific Sonargaon is a hotel in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

. It is one of the oldest 5 star hotel in Bangladesh and is owned by the

government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

and operated by

Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts The Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts (泛太平洋酒店及度假村) is a hospitality company headquartered in Singapore and founded in 1975. It is a subsidiary of developer UOL Group and operates more than 20 luxury hotels, resorts and serviced ...

History

Hotels International Limited was established on 25 June 1977 as a public limited company to establish a five star hotel in Dhaka. The foundation of Pan Pacific Sonargaon was laid on 17 October 1977. The construction was financed by Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (later renamed to

Japan Bank for International Cooperation The , JBIC, is a Japanese public financial institution and export credit agency that was created on October 1, 1999, through the merger of the Japan Export-Import Bank (JEXIM) and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF). JBIC became the ...

) as a loan to the government of Bangladesh. Pan Pacific Sonargaon was established in 1981. The hotel was designed by Hawaii-based architect Peter Hsi. Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts was hired to manage the hotel as Bangladesh lacked the necessary experience of operating a 5-star hotel. An 8-acre site in Karwan Bazar was chosen as the construction site. On 13 October 2003, Hotel International Limited announced plans to spend one billion taka to renovate the hotel. On 19 March 2004, Pan Pacific Sonargaon launched the Global Hotel Alliance in Dhaka. On 30 August 2006, the Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Shahid Alam, asked the Chairman of

RAJUK Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (, RAJUK) is a Bangladeshi public agency responsible for coordinating urban area, urban Urban planning, development in Dhaka. RAJUK is composed of various public officials, city planners, urban administrators, engi ...

, KAM Harun, to not fine Hotel International Limited for the unapproved expansion of Pan Pacific Sonargaon. The hotel had ignored two notices from RAJUK over its construction in Begunbari Canal. There was whistleblower complaints against Southeast Asia Technology Co Ltd, a consultant of the renovation project, from hotel employees. Renovation works in the hotel began in 2007 by Accom Engineering Ltd, a sister concern of

Orion Group Orion may refer to: Common meanings * Orion (constellation), named after the mythical hunter * Orion (mythology), a hunter in Greek mythology Arts and media Fictional entities Characters and species * Orion (character), a DC Comics c ...

. It was stalled due to the 2007-2008 caretaker government political crises in Bangladesh and corruption allegations. The renovation works were completed by the mid 2017. Orion Group got the 1.8 billion taka renovation project through close connections with

Hawa Bhaban Hawa Bhaban, also rendered as Hawa Bhavan, or Hawa Bhawan, was the political office of the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and monitored party affairs on the chair's behalf. It was viewed as an "alternate power house" in Banglades ...

according to hotel officials as reported by '' The Daily Star''. The renovations, which started in 2005, where near completion in 2008. A new health club and pool was opened at the hotel in July following the renovation.

Board of directors

References

External links

* {{commons-inline 1981 establishments in Bangladesh Hotels established in 1981 Hotel buildings completed in 1981 Hotels in Dhaka