Istanbul (dpa) – Dubai-based luxury hotel group Jumeirah took over the operation of Istanbul's historic Pera Palas hotel on Monday. Opened in 1892, the Pera Palas for 120 years played host to the literati and crowned heads of Europe, and recently underwent a major restoration. Owned for many years by Compagnie Internationale de Wagon Lits, the company that operated the famed Orient Express, the hotel has been immortalized in literature, featuring in both Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express and in Graham Greene's Stamboul Train. In a ceremony in the hotel's ornate ballroom, Jumeirah signed an open ended management agreement with the hotel's owners Turkey's Demsa group. According to Jumeirah chairman Gerald Lawless taking over a historic hotel like the Pera Palas was an opportunity too good to miss. “It's a hotel known by millions for its connections with famous writers and artists,” he said, adding that Jumeirah aims to capitalize on the hotel's fame and to achieve an average occupancy rate of at least 80 percent. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/d3WF8 Tags: Dubai, Hotel, Istanbul, Jumeirah, Turkey Section: Europe, Gulf, United Arab Emirates
