CONSTRUCTION on a new hotel in Taungoo in Bago Division is more than 75 percent complete and is expected to be finished in time for a December opening, the project’s developers said last week.

When finished, Royal Ketumati Hotel will be the biggest in Taungoo, said project engineer U Kyaw Lin.

“It will be a five-star hotel so it will provide international-standard service to visitors. Right now more than 80 staff members are being trained by foreign experts,” he said.

The hotel will include 48 superior rooms, three four-room suites, six VIP houses, a restaurant, a multipurpose hall, swimming pool, a gym, a miniature golf course, a playground and a garden.

U Kyaw Lin said a construction crew of 500 people was working on the project to ensure that it is finished by the target date.

“We are building the hotel in the architectural style of the Taungoo era [15th-16th centuries AD] to attract visitors, so all the architectural details are based on history,” he said.

He said the hotel was designed by Tampawady U Win Maung, an architect renowned for his knowledge of ancient architecture.

“We placed a special order for 300,000 bricks of the style used in the Taungoo era to be used for the floors of the reception area and dining room, which will also be built using natural-wood support pillars,” he said.

U Kyaw Lin said the hotel grounds will feature statues of five figures of ancient Taungoo royalty: King Min Gyi Nyo, King Ta Bin Shwe Hti, King Nat Shin Naung and his wife Datukalya, and King Bayint Naung.

Some local residents said they expected the hotel to attract tourists and generate more income for the town.

“The hotel is obviously aimed at foreigners. I don’t think many locals will stay there because it would be too grand and expensive,” said U Ba Kyaw, a Taungoo businessman. Records at a local pagoda indicated that about 1000 foreign tourists have visited Taungoo annually in recent years.