Kathmandu, December 12:

Hotel de’ l Annapurna, the erstwhile property of the Taj Group, which was abandoned by the international chain in 2004 appears to be finally coming of age on its own.

Having grappled with problems like abysmally low occupancy levels till late last year and a dearth of trained technical staff following the sudden withdrawal by Taj, the five star hotel on the coveted Durbar Marg is now poised to lure back the corporate crowd with its all-new coffee shop.

But even now the hotel is preferring to play it safe.

Although, the 130 cover coffee shop, which was scheduled to be inaugurated about two months back, will finally be thrown open for people on the Christmas eve, it will only be a soft launch. The hotel plans to take it to a higher gear only from January.

“This is because we want to address the teething problems that might arise for a fortnight first and then advertise it in a big way from January,” explains F&B manager, Raju Ghimire.

The launch of the sprawling coffee shop spread over 2,200 sq ft may get lost in the maze of special Christmas and New Year events launched by other star hotels in the city, argues Ghimire.