NEW DELHI: Delhi-NCR's plushest hotels are ready to greet and pamper some very special guests - heads of states, heads of governments and chiefs of big multilateral institutions arriving for the G20 summit.
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Delhi G20 Summit LiveITC Maurya, the usual pick for POTUSes when they visit India, will host Joe Biden. Will he eat at the Bukhara? Some of his predecessors, most famously Bill Clinton, had loved the Dal Bukhara and the restaurant's tandoor dishes like sikandari raan and murgh malai tikka.
Taj Palace is hosting Chinese premier Li Qiang, who's filling in for his boss Xi Jinping, who in turn made headlines for not coming to the Delhi meet. But the Chinese, unlike the Americans, are sharing their hotel. Brazil's Lula Da Silva will also be at the Taj Palace.
The Russians, minus their boss Vladimir Putin, will be in Oberoi, Delhi, where they are likely to bump into the Turkish delegation, which will be led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Russia and Turkey have been in many confabs since the Ukraine war began.
Taj Mansingh and Leela are hosting the big two of the Middle East, UAE and Saudi Arabia, respectively. Taj Mansingh's newly created Maharajah suite - the name is a nod to Air India coming back to Tatas - will get its first VVIP guest on a state visit.
France, Germany and Italy will be in, respectively, Claridges, Shangri La and Hyatt. Britain, which famously left EU, will be sharing Shangri La with Germany, the key EU nation. The Lalit will host Japan and Canada.
Many other countries and multilateral bodies are sharing hotels as well. Le Meridien will look after delegations from Nigeria, Netherlands, Spain, Mauritius and the World Bank. Australia and Indonesia are sharing the Imperial.
Who pays for the hotels? Governments of the visiting leaders. The host country picks up the tab for the summit venue bandobast and related hospitality services.
If you are planning a hotel visit, check before you leave home. Most hotels hosting VVIPs will be out of bounds between September 8 and 10.
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