Rich Villa Hotel

Rich Villa Hotel, also known as the Rich Villa Inn, was an old European style hotel at the Murree hill station in modern Pakistan that came into existence before the end of the British Raj in 1947. Rich Villa Hotel continued to exist at Murree during the 1950’s and the 1960’s. The hotel operated throughout the year, but during the winter snowfall would block the roads thus preventing access.

Hotel

The Rich Villa Hotel was located on a little climb at the left of the Murree Road about 200 yards from Chambers Hotel just opposite the main bus stop at the gateway to the Murree hill station. It was located about 1 kilometre before the Agency Area and was a long walking distance from the Mall Road. It was located alongside the familiar Gulberg Hotel.

The property had road facing plus lawn screening rooms on the inside and a full sized terrace, confined by a steel railing, on the outside. Sited at the front of the hotel was a lush green piece of land, with other end touching the main road. It possessed a scenic view of the hills at the rear.

The foods cooked at the Rich Villa Hotel, were mostly Indian dishes. And the cooking was served in the hotel rooms. As there was no inbuilt or inherited restaurant within the hotel building and the space next to the cooking room was not big enough to support an eatery. Therefore the lawn was occasionally used as a place to eat by the visitors. On special occasions, such as the summer holiday enjoyment time of the year. During the rush hours when the Inn was overcrowded and filled to capacity with visitors from different part of the country. The visiting families used the main lawn as a temporary eating place.

The cooking place, or kitchenette, was located on the backside of the hotel and was managed by the cook himself. It only provided services during the hours of daylight. Hotel employees used the hotel backyard as their dwelling during the night.

Yesteryears

According to the available report, the original planner of the Hotel initially named it as Rich Villi Inn. However, after the Indian partition, it was named Rich Villa Hotel when it was allotted by the local Government in 1940, to a retired tehsildar of Rawalpindi known as Sardar Muhammad Azam (the landlord). During the 50’s, the landlord and one of his nephews jointly owned the hotel. But later his grandson started operating the Rich Villa Hotel during the 60’s. The Rawalpindi resident Khalid later sold the hotel to a native landholder after the death of the initial landlord. Later the Rich Villa Hotel was shut down permanently as the new management failed to sustain it. The original Rich Villa Hotel at Murree does not exist anymore.

Memoirs

Some famous Pakistani film stars, like Waheed Murad and Nirala, often resided here as guests for the filming of movies in the Murree Hills during the 1960’s. Commander Afzal, who often stayed at the Rich Villa Hotel along with his family during the summer, testified in 1974 that a Pakistani film actor known as Mohammad Ali foiled a real life kidnapping attempt at Murree, as he chased the alleged kidnapper into the hills and rescued a child back to his parents.

And sometimes strange incidents also occurred at the Rich Villa Hotel . According to the hearsay, one hotel guard at the Rich Villa Hotel known as Mama, encountered the Pichal Peri. And on a separate occasion a hotel-guest also reported the same kind of strange occurrence in his room.