Daily Times

Following media reports on closure of Roosevelt Hotel, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal on Tuesday ordered the director general of NAB Rawalpindi to launch an investigation into the PIA-owned asset in New York.

According to a press release issued here, the NAB chairman took notice of media reports of closing of the hotel from Oct 31, 2020, and ordered the NAB Rawalpindi director general to conduct a probe into the matter in detail as well as the circumstances which led to the closure of over 100-year-old hotel situated at a central place in Manhattan.

The NAB director general has been asked to further probe that why the national asset is being closed and also determine tangible reasons of losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the government of Pakistan. The NAB will pinpoint the responsible persons, who did not play their due role in making the hotel profitable and allegedly failed to perform their duties.

Last week, PIA’s iconic Roosevelt Hotel announced that it will close its doors to customers permanently from October 31 due to financial constraints.

“Due to the current economic impacts, after almost 100 years of welcoming guests to ‘The Grand Dame of New York’ The Roosevelt Hotel is regretfully closing its doors permanently as of October 31, 2020,” the notice on the hotel’s website said.

“We have been honoured to serve alongside our wonderful staff and to be a part of our many guests’ and clients’ lives and celebrations, who have graced us over these past nine decades,” it said.

The hotel said that it was working on alternatives for guests with a future reservation. “We have enjoyed being as much a part of our guests’ stories as we have been an integral part of the history of Midtown Manhattan since 1924.”

The statement was later removed from the website and the hotel’s front desk is not accepting reservations post-October 31. When contacted, the staff said that the hotel is being closed but refused to share further details in this regard.