“Twenty years is a significant milestone. We’ve seen ups and downs, cyclones and a pandemic. The Park, Chennai, has weathered the last few years very well,” says Priya Paul, chairperson of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels, over a call from Kolkata.
With The Park Chennai turning 20 on May 15, Paul recalls how they bought it as a shell hotel in 1999 and used the 230-room property to showcase what they meant by a boutique hotel. “We used art, design and music to define ourselves,” she says.
One of her first briefs to the design team was to commemorate the history of the place — the erstwhile Gemini Studio — in a contemporary manner. “We wanted to make it a fun and vibrant place. A hotel that keeps on innovating and surprising customers,” she adds. Interestingly, of all The Park Hotels, this is the one where she has stayed for quite some time. “My husband is from Chennai,” she says.
