BY JAMES WILKINSON

The Diamant Hotel Canberra is set to re-open on July 11 after a massive blaze ripped through an adjacent building last Thursday afternoon (June 23).

Diamant Canberra: set to re-open on July 11

8Hotels CEO Paul Fischmann said both the hotel and the Bicicletta eatery next door were spared from the blaze that took 40 firefighters to contain.

“The fire was wildly reported in the media as involving the Diamant, however I am very happy to advise that although the adjacent building has been badly damaged by the fire, the Diamant has suffered only minimal exposure to smoke,” he said. “Following cleaning and minimal painting touch ups, the Diamant Hotel Canberra will re-open to our guests on 11 July 2011.

Fischmann praised the efforts of emergency services for saving the fire from spreading to the heritage hotel wings at the Diamant.

“I can’t express my gratitude enough to the fire brigade officers and emergency services for their amazing efforts in containing this potentially devastating blaze and I am so proud of our Diamant team whose only objective was the safety and well being of our guests,” he said.

Diamant Hotel Canberra’s owner, the Molonglo Group, lost its offices in the blaze – believed to have started in the kitchen of Flint restaurant below – and Managing Director Nectar Efkarpidis has vowed to rebuild the damaged section of the property as soon as possible.