Green city romance in the heart of Gujarat

Rooms are stylish, food is exquisite, innovative green credentials front of house

They say "don’t let the devil have all the best tunes" – and that applies particularly to true hospitality where superb luxury, romantic, extravagant, boutique establishments are leading the field in green innovation.

Typical of the breed is the House of MG in Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s fastest growing city.

Placed in the romantic walled city of Ahmedabad, The House of MG’ is a boutique heritage hotel with just seventeen rooms and suites and one service apartment The Edwardian property was built in 1924 as a home for a wealthy textile magnate. It has been tastefully restored to retain its old-world charm but with all the amenities and comforts of a world-class business hotel.

Step into the House of MG’s portals and you step into the panelled past, uniformed staff, discreet, sensitive – service a quality of hospitality that has almost disappeared elsewhere.

Enjoy your room’s elegant setting fine linens and luxurious bathing before taking a pre-dinner dip in the lotus pool undoubtedly one of the most glamorous and exotic indoor pools you’ll find anywhere in the world.

Then eat on the hotel’s fine rooftop terrace by candle-lit moonlight  in ‘Agashiye’, an award winning Gujarati thali restaurant that serves the finest Gujarati cuisine in the traditional fine-dining style. You’ll be captured by the myriad of tastes on your thali which change every day and draw out the romance of eating really good, well-served truly authentic food.

Super luxury boutique hotel – but much more. The clue lies in a sign behind the reception desk …

All very evocative of the House of MG’s old/new ethos their social commitment is impeccable – and why shouldn’t it be after all? This is an establishment owned and run by established members of the local community.

As they say – it’s not just a hotel. It is an umbrella organization that is taking an initiative in creating a vibrant neighborhood in the historic old city of Ahmedabad. It hopes to achieve this by first identifying and then adopting relevant traditions related to food, clothing, architecture and the crafts to its own contemporary aesthetic.

The establishmen also attempts to set a benchmark in its responsibility towards the environment through adoption of ‘earth friendly’ practices in every area of its operation.

Some of the Initiatives that the hotel supports include:

• They are creating a craft centre
• Mangaldas ni Haveli : One of the finest examples of traditional wooden architecture, a 200 years old building in the historic old city of Ahmedabad has been taken over by The House of MG and is currently being restored. It will house a craft centre, a small museum and a café. more…
• They have started an audio walking tour
• The Audio Tour : The House of MG has created the country’s first audio guided tour that takes the listener through the historic old city of Ahmedabad.
• They run a night walk through the historic, evocative old city ending up at the night market
• They have started an initiative to foster crafts to sustain the neighborhood crafts by having designers interact with the craftsmen and make contemporary products. The first three week workshop with four UK based designers was held in September 2006.
• They have adopted ‘Green’ practices in the hotel. Including:
• Reuse of organic waste for generation of biogas.
  • Use of CFL tubes in place of tungsten filament bulbs.
  • Use of independent conditioning units in all rooms to avoid electricity wastage.
  • Use of Solar Energy for generation of hot water.
• They support the performing arts
• The House of MG is the hospitality partner of cultural organizations like Saptak (http://www.saptak.org) and Connect (The dance club) to promote the performing arts in Ahmedabad.
• And they are an equal opportunity employer – The House of MG’s growing family of employees comprises of youth from different religions from surrounding villages. They provide equal opportunity to both men and women and due to the unique nature of the business, they are able to hire people on the strength of their personality rather than their level of education or proficiency in the English language. They provide dormitory housing and in-house food to the entire team as well as health insurance and social security to all staff who have completed one year of service.

Valere Tjolle
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