Banquet hotel at Karnal, Haryana

Abstract

The history of hotels is intimately connected to that of civilisations or rather it is a part of that historical period. Facilities offering guest hospitality have been in evidence since early biblical times. The idea of banqueting is ancient. In the 16th century, a banquet was very different from our modern perception and stems from the medieval 'ceremony of the void'. After dinner, the guests would stand and drink sweet wine and spices while the table was cleared, or ‗voided‘. (Later in the 17th century ‗void‘ would be replaced with the French dessert‘.) During the 16th century, guests would no longer stand in the great chamber whilst the table was cleared and the room prepared for entertainment, but would retire to the parlor or banqueting room. As the idea of banqueting developed, it could take place at any time during the day and have much more in common with the later practice of taking tea. Banqueting rooms varied greatly from house to house, but were generally on an intimate scale. A metropolitan banquet hotel is a rich space for exploration in hotel fiction of the 19th and 20th centuries due to the interesting connection with both the city and the home, and its positive and negative effect on the individual. In these types of hotels the entire series of public areas or banquets is served by a well-planned service core. The hotel design is defined through the understanding of specified user/commodity required. Successful banquets require and extensive planning, organizing, communication, control and coordination. The concerned design proposal here aims at creating an iconic Banquet hotel for GTK Road with lavish Star properties. The hotel design here not only concentrates on robust and efficient space planning, but also on the aesthetic values which define modern day hospitality ethos. The design idea revolves the concept of ‗TIME‘ from which cues have been taken for planning as well form development of the building.