Naz Garden, 1st 3-star hotel of north Bangladesh, up for sale
Hotel Naz Garden in Bogura, the first three-star establishment of northern Bangladesh, is being put up for sale by its owner after the pandemic proved to be the final straw for the struggling business.
Recently, Akij Group offered Tk 140 crore for the hotel and sought a month’s time to finalize the deal, owner Mohammad Shokrana told The Daily Star. Shokrana is a veteran BNP leader who quit politics in 2019.
“I have decided to sell the business,” said the businessman. “I wanted Tk 200 crore but did not get any buyer.”
That discussion was ongoing was confirmed by Dr Sheikh Mohiuddin, the eldest son of late Sheik Akij Uddin, founding chairman of the group.
Mohiuddin stated that Shokrana’s quoted price was inaccurate. He went on to say that once everything is finalized, they will make it all public. The Ad-din Foundation, of which Mohiddun is the executive director, plans to run the hotel differently than before as well as include a medical college and hospital.
Akij Group is a large business conglomerate in Bangladesh with interests in a variety of sectors such as textiles, cement, ceramics, printing and packaging, hospitals, medical colleges, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage production, and consumer products.
Although the hotel had been in existence for 16 years, it had not achieved much success. Shokrana had initially planned to build a motel, but later learned that the International Cricket Council (ICC) would declare a Bogura stadium as an international cricket venue. The thought of international guests during matches led him to spend Tk 15 crore just a couple of kilometers from Shaheed Chandu Stadium.
Sprawling across 15.11 acres of land, the hotel is located at Silimpur area on Bogra City Bypass at the heart of the district, some 192 kilometres away from Dhaka.
The hotel offers an array of 94 rooms, gardens, a bar, four ballrooms, swimming pool and a lake 160 feet long and 60 feet wide.
“Later, the ICC officials visited my hotel and announced it an ICC venue hotel,” said Shokrana.
But no international match has taken place there since 2006.
The hotel has made it thus far catering to guests including businesspeople, government officials and non-governmental officials (NGO).
Then another hotel of the same service and quality standards was built by NGO Then gamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha in the district, increasing the competition for guests.
Skokrana said that due to the pandemic, his business is incurring losses of Tk 2-3.5 lakh daily, and he can’t continue running it. He denied rumours that he is liquidating assets with plans to live with his elder son in Canada, saying that at his age (72), he wouldn’t go there to do his own chores.
