Clinton’s visit runs into French resistance at Jaipur’s Oberoi hotel

NEW DELHI, MARCH 12: The French and the Americans have got embroiled in a fight arising from the visit of President Bill Clinton to India....

NEW DELHI, MARCH 12: The French and the Americans have got embroiled in a fight arising from the visit of President Bill Clinton to India. The President’s entourage has set its eyes on the Oberoi group’s Raj Vilas Hotel in Jaipur for his stay, but there is a snag. A large group of French tourists which has booked most of the rooms in the hotel for March 23, when Clinton will be in the Pink City, has said `non’ to requests for changing the dates.

According to sources, the French had made their bookings 10 months in advance and have refused to change their schedule. So when the President’s advance party that was in Jaipur last week tried to book the entire hotel for March 22 and 23, it was faced with the problem.

The team then got in touch with the hotel’s senior officials and even the Chairman, P R S Oberoi, in New Delhi but without success. The French tourists have turned down an offer for damages and new dates despite a flurry of faxes and phone calls.

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According to sources, Dan Rosenthal, a White House official who is heading the team, tried to convince the French personally and got the US embassy in Delhi to talk to the Ministry of External Affairs, but the problem has not been resolved. He has now, say the sources, communicated the situation to the White House.

The deluxe luxury hotel has 54 deluxe rooms and three luxury royal suites with a tariff of about Rs 30,000 a night plus taxes, and the 50-member advance team, comprising secret service agents and White House officials, had already cleared the hotel for the President’s stay.

A spokesperson for Oberoi Hotels admitted there was a problem. “We are trying to resolve it and hope to do it by Monday,” she said.

President Clinton will visit Amer Palace and other tourist attractions around Jaipur besides going to the Ranthambhore National Park as the possibility of sighting is much higher there than in most of the national parks, sources say. The President is also expected to visit Nayala village, 40 km off Jaipur.

Though the EC’s media invitation did not specify the subject, officials said the briefing would pertain to the SIR schedule. (File)

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