Hit by a massive bomb on the 20th of September last year, Islamabad's Marriott Hotel suffered what many have called the “9/11 of Pakistan”. In the heart of the capital – only a stone's throw from the presidency - 60 people died, 300 were injured - and the jewel of Pakistan's hotel industry went up in flames.

But it wasn't until the next morning that Islamabad discovered the full extent of the disaster. Frequented by foreign diplomats and Pakistan's wealthy, the luxurious hotel had become a terrorist target: no less than 600 kilos of explosives devastated its front wall, 300 bedrooms, reception and grand banquet halls.

This is why it’s so hard to believe that only three months later the music has returned to the brand new ballrooms. Business has resumed. Yet despite this almost miraculous recovery, the memory of the terrorist attack remains in everyone’s minds.

That evening, 32 staff members lost their lives. And it's in their name that the management vowed to reopen the Marriott. Zulfiqar Ahmed is head of the reconstruction effort. Two thousands of his men worked around the clock for 90 days to reopen the hotel with new blast-proof features.

It is not without a certain pride that Zulfiqar Ahmed, head manager of Islamabad’s Marriott, tells us how the security has been reinforced: “This is the place where we will be putting the blast-proof gate. We are then going to be putting cameras. Even as I speak, this precise area is now being monitored by our powerful cameras!”

For a man in the hotel trade, he has an unusual welcome message: “The message that we are giving to terrorists is that we are not afraid of you! If you are out there to destroy the world, we are here to remake and rebuild!”

In the 10 years the Hotel Marriott has been operating in Islamabad, it has suffered three terrorist attacks, each attributed to the Taliban. And each time, security was improved. But until now it hadn't been enough.