Spaces Issue 7
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ARCHITECTURE<br />
Ghar with its resplendent sunburst<br />
chandeliers so pleasing to the eye.<br />
In the early 70’s, Boris Lissanevitch, a most<br />
colourful character with a fascinating<br />
background, was invited to Nepal by King<br />
Tribhuvan. Boris was from Russia and for<br />
sometime an officer in the Russian Army.<br />
After stints as a ballerina in Monte Carlo<br />
and Shanghai, he arrived in Calcutta, where<br />
he opened the much-acclaimed nightclub<br />
called ‘The 300’. A popular watering hole<br />
for the Allied forces during the Second<br />
World War, the club was famous for its<br />
royal patronage. With even an in-house pet,<br />
a full-grown leopard named Puss Puss,<br />
many extraordinary and colourful stories<br />
originated here. Boris ran Nepal’s first<br />
hotel, which was called the Royal Hotel,<br />
and with its establishment, Nepal was<br />
popularised as an international tourist<br />
destination - a Shangri-La. Popularly called<br />
Nepal’s father of tourism, this<br />
unforgettable personality, who always<br />
sounds larger than life, set up the Yak and<br />
Yeti bar with its huge central copper<br />
chimney. It is from this very restaurant that<br />
the hotel got its name, whereas the<br />
restaurant today is the famous ‘The<br />
Chimney’, with its exquisite Russian cuisine<br />
and its own Boris menu.<br />
It was with this pedigree beginning that in<br />
1973, Mr. R.S. Saraf set up the hotel. The<br />
hotel later assumed the name of Yak &<br />
Yeti. With growing tourism, the hotel was<br />
expanded to 150 rooms with 5-star<br />
amenities, and its design was under taken<br />
by Gherzi Eastern Ltd. Bombay, India.<br />
This central wing popularly called the<br />
Newari wing was built in modern<br />
international style with the present day lobby<br />
and atrium. The six storied structure with its<br />
top two floors cantilevering out and heavy red<br />
roof band and white plastered external surface<br />
was a marked offshoot from the neoclassic Lal<br />
Durbar. The new contemporary look definitely<br />
gave a fresh and modern feel to the<br />
establishment as a whole.<br />
Top & Left: The majestic drawing rooms of<br />
Regency & Regal are indeed treasures.<br />
Facing page top: A part of the new entrance<br />
lobby linking the courtyard to the old palace.<br />
24 NOV-DEC 2005 SPACES
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