The Great Eastern Hotel, the oldest great hotel in the city, was set up in 1840
David Wilson who was popularly called Dainty Davie, a confectionery shop owner in Cossitola (presently Bentnick Street), built this hotel in Old Court House Street. This hotel has served many famous people from Ho Chi Minh to Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev. The Great Eastern Hotel of Kolkata finds mention in the short story "City of Dreadful Night" written by the Rudyard Kipling.
Today the hotel hotel is undergoing renovations to be completed in 2008.