Quick pit stop for visitors, Ahmedabad’s Hotel Toran might make way for revamp project

For more than a decade, the Toran Hotel served as a quick pit stop for lunch for tourists, especially those visiting the Ashram.

The hotel, which started its innings as a guest house in 1971, is likely to be the first “incongruous building” to be razed as part of the Gandhi Ashram and Precinct Development Project, bringing an end to its mutually beneficial association with the Ashram.

“Given that it is the government’s property, it will be the first to go down”, a top official told The Indian Express.

According to the state government’s affidavit before the Gujarat High Court, 48 buildings on the 55-acre area to be redeveloped will be preserved. So, nearly 129 of the nearly 177 buildings could be demolished.

The foundation stone of the erstwhile ‘Gandhi Ashram Guest House’ was laid in March 1969 by Ravishankar Vyas—one of the earliest and closest associates of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and who had also joined Gandhi for the Dandi March in 1930. The guest house was inaugurated by Sarojini Mahishi, then Union Minister of State for Tourism and Civil Aviation, in July 1971.

With a few rooms for accommodation and rudimentary facilities, the guest house was renovated and converted into a hotel comprising ground floor and a floor above it in 2012. The revamped premise, named ‘Hotel Toran’, was inaugurated by then state cabinet minister Jaynarayan Vyas.

The hotel is part of a chain of hotels and resorts managed by the Gujarat Tourism through the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL). There are six Toran Hotels across the state, including in Saputara, Lakhpat and Dwarka.

Manager DP Sharma, who started as a cook in the premises, said there have barely been any changes, barring the prices, over the decade after the hotel started.

The food menu, too, has remained unchanged with a Gujarati full lunch thali priced at less than Rs 140; it used to cost Rs 70-80 a decade ago, said Sharma.

According to several state tourism department officials, a majority of the bookings for stay that the hotel receives are from tourists from West Bengal and southern states of India. Most of these tourists are usually senior citizens.

“With the Ashram being a tourist hub, especially for those coming from outside the state, the hotel’s location is extremely convenient. You have to only cross the road to visit the Ashram. Second, we have also noticed that given that most of these tourists are senior citizens, security as well as affordable pricing of rooms also remain unique selling points. While in terms of stay bookings, we usually see a peak season between September and February, the walk-ins for the lunch fare at the restaurant, however, sees a continuous flow of visitors,” one of the officials said.

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With 11 rooms, one being a suite and the rest deluxe rooms, a conference hall, a manager’s room and the restaurant with kitchen, the hotel remains largely utilitarian but appears to remain oblivious to the potential of opulence and luxury that the prime location provides.

“The hotel is also a convenient strategic point for meetings of government officials. For any VIP guest visiting the Ashram, the hotel serves as a rendez-vous point and in case of PM visits and other foreign dignitaries, the police and security briefings happen here,” said another official. It was the case when then US president Donald Trump visited along with PM Narendra Modi in February 2020. For a week prior to the visit, the hotel had seen a constant influx of security recce, police briefings, state and district officials visiting and conducting meetings to coordinate and plan the visit. Notably, the Ahmedabad district collector’s office is only about 500 metres away from the hotel.

Sharma said the restaurant of the hotel usually crowds up on the weekend when footfall at the Ashram, too, sees an increase. “Most of the tourists outside the state prefer the ‘a la carte’ menu as they don’t like the sweetness of Gujarati food. The locals, though, prefer the Gujarati thali,” Sharma said.