Hotel Merlin International, Thrissur

The “Oriental Hotel” was established in 1949 on a sprawling 3 acre property by a “Sahib” along with an Indian partner in the heart of Thrissur City whose names are no longer known. The hotel was a stone’s throw from the railway station and the famous “Vanchikulam” where the country boats loaded with merchandise landed in Thrissur. Vanchikulam was the business hub of the entire Thrissur district and the main Jetty on the inland navigation system which was in vogue those days. The Hotel was an architectural icon of its time, being one of the first buildings built with cement and a flat roof going against the traditional building tenet of the tiled sloping roof of that time. The two storied building was the tallest in Trichur and to support the height, the support walls were all made two feet thick in the ground floor .These thick walls still stand today, a testimony of the great workmanship of a bygone era.