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Agra hotels yet to fill up

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

After the initial excitement following the announcement of the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit at Agra commencing July 15, the hotels here have not yet registered an overwhelming response.

The Mughal Sheraton Hotel, which has been selected by the Central government for the briefing of mediapersons, is telling potential clients that it still has rooms available.

"We are expecting 130 rooms to be snapped up by Indian and foreign journalists going by the bookings we have already received," said assistant manager (sales) Y K Berry.

He said the hotel was expecting around 500 mediapersons.

However, although the media bookings are still trickling in, the hotel management is going all out to woo potential customers.

The hotel is also planning to have a round-the-clock bar facilities.

Mughal Sheraton is cordoning off a section of the cavernous lounge to be converted into a 24-hour bar, which will also serve tea, coffee and other beverages.

Although the hotel is still awaiting the government's final stamp of approval for it to be declared as the official venue for media briefing, work has commenced in its convention centre on a war-footing.

"We are taking no chances on power supply and we are making arrangements for power back-up up to 800-850 kva," Berry asserted.

He pointed out that officials from the Prime Minister's Office had already visited the hotel for inspection.

The hotel would be providing 300 telephones to the mediapersons along with internet connections.

The Amar Vilas Hotel and the Jaypee Palace Hotel have been selected for president Musharraf and prime minister Vajpayee respectively. However, security considerations have not been overlooked in Mughal Sheraton too.

The hotel staff in the lounge and other places are keeping a discreet but watchful eye on everybody entering and leaving.

Smartly dressed security officers, however, do not bother to conceal their ubiquitous metal-detectors and immediately frisk anybody who arouses their suspicion.

Other hotels like Holiday Inn, Amar Yatri Niwas , Agra Ashok, Imperial and President are shy of giving the occupancy figures right now.

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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