There is a celebratory mood in the corridors of The Gateway Hotel; it will be 25 years of playing host to visitors. Situated in the heart of the city on Residency Road, the first Gateway Hotel in the country stands testimony to the constantly changing face of Bangalore, which has grown from a ‘pensioner’s paradise’ to ‘garden city’ to ‘silicon city.’ Established in 1989, the hotel has been hosting gala celebrations since last Friday.
Aimed at being a “no frills, mid-segment hotel,” the hotel has an illustrious list of guests, including Tamil actor Vijay and Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan. The signature restaurant Karavalli, which has earned the tag of being one of the best in Asia, has had the likes of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nikelani, dancer Shobhana, and actors Karisma Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah and Deepika Padukone savour its traditional dishes.
Albert Rebello, General Manager of The Gateway Hotel, said it catered to the “upscale business traveller and the needs of the young, contemporary traveller who wanted not luxury, but his/her space and crisp, consistent service.”
This is why the services, be it the swimming pool or the gym, are 24x7, he explained. “Though the clientele has not changed drastically over the 25 years, the ratio has shifted slightly from domestic travellers to international travellers,” he said.
Though the lobby and bar have got a glitzy makeover while the Karavalli has been restored, bathtubs replaced with shower cubicles and rooms more tech savvy, the soul has remained, said Executive Chef Naren Thimmaiah B.U.
Having been with the hotel for over two decades, he said the restaurants have undergone a makeover with The Gateway now boasting of the requisite bar (Sphyre, Lobby Lounge Bar), restaurants (GAD, Karavalli).
Long-time staffers too have evolved. Lakhan Singh (46), who now heads the banquet operations, came to Bangalore from New Delhi where he was a traditional ‘halwai’ in a sweet shop. “I got a job here and learnt on the job. Today I can cook everything and catering to 5,000 people has become a habit,” he said proudly.
The hotel has seen an increase in the number of single lady travellers as well, and they are more independent than ever, Mr. Rebello said. To cater to them, the hotel has two rooms per floor exclusively for single women guests, eight in all. Care has been taken to not have them located too close to or too far from the elevators, and routing calls to their rooms through the operator after late evening.
The hotel also has its share of long stayers, some who are lodged there for as long as four months. “After the first few days, they start longing for comfort food, which could be anything like home-cooked khichdi. We ensure they get what they want,” Chef Thimmaiah said.
To mark the 25th anniversary, The Gateway is celebrating 25 of Bangalore's signature dishes, replicating them for visitors to the hotel. These could even include the stars in menus of well-known restaurants and eateries.
