A rare find - a quiet hotel in New Delhi

Advantages: Calm professional staff, quiet setting
Disadvantages: If you can't get it at a bargain rate, it's not worth the price.

...Ciao must despair of some of us members and the near-geological timescale we seem to work on. I requested this hotel over three years ago and have finally got around to writing about it. Proof at last that if I'm given long enough I'll eventually get round to almost anything. When and Why? We visited Delhi at the beginning and end of a tour to Ladakh, high up in the Himalaya range. Ladakh is at such high altitude that you really can only sensibly go in the summer months and since there's no option other than to go through Delhi to get there, that's an absolutely dreadful time to be in the city in terms of the heat, but a fantastic time to get a bargain on a hotel deal. The Metropolitan was one of our summer bargains. My love for Delhi I love Delhi and nothing gives me more pleasure than to stay a few days in this...

koshkha 23.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Metropolitan Hotel, New Delhi

One of the world's best hotels - in Delhi!

Advantages: A landmark hotel
Disadvantages: It's a long way from home

...Before we start, a warning. This is a long review - you might want to go and get a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits before you start reading. I got a bit carried away. Are we ready? OK, let's go and visit one of the world's classic hotels. Background to our visit ******************* Back in February I placed a booking with Exodus (an 'adventure travel' company) for a trip to Ladakh in the Indian Himalayas with a stay in Delhi at either end of visit. I'd rejected the flight inclusive option (because it used Gulf Air) and splashed out many years worth of Virgin Flying Club 'miles' on two economy tickets for my husband and myself. I love Delhi and I wanted some extra time to see a couple of the museums and monuments so I booked the flights a day early on the way out and a day late on the way back. Consequently I needed to find...

koshkha 09.07.2006 · Read review
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Review of Imperial Hotel, New Delhi

"Boutique Luxury Hotel" - who are they kidding?

Advantages: Handy for the metro
Disadvantages: Lousy location, unbelievably noisy

...Let me start with a quote from their website:- "Amongst all the 5 star luxury hotels in New Delhi, India, Jaypee Siddharth stands tall as a beacon to the comfort hungry Traveller... where your every wish is pampered, where every member of the staff and every facility is dedicated to make you return to this Boutique luxury hotel... time after time. We are one of the finest 5 Star Hotels in New Delhi, India, which provide all luxuries to appease our esteemed guests." Hmm, sounds lovely doesn't it? Read on and I'll tell you what it's REALLY like! Background **************** In June this year, my husband and I went off to India for a trip with Exodus to go trekking in Ladakh, in the Indian Himalayas. Our trip included three nights in Delhi at a hotel called the Jaypee Siddarth - one night at the beginning and two at the end. I...

koshkha 10.07.2006 · Read review
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Review of Jaypee Siddarth Hotel, New Delhi

Most of our rooms have no windows...

Advantages: A bed?
Disadvantages: Internal room; Location; Overpriced

...housed the architects of New Delhi when it was being designed and built) do not make for a good hotel in 2008. Actually, I almost forgot about breakfast, with the haphazard place settings (tables missing specific items of cutlery, or cups, or napkins - we fetched our own cutlery off another table after sitting for five minutes) and the uninspiring choice of food rounded off this as a stay to forget. Oh, and finally, with this being located in Old Delhi it can be a little difficult at times to get a taxi driver or autorikshaw driver to take you there - Old Delhi is horrifically congested at times. Given we were their in high season the cheapest rooms start at around £140 a night (with a 12.5% 'luxury' tax to be added). Waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much....

blackpuddinonnabike 03.11.2008 · Read review
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Review of Maidens Hotel, Delhi

The Madonna without the corset and stockings

Advantages: great location, clean rooms, fair prices
Disadvantages: The single towel

...The Challenge ************* Finding a hotel in Delhi is never a simple matter. At one end of the scale you have the super-luxury international 5-stars for those with deep pockets or company expense accounts. My favourites (both reviewed before) are the exquisite Imperial and the attentive Oberoi. Both can compete with hotels anywhere in the world. If you can afford them, they'll spoil you rotten but at busy times of year, you'll not see change out of £200-£400 a night. In the high-end category you'll also find some distinctly 'ordinary' hotels as well - the Siddarth is a great example of over-priced and under-equipped Delhi hotels. The top of the range hotels can be a bit of a bargain if you are willing to visit in the stifling summer months but for most of us they are off limits at peak times of year. Moving from the sublime to...

koshkha 17.12.2007 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Madonna, New Delhi

Delhi: A Cultural Melting-Pot

Advantages: Great attractions; fabulous culture; fascinating history
Disadvantages: Very noisy and polluted in parts

...), and were directed to another cafe in the hotel complex, being told to try again at dinner time. Content to sit down and soak up the air conditioning (but looking a bit out of place in clothes that had seen two weeks of travelling and two hours of Delhi - the latter being probably more detrimental), two friends and I were extremely excited by the prospect of salad, adopting the motto that has probably caused the downfall of many a Western tourist in India of 'If it's served in a ridiculously expensive hotel, it must be alright'. Of course, we didn't think of the air miles our mozzarella cheese must have acquired in its perhaps not so brief lifespan. This all being said, two of us were absolutely fine. The problem was that our other friend, who had pretty much eaten plain rice and the odd chapatti for the entire holiday, and had been...

salar15 11.11.2007 · Read review
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Review of Delhi (India)

Delhi, hard work but well worth it

Advantages: Great people, great value, great sights
Disadvantages: noisy, crowded and hard work sometimes

...Arriving in Delhi from Bangkok, the first thing I noticed was the lack of air pollution, which was definatly not what I was expecting. I arrived at New Delhi airport in late February and after Bangkok's humidity and pollution New Delhi was litterally a breath of fresh air. The people in Delhi will stare but not as much as in other parts of India. Most will help you out when they can, however, it can be hard work in the tourist spots as the sellers are always shouting and trying to get you into their shops, but once you adopt a hard faced persona and walk quickly then it won't bother you. The sights in Delhi are amazing, however, some havn't been kept well, such as the red fort. An Indian lady who I stayed with was really upset by the Red Fort as she said she had been their 20 years ago and it had deteriated so much since then. I...

1connorse 05.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Delhi (India)

It's a stunner - now with added photos

Advantages: Luxury - gorgeous room, lovely food
Disadvantages: Expensive - could spoil you for any other hotel

...I loved this hotel so much I put in a special request to review it. I have to say it didn't look like the photo on the listing so just to be clear, this is for the Oberoi at Dr Zakir Hussein Marg in Delhi. WHEN AND WHY WAS I THERE? ************************************* In November last year I had a really tough business trip to India to launch a range of new products in Mumbai and Delhi. This involved presenting to about a thousand local bakers and pulling together two big launch meetings in hotels so we worked like demons. If you believe in karma, then staying 4 nights at the Oberoi New Delhi must have been payback for every good and worthy thing I've done in my life. It's an absolute dream of a hotel and one that really sticks in the mind. Now just in case you are tempted to down-rate me for being such a lucky soul and getting...

koshkha 19.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of Oberoi Hotel, Delhi, India

Delhi - shopping for discerning people

Advantages: AFFORDABLE; WHOLE SPECTRUM OF SHOPPING
Disadvantages: NO REGULATORY MECHANISM, HIGH INCIDENCE OF CHEATING AND DECEPTION

...and thugs. You should start bargaining at 25% of the quoted price to be able to strike a decent price. Palika Bazaar is an underground market in the central plaza of CP. Lately it has lost a great degree of its sheen but still it is a good place to hang around and for cottons, VCDs and very colourful and shimmering lingerie! Pahar Ganj Pahar Ganj or the hotel world opposite New Delhi Railway Station offers everything from cottons to incense sticks to ethnic artefacts. But you need to know the market as it is full of cheats. And of late it has become more of a market for professional shoppers from rump states of Soviet Union. Avoid shopping in Pahar Ganj if you can. Let it remain known for staying alone. There are other shopping places like karol bagh, greater kailash, sarojini nagar, chandni chowk which are more of local markets. Avoid...

IDTD 17.04.2005 (19.06.2005) · Read review
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Review of Delhi (India)

Hotel International

Advantages: Location, breakfasts
Disadvantages: Poor rooms

...I recently went on a cultural girlie trip with a friend to Paris. I was left to do all the booking. I was looking for a reasonable hotel, near a metro stop, which included breakfast. I came across the Hotel International on various travel sites and it seemed fairly highly rated so I booked us in for three nights. LOCATION: The hotel is located 6 Rue Auguste Barbier in the 11th Arrondissement. The nearest Metro stop is Garcourt which was a two minute walk away and it was a five minute walk to Republique which gives good links to other lines. It's not really central enough to avoid the Metro and walk to the attractions but it was located so close to a stop that it seemed ideal. PRICE: Prices vary depending on size of room and season. There are singles, doubles and triples available. We paid Euro254 for the whole time...

tartlette83 17.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Hotel International, Paris