Spence's Hotel Explained

Spence's Hotel was a hotel established in Kolkata in 1830. It was near the Government House.^[1] It no longer exists.^[2]

Various sources describe Spence's Hotel as either the first hotel in Asia, or in India, or in Kolkata.^{[3] [4] [5]}

The hotel is mentioned in Jules Verne's The Steam House as a place where the characters stay during a visit to Kolkata.^[6] It was the inspiration for the hotel described in the Sankar's 1962 novel Chowringhee.^[7]

On 16 January 1861 Duleep Singh met his mother Jind Kaur at the hotel.^[8] They had been separated in 1849 after the Treaty of Lahore when he was 10 years old and they reunited when he was age 22.^[8] From here, Singh brought his mother back with him to live in England.^[8] Because of political tension the British government choose Spence's Hotel as a neutral place where there was unlikely to be conflict.^[8]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Wright. Colin. Spence's Hotel, Calcutta. British Library. en. 26 March 2009.
2. Web site: অযান্ত্রিক. Spence’s Hotel, Dalhousie Square, 1830. puronokolkata. 23 November 2013.
3. Web site: Ghosh. Bishwanath. Inside India’s oldest hotel. The Hindu. en-IN. 11 July 2016.
4. Web site: Mukherjee. Ps. Heritage structures of Bengal: The Treasury Building & Spence's Hotel: the connection. Heritage structures of Bengal. 10 March 2013.
5. Web site: Banerjee. Dibyendu. LEGEND OF THE LOST – Spence’s Hotel. Noise Break. 2 August 2016.
6. Web site: Ghose . Sandip . Check In, Check Out . . 7 February 2020.
7. Web site: Datta . Sudipta . Looking back at ‘Chowringhee’ by Sankar on Kolkata . The Hindu . en-IN . 23 June 2022.
8. Book: Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond . . Dalrymple . William . William Dalrymple (historian). Anand . Anita . Anita Anand . 2017 . 256-258 . 9781635570762.