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LANDING at the Indira Gandhi International Airport’s spanking new Terminal 3 will bring a dazed smile to your face. It could be Alice in Wonderland. Where once were bleary-eyed travellers milling about dimly-lit musty corridors at 2am, fearfully entering the Twilight Zone, are now brisk-stepping travellers enjoying 5.4 million square feet of gleaming designer space.
Yes, New Delhi finally got its new airport, T3 (www.newdelhiairport.in), in July, 2010. T3 lays claim to be the eighth largest terminal in the world with 89 travelators, 31 escalators, a 6,400m conveyor belt to handle 12,800 bags an hour and a hi-tech baggage handling system with explosives detection technology.
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This is music for pin-striper ears though travelators are often mysteriously still, which means long walks for many. The immigration hall is a tad narrow and fills up fast. Come departure time there’s all the usual fuss with stamping cabin baggage tags at the security counter. The fact that airside is a sterile zone counts not a whit and passengers arriving at their distant gates sans security stamp will have to trek back almost a kilometre. The premium lounge, shared by several airlines, is small and cramped – at times standing room only – with three alluring iMacs that are devilishly difficult to get on to as you need to borrow the wireless keyboard, surrender your boarding pass as a security deposit, and then wrestle with log-in passwords. With your back to the seating area, everyone can then share your private, blushing Facebook moment.
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| Classic Humayun's tomb |
The food, on the other hand, is excellent with items like butter chicken, paneer masala and biryani. Far easier though, to browse the public food area and enjoy Chinese noodles, a dosa, a cup of Joe at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, dinner at the Delhi Daredevils Sports Bar, or at McDonald’s, with better, more open, seating. The airport hardware is new, but the “software” needs to catch up.
The 2am red-eye arrivals may not change for many but the interiors now spell more light, better design for traffic flow, and elbowroom, perhaps just what the men in uniform need to beam a big welcome smile at immigration. Expect expanded duty-free shopping with brands like Mango, Reebok and Body Shop with several racks of alcohol and perfumes. Duty-free prices at Delhi Airport (Indira Gandhi T3) range from US$35 for a litre of Johnnie Walker Black Label, and US$34 for a one litre bottle of 12-year-old Chivas, to US$74 for a 75ml eau de toilette j'Adore by Dior, to US$150 for a Ferragamo silk tie and about US$60 for a 50ml BVLGARI eau de parfum. Another imaginative Terminal Three add-on is, yes, an adjoining car park for 4,300 vehicles. Also look out for the arrival of the Delhi Bazaar by Craft House.
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Negotiate immigration, grab your bags and step into the heat and dust, well, only if you must. The Delhi Metro linking much of the capital and Gurgaon, now operates electric trains from the airport 6am to 10pm, getting you to the city centre in just 18 minutes. Welcome additions to the transport grid include EasyCabs (www.easycabs.com) and on-call Meru Cabs (tel: 91-4422-4422, www.merucabs.com). Masochists and romantic tightwads can still avail of the yellow-and-black Delhi taxis and other transport options. A 40-minute to one-hour journey from the airport to the Delhi’s city centre will be around Rs400 by local taxi (exchange rate roughly US$1=51 Indian rupees). Tips are optional but outstretched palms and heart-rending stories are to be expected.
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| Yes, an air-conditioned Metro |
Safe they might be but the yellow and black taxis, normally Maruti Suzuki vans or lumbering Ambassadors, are not air-conditioned. If this sounds alarming, there are other rental options. Delhi’s taxis are supposed to charge according to the meter.
This is of course an aspirational, rather than actualised, ideal. It is mandatory for all taxis and auto rickshaws to have meters. The three-wheeler autos, or scooties for the die-hard “Delhi-wallahs”, offer a darting rollercoaster ride ending with the usual all out haggling.
Make sure the meter is turned on as you get in. The flagfall for taxis is Rs20 for the first kilometre and for autos, Rs19 for the first two kilometres.
Taxi meters, mysteriously covered in towels, are invariably out of order, or set to whirr at Olympian speeds in no relation to distance, speed, time or any other sensible yardstick you might think of. Then there are the surcharges, with complex calculations, tabled in well-thumbed charts. My advice? Surrender to India. Toss your watch (you won’t be needing it here), lie back and enjoy things. Do it India style and the journey will be fun, full of surprises and even the odd, fully-revealed taxi meter – that works. Check out the Delhi Traffic Police’s website for more details (www.delhitrafficpolice.nic.in/auto-taxi-fare.htm).
Delhi is awash with hotels to suit all budgets and tastes. And they are always full. From dodgy backpacker hotels in grungy Daryaganj where rooms are available for US$5 and not-too-pinching New Delhi guesthouses, to brisk Delhi business hotels like The Oberoi, and the spacious suites of the ultra exclusive Trident in Gurgaon (almost a suburb of the capital now), a whole range of rooms is available.
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| Regal India Gate monument |
Expect houseful signs and exorbitant prices. Here, US$300 might be considered a steal. All New Delhi hotels have become non-smoking due to a government ban. A few designated smoking rooms are still available on request. Credit cards are accepted at all establishments, except perhaps at shifty Daryaganj dives, otherwise ATMs are conveniently located. When room rates or any facility like the Internet is being quoted remember it is without the luxury tax, which in Delhi is a crunching 12.5 percent. Hotels in neighbouring Gurgaon have started charging luxury tax to reflect government norms as well, although at a slightly lower 10 percent. Noida is the other Delhi satellite. With a new F1 racetrack it is now officially on the Formula One Grand Prix calendar.
New Delhi business hotels and luxury end
Although top end hotels are fairly evenly distributed all over the city, Central and South Delhi hotels are much the rage. This is also where most of the best New Delhi hotels are located and for the purposes of this hotel review we’ll start at the centre. In a major departure from its luxury resort mould, top-end Amanresorts brings something entirely new to the table in Delhi.
 The Aman New Delhi is an expensive boutique hotel of sorts with space, style and substance - of the minimalist zen variety. Inward looking, meditative almost, with lattice work etching filigree shadows across quiet colonnaded corridors well removed from the heat and dust outside, this Aman offers 31 unobtrusively elegant rooms, all with a terrace and private plunge pool, and 29 suites, seven of which have a 32sq m pool within a small private garden. Standard rooms looking inward onto a green central courtyard lawn and a hideaway sunken pool, offer a combined bedroom and living room with a twin-vanity dressing area that can be separated by sliding doors. In keeping with Aman tradition, décor is supremely uncluttered. Expect gleaming dark wood walls and cool marble underfoot. The facade is simple beige stone - a modern fort or haveli wall with sharp, clean lines, protecting this hushed oasis.
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| Aman Delhi pool |
A lone elephant statue welcomes visitors at the porch flanked by a fleet of retro-chic grey Ambassador cars with uncharacteristic leather trim and iPod docks. Step in and, perhaps disconcertingly for some, there is no busy lobby resounding with the clatter of high heels. The entrance flows into the living room, which flows into the reception area and so on. You define your space and use it as you might at a resort, or at a friend's home. There is no in-your-face demarcation. There is no huge conference area, and no gilded ballroom (though there is a 50-vehicle car park). This is a place for quiet contemplation, a large book, and a luxurious unwind at wallet-cracking prices. Located centrally near the Oberoi on the site of the old Lodhi Hotel, it unquestionably sets the benchmark for New Delhi luxury hotels, albeit with a difference. (Aman New Delhi features in our exclusive Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.)
Well established in the premium range is The Oberoi New Delhi. Part of a very efficiently-run international chain, the seven-storey, hotel overlooking Delhi’s spiffy, 19-hole golf course brings with it oodles of pedigree along with a stupendous location. Built in 1965 the hotel may be looking a tad frayed compared to the brash new hotels that have sprung up but it still sports a jaunty stride and offers Louis Vuitton and Cartier outlets in its shopping arcade. Deluxe rooms face the pool while premium rooms either look across to the golf course or the magnificent 17th century Humayun’s Tomb. Don’t miss out on the Oberoi Patisserie and Delicatessen. Open from 8am-9pm, it offers generous amounts of baked goods, pastries and imported meats and cheeses.
Corner deluxe suites at this top New Delhi business hotel offer both views and come at a none-too-cheap. Off season rates (mid April-end August) are around 15 percent lower than the rack rates. All rooms come with 24-hour butler service, TV, DVD, safe and free WiFi. Maintaining devilishly detailed guest profiles, including their tastes in movies – apparently James Bond is a favourite with Japanese executives – ensures as many as 45 percent of guests are repeat clients.
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| Brisk Oberoi New Delhi/ photo: hotel |
The Oberoi’s business centre has expanded. Besides providing the essentials – fax, Internet and photocopying machines, the centre also organises translation and provides interpretation facilities. Also offered are two-seat private offices, conference rooms and larger boardrooms. The latest addition to The Oberoi is the spa managed by Banyan Tree. Each of its eight therapy rooms has a built-in shower/steam-room and a private outdoor deck. Within its glass and Turkish marble interiors, the spa is heavy with the scent of aromatic oils and soft music. Business travellers take advantage of the special jet lag massage. The more laid back sister hotel Maidens is in Old Delhi.
A ten-minute walk from lively Khan Market, where bookshops, boutiques and flower shops compete with provision stores, is the Taj Mahal Hotel New Delhi on tree-lined Mansingh Road. Part of the slick, fast-growing Taj group, the hotel has provided the backdrop to many Bollywood Hindi films. Lemon essence is a signature scent that wafts throughout the property. The lobby has long been a popular “Delhi-ite” hangout with its marble filigree and ceiling cupolas decorated with enamelled inlay. A fairly recent renovation has yielded somewhat mixed results though. A huge, marble fountain with an orb at its centre now dominates the lobby somewhat at odds with the more delicate Mughal friezes adorning the walls.
Just off the lobby are two of Delhi’s acclaimed signature restaurants – The House of Ming, specialising in Szechuan Chinese, and the Machan, a 24-hour coffee shop known for its desserts like Bulls Eye (a sinful mélange of ice-cream, and warm chocolate cake doused with a bitter chocolate sauce). Eat under the watchful gaze of lions, leopards and gazelles painted on the walls.
Built in 1982, this 12-storey business hotel has over the years assumed an iconic status with excellent service and a great location. All are “rooms with a view”, its terrace-facing deluxe rooms overlooking a grassed terrace dotted with Alstonia trees growing in massive planters. Armchairs in the room come with a handy footstool to rest tired legs. Most deluxe rooms have king-size beds though a queen is available on request. A standard size safe is available in all rooms and, for extra storage, the lobby manger can provide more locker space at a charge.
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| Taj Mahal Club Room: grand views |
Higher up the scale, the Club Rooms for jet-setting business travellers offer the same space but more freebies: two-way airport transfers, round-the-clock access to the gym facilities and Club lounge with its private meeting areas, complimentary in-room bottle of imported wine, chocolates and fruits, breakfast buffet, all day coffee and tea service and complimentary drinks during Happy Hours. Ask about the 24-hour butler service and early check-in, late check-out options. Club floor rooms have been specially designed and set up for single women travellers too. Security cameras outside the door enable women guests to see their visitors on their hotel telephones and, perhaps, to turn them away if they are not good looking enough.
Club Rooms run from the seventh to eleventh floors with the views improving as you climb higher above the green tree-lined avenues, looking down on a magnificent open-air pool. The rooms are traditional in design with a wooden headboard. Expect a black-marble-top desk, flat-screen TV (DVD on request), a camera-size safe, and a somewhat compact toilet with weighing scales to take your mind of encroaching walls. The ensemble is compact, unfussy and will please corporate sensibilities. Room furnishings and fabrics come in burgundy, blue, gold and even orange. Wi-Fi and Broadband access is charged but road warriors get 40-minutes free on house computers in the Club Lounge.
If you want lavish, then the Grand Presidential Suite overlooking India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhavan (the Presidential Palace), fits the bill. The Taj is a fine downtown garden area New Delhi business hotel with high standards and excellent service. Step in and hotel staff will swarm to do your bidding.
But the city’s undisputed jewel in the crown is the majestic The Imperial, New Delhi. Centrally located near Connaught Place on Janpath, the prime Delhi shopping strip – and adjacent to the government-run Cottage Emporium – the hotel was built in 1936. Dilapidated Raj has given way to colonial chic infused with all mod cons, including Oriental-looking door girls and stunning flower arrangements in the lobby. Award-winning restaurants like the Spice Route and the stylish bar 1911 add to the hotel’s cachet.
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| The Imperial's laundered colonial tone |
This 233-room Delhi heritage hotel set in verdant grounds doubles easily as a business address and offers huge dollops of history. The old high-ceiling rooms built at a more gracious time, remain, along with the colonial décor, now substantially spruced up. Towels and sheets are monogrammed with the hotel’s insignia given by the British to the family, who owned the hotel. Good-size standard rooms come with names like Heritage and Imperial and the best views open out poolside. With basic rooms starting at US$350, rates are comparatively high but the maxim that you pay for what you get holds particularly true here. Newly introduced is the Eliza Room line, specifically designed with the safety and comfort of single female travellers in mind. Features include cameras outside the room to screen access and special bathroom amenities for women.
The hotel has also added two brand new facilities to its list. The first is a health and Racquet Club featuring its own squash court, personal trainers, complimentary yoga classes and state-of-the-art Techno Gym equipment. The other is the long-awaited Imperial Spa, which boasts over 16,000sq ft of space and is available only to hotel guests.
The Imperial Spa is one of the largest in the city and sports a Moroccan-Moghul mix of motifs and style. Think arches, slender marble pillars and stone-inlay work in the walls. Relax and soak in the atmosphere while getting a massage, scrub or wrap in a therapeutic treatment suite, then mosey over to the sauna and steam room or take a dip in the Jacuzzi.
It’s easy to see why The Imperial is often called a hotel museum. Its corridors, which double as art galleries, are lined with original watercolours and oils, while 17th and 18th century antiques dot the public spaces. A daily hotel tour details the Imperial’s many, many hidden artefacts and treasures, some of which you will happily trip over during any casual walkabout. The hotel boasts a chic Chanel store.
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| Shangri-La pulls out all the trad stops |
Close by is Shangri-La's – Eros Hotel, New Delhi, run by the Hong Kong-based chain. A spacious lobby is lit by three huge chandeliers and further embellished with a plasma TV. This new kid on the block is all spit and polish and gleams with self-confidence.
Its well-polished granite floors might be a challenge for those in overly tall stilettos. Positioned as a prime downtown business hotel, the Shangri-La attracts a fair bit of custom from Southeast Asia. All its rooms are road facing and the higher up you go the more likely you are to spot Delhi’s enduring monuments and landmarks like India Gate, Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament House. This location is pretty much at the heart of Sir Edward Lutyens’ Delhi where roundabouts (not traffic lights) regulate traffic along broad tree-lined radial avenues.
This is the part of town where Delhi as a garden city is best enjoyed. The Shangri-La offers its own garden with shaded trees and outdoor pool where you can enjoy a bite alfresco before the sun beats down in earnest. Of course, should you wish to catch the rays, stretch out at the pool. For a dash of high culture step into the hotel’s private art gallery, Art 19. Later, retire to the spa for a rubdown or customised treatment.
For large boned westerners the Shangri-La’s superior rooms might be a tad snug but are very comfortable nevertheless. A floor-to-ceiling glass wall separates the bedroom from the bath and a screen can be rolled down if you insist on being coy. Every room comes with a copy of the book, Shangri-La, after which the chain has been named. All rooms feature complimentary WiFi, LCD TV, speakers in the bathroom, and, a useful touch, ironing board and iron. Guests on Horizon Club floors get complimentary ironing of two items of clothing every day.
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| Le Meridien Club Room mood lights |
Besides the usual facilities, the business centre provides conference rooms, translation and interpretation services and even prints business cards (Rs600 for a set of 100). The hotel boasts some excellent and rather trendy restaurants with international cuisine. This is a brisk centrally-located Delhi business hotel that is making a mark.
Across the roundabout from the Shangri-La, the Le Meridien New Delhi was built for the Asian games in 1982. That was quite a while back. The hotel has undergone several refurbishments and still sports a jaunty stride. The lobby has been transformed into an all-white marble affair, with several plasma TVs providing entertainment for lobby loungers. A tall glass pillar backs the futuristic reception area lending the place a minimalist space age feel. Walk on past the chic curved wood-pillar The One bar to the soaring atrium. Bubble lifts whisk you up to orange candy-stripe carpet corridors.
The renovated Club Rooms come with a mood light panel behind the headboard. Expect dark wood panels and sideboard, large flat-screen TV, iHome dock, and Wifi and Broadband, which is charged though access is free in the Club Lounge. There is a black leather easy chair and, by the desk, a single three-pin multi-plug socket. A flat laptop-friendly safe will please business travellers and the mosaic floor in the bathroom makes for a change from the de rigueur marble. Some bathrooms feature a tub while others offer a shower cubicle, so do check. And for added indulgence call to pick from a soap and pillow menu. The hotel comes up trumps for disabled guests. There are ramps everywhere and bathrooms are equipped for the handicapped. The hotel also offers babysitting services for a fee, for parents who want a quiet night out sans typhoon tykes.
The Lalit New Delhi (formerly InterContinental, The Grand New Delhi) is perched on the fringe of Connaught Place, the heart of town. The revamped hotel lobby is an airy and minimalist four-floor atrium with clean lines and open space presided over by a dominating Hussein canvas and a "nandi" bull bronze by Satish Gujral.
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| Lalit New Delhi King-size bedroom |
The lobby leads into the all-day 24/7 restaurant – with a fabulous outdoor patio overlooked by only sky – and a chic bar where you might try a Lalit Cocktail. The Lalit is close to offices as well as some of the best New Delhi shopping. Rooms feature blonde-wood doors, timber flooring, plump beds, 42-inch flat-screen TV, DVD player, a long work desk with two multi-pin sockets, WiFi, and an ergonomic stress-relieving chair. A see-through glass partition (with shades) separates the bathroom area with separate shower and soaking tub. Expect an iron and ironing board, two 500ml bottles of complimentary mineral water and ample space to swing your briefcase about. Corporate guests may enjoy the Luxury rooms, set on higher floors for stellar views. A Luxury room comes with roundtrip airport transfers, breakfast and brisk Club facilities. Other features include an outdoor pool, and a Rejuve spa for tired limbs. All in this is a dramatically reborn New Delhi business hotel that will double equally comfortably for leisure trippers. Keep an eye out for sister hotel, The Lalit Noida, (open late 2011).
The white-washed old world The Claridges New Delhi occupies a corner garden plot not far from the Taj Mahal New Delhi and it is very popular with journalists and Western visitors. The place has gone through several useful renovations and offers modern service and amenities in a low-rise residential-style building that offers great atmosphere, not to mention alfresco tea on the lawns. Popular Indian restaurant, Dhaba, has been a Delhi mainstay for years, and The Tandoor knocks out good kebabs. Claridges offers conference facilities and function areas seating up to 200, and a modern business centre. Expect attentive service in an informal setting. All rooms have interactive plasma TVs, DVD and WiFi. The Claridges recently introduced its loyalty programme, The Claridges Club, offering members various discounts and privileges. The chain has recently opened The Claridges Surajkund, replete with a swanky 15,500sq ft spa.
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| Funky room at The Park/ photo: hotel |
The Park New Delhi (a member of “design hotels”) is smack in the middle of town on Parliament Street, close to Connaught Place and overlooking the historic observatory Jantar Mantar. It occupies an unassuming white-washed building that is easy to miss. Step inside though and the place is transformed, with mood lighting, Arabian-nights glass-bead curtains, cool lounges, and bright splashes of colour. The hotel has undergone a revamp and now offers 132 rooms in the main building, all with king-sized beds, and a two-floor ‘Residence’ super luxury section that offers 16 deluxe suites and a presidential suite. On the “Residence” floors, rooms come with a Jacuzzi bathtub, LCD TV, iPod docking, 24-hour butler, access to a private meeting room and entry to the Club Lounge, including free breakfast, private dining options and free happy hour offerings. The hotel offers free airport transfers and babysitters on demand. The hotel will be happy to provide an iPod upon request. Twenty-four-hour dining is on offer at MIST, a private swimming pool is at hand, and to work off the day’s stress, there’s The Spa with sauna, steam room and massage. For a big night out, grab a bite at the award-winning Fire Restaurant, and then head to Agni Bar for some late night grooving. Much thought has gone into the design concept. Overall the hotel is light and airy. With fewer rooms it might have passed off as a boutique hotel. The Park is a rather well run business hotel in Delhi’s central district with funky rooms and flourishes that may appeal to jaded travellers.
Close by is the newly opened Radisson Blu Marina Hotel Connaught Place, heralded as the city’s first “heritage boutique” city centre hotel. The only upscale offering in Connaught Circus (Rajiv Chowk), this 90-roomed hotel’s attraction lies in its central location and close proximity to an Airport Express Line Metro Station and New Delhi Railway Station. Don’t let the historical exterior fool you, the interior is surprisingly modern in a sleek, minimalist way. Superior rooms have their own private terrace, while the Radisson Club floor with its 38 rooms and three suites offers perks for business travellers such as 50 percent off in-room on WiFi usage and access to the Club Lounge where free breakfast, Internet, and evening cocktails are on tap. Make sure to stop by the Great Kabab Factory to sample over a hundred types of kebab.
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| New Delhi Maurya/ photo: hotel |
Top-drawer Delhi conference hotels, closer to the city’s diplomatic areas and the airport, along Sardar Patel Marg, include ITC Maurya New Delhi (now part of the Starwood "Luxury Collection" and no longer carrying the Sheraton mark) and the neighbouring Taj Palace Hotel New Delhi. From US Presidents, to French Prime Ministers and the King of Saudi Arabia, nearly all visiting heads of state have stayed at the Maurya, probably at some inconvenience to other guests. Billed as one of the best Delhi business hotels, its four different room categories include the Executive Club, Towers, Mauryan Chamber’s Luxury rooms and ITC one, the hotel’s premium offering.
Enter the main lobby and you are under the Indian version of the Sistine chapel. When the hotel was launched it commissioned well-known artist Kishen Khanna to paint scenes from Indian village life on its domed ceiling. Look carefully and you can see a cow being scrubbed with what looks like a loofa, wandering mendicants and doe-eyed village women. Stained glass panels painted by India’s foremost rebel artist, MF Hussain, ring the outer windows.
The Executive Club offers the most economical rooms, where the basic rate starts at US$215 or so, and includes modern communication facilities, complimentary Health Club usage, access to the business centre and Club Lounge. Best views overlook the garden and pool the worst, the hotel’s engineering plant. Standard rooms are not cramped at all and come with a bathtub. The more spacious Luxury rooms come with 42-inch plasma TVs and king-size beds.
The hotel has a well-equipped health club and now has its own spa, Kaya Kalp, offering both traditional Indian treatments as well as western massages. It also boasts a variety of event spaces, including the Nandiya Gardens for an outdoor event. Apart from its VIP clientele, perhaps the Maurya’s most well known asset is the Bukhara restaurant which has become a landmark in Delhi serving traditional north Indian cuisine including kebabs that melt in your mouth. Reservations are recommended. Or try Dumpukht, featuring steamed nawabi cuisine.
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| Claridges: residential style/ photo: hotel |
Right next door is the 441-room Taj Palace Hotel New Delhi. Built in 1987, its expansive white marble lobby is cut down to size by the presence of a newly opened Tea Lounge where you can sip 32 different kinds of teas. With two separate entrances, the hotel is positioned among the prime New Delhi conference hotels, with 13 halls of all sizes, the largest of which comfortably fits 1,000 guests. Their convention centre offers simultaneous translation into five languages. You can also rent out one of two lawns for private functions of up to 500 people. The Taj Palace caters largely to business delegations, which explains the option to borrow laptops and printers and full WiFi coverage. The Taj Palace also provides video conference facilities, tennis courts and a nine-hole putting green.
All rooms are either city or pool facing. Refurbished Deluxe rooms are favoured. The more luxurious Taj Club Rooms come with complimentary imported wine, airport transfers, breakfast, tea and coffee at the Club Lounge, cocktail hour and private check-in, as do the 40 suites. For environmentally conscious guests, the hotel now offers special “Green Rooms” designed to increase sustainability and reduce waste. Spread over six acres the hotel is known for its eateries like the Orient Express, where a meal for two with drinks will set you back roughly Rs3,000. More economical is the popular Masala Art, which serves fusion Indian food, sometimes cooked in olive oil and probably the only food outlet in Delhi that serves sanitized sugar cane juice. Looking to relax? No problem! The hotel boasts its own nine-hole golf course, pool, fitness centre, spa, salon and shopping arcade.
The government-run The Ashok in the heart of the green diplomatic enclave has more competitive rates. With 550 rooms it’s easily the capital’s biggest property and is a popular Delhi conference and meetings hotel. Another claim to fame is its convention hall, one of the largest in India. The Ashok is a landmark building and not only for its distinctive sandstone exterior (mimicking the famous Red Fort). Not in the same league as other business hotels, periodic attempts have been made to revive this historic hotel. A variety of restaurants can be found here, like Mashrabiya, which serves Lebanese cuisine paired with a selection of flavoured sheesha hookahs.
Meat-averse patrons can head to Sagar Ratna, serving purely vegetarian dishes. The 12 eateries dotting the complex leaves you rather spoilt for choice. But it is Amatra, its charming lifestyle spa, which is the hotel’s inspiration. Techno-gym equipment, Vichy showers, yoga classes and an automatic shampooing machine are all on offer here.
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| Room at Leela Palace/ photo: hotel |
New kid on the block The Leela Palace New Delhi brings some pizzazz to the neighbourhood. Its spacious 260 rooms all feature TVs and mood lighting in bathrooms, in-room HDTVs, Blu-Ray players, iPod docks, WiFi and private patios. Business travellers should check out the Royal Club floors. A stay there includes 24-hour personalised butler service, complimentary breakfasts, airport limo transfers, free suit pressing daily, as well as high tea, cocktails and snacks at the Royal Club lounge. You even get two hours daily usage of a conference room and your personal espresso machine to start the day on the right foot. Later, unwind at the ESPA, gym or climate-controlled rooftop pool.
The Shervani New Delhi is in the residential heartland of Sundar Nagar near the exhibition grounds, the Old Fort and a bustling shopping market. The converted residence is positioned as a New Delhi boutique hotel. Enjoy high ceilings, a terrace with treetop views, WiFi connection, a business centre, a small gym and a travel desk for your tourist urges. Standard rooms might be a tad too cozy, so opt for the premium rooms if you can spare the change. Further south, you will find sister hotel Shervani Nehru Place, which offers similar amenities. In the central Connaught Place area, the city’s shopping and business hub, the eco-friendly Metropolitan Hotel, New Delhi, (also dubbed The MET), offers 185 rooms and suites, the NeoVeda Spa, and a variety of eateries. It is also home to luxury lifestyle store Craft House, and offers a variety of event spaces, including an outdoor garden.
The 228-room Hilton New Delhi/Janakpuri (opened late 2010) is the first international brand to open its doors in West Delhi. Located close to the Janakpuri West Metro station, getting to the city centre is a snip. All rooms come with the usual amenities, and also feature ergonomic work chairs, and rain showers in the bathroom. The 65 Executive Club rooms provide extra benefits such as complimentary daily breakfasts and free refreshments at the Executive Lounge.
South Delhi hotel options
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| Hyatt Regency/ photo: hotel |
The Hyatt Regency lies equidistant from central New Delhi and the airport. A two-acre property with 517 rooms and suites, its bustling lobby gives a sense of the kind of hotel it is: functional if not fancy, with a clean homogenised décor reflecting an emphasis on service rather than opulence. Black and white photographs of India taken by a peripatetic former general manager, Peter Fulton, garnish the walls. Hyatt offers a rate of the day depending on its occupancy. Rooms face the insanely busy Ring Road or the quieter pool and green lawns, and are priced accordingly.
Though it might appear that the blare of traffic would seep into the rooms, nothing passes through the double glaze windows. Rest or work in silence. Club Floor rooms come with extra amenities – use of available boardroom, free WiFi, access to the club lounge, breakfast, free drinks in the evening, and airport transfer. Suites have highly polished wooden floors, washrooms with double glass washbasins, and are large enough to accommodate a wardrobe and luggage rack. Business related facilities include video-conferencing facilities, interpreters, and even information on local banking, commerce and finance. La Piazza, Hyatt’s Italian restaurant has constantly been voted by locals as the most authentic Italian food in the city. Other eateries include a 24-hour café, the China Kitchen and TK’s Oriental Grill. For some pampering, step into the luxurious Club Olympus Spa and Fitness Centre, replete with tennis courts and coaches, a gym, massages, saunas, a steam room and a beauty salon. This is a well positioned address with good service among top-tier New Delhi business hotels.
Farther south, close to the Qutab Industrial area, is the 96-room Clarion Collection by Choice Hotels (formerly the Qutab Hotel) with express check-in and check-out, business centre, satellite TV, WiFi, 24-hour room service, children’s facilities, swimming pool, health club and bicycles should you wish to limber up. Those looking for New Delhi long-stay hotels will be happy to know the Clarion Collection also offers 30 serviced apartments. In a rush? Hook yourself up through the hotel with a small private plane through aviation charter company, Air Car.
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| InterContinental Nehru Place/ photo:hotel |
The InterContinental Nehru Place is a 217-room five-star hotel in a busy South Delhi suburb, most recently renovated in 2009. The hotel offers its signature executive Club InterContinental rooms with airport transfers, complimentary buffet breakfasts, satellite TV, coffee-making facilities, a dedicated lounge, high-speed Internet, in-room safe, iron and ironing board, weighing scales for the finicky or fat, and an endless stream of complimentary drinks and snacks on the outdoor terrace garden while taking in the city skyline. Catch some quality Zs to the scent of lavender or rose with an aromatic turndown service and pillow menu. A one-touch service centre button gets things moving without the fuss of calling several departments. Work out at the recently renovated gym with aerobics or yoga while your kids snack on the specially created kids’ menu. Alternatively pop into the spa, or try the nine-hole putting green.
The InterContinental is positioned as New Delhi conference hotels choice and offers eight meeting rooms, the largest of which can handle up to 850 people reception style. Looking for fancy equipment to wow the boss with your presentation? No problem. Check out the DVD player, flip charts, LCD projector, stage lights, and 35mm slide projector. The business centre, staffed nonstop, is perfect for the jetlagged traveller still wide awake in the wee hours. The entire hotel is WiFi enabled, although there is a small charge of around Rs250. Plug in and log on.
The Suryaa New Delhi (previously the Crowne Plaza Hotel Delhi) is farther south in New Friends Colony with easier access to the Okhla and Noida export processing zones. The hotel also offers fast getaways for Agra day-trips if you fancy taking in the Taj Mahal, but keep in mind that the monument is closed on Fridays. The 242-room hotel offers 82 Club rooms all with 42-inch flat-screen plasma televisions and a Club Lounge.
Expect suites, with living room, roundtrip airport transfers, breakfast, high tea, fruit basket and wine bottle on arrival, cocktails during Lounge happy hours and DVDs on request. The Suryaa New Delhi offers “medical tourism” packages exploiting its proximity to Apollo Hospital and the Escorts Heart Institute and also provides six rooms fully equipped to cater for disabled guests. All rooms and public areas offer WiFi. Business centre and dining options are available through the day.
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| The Manor: laid back/ photo: hotel |
The Manor, a friendly, chic 15-suite residential establishment in the leafy South Delhi suburb of Friends Colony is popular with Japanese guests. Dating back to the 1950s, The Manor offers gardens, open space, and a popular Italian restaurant. If you want an unhurried atmosphere away from the bustle of downtown, and attentive service, this is the place for you.
Delhi airport area hotels
If it’s a 700m outdoor jogging track and tennis courts you are looking for then the ten-acre, 390-room The Grand New Delhi is for you. Slightly off the beaten track, the standalone property built from Dholpur stone lies in isolated splendour just 15 minutes from the international airport. A cavernous beige and gold lobby is dominated by a domed interior covered in 22 carat gold leaf. Scattered faux palms inside compete with real trees outside. With its endless space it offers the largest Delhi hotel spa. Each massage room has its own separate shower. Unlike other luxury hotels the Grand lets outsiders use the gym for a daily charge.
Premium rooms overlook nicely landscaped gardens though you have to try hard to see the Qutab Minar. Broadband is available in rooms and must be paid for. WiFi is available at the lobby level at the same rate. The Grand has set up special "Single Lady" rooms for female travellers, and also boast child friendly policies and disability services. It also offers serviced apartments for long-stay guests. A huge draw, quite literally, is the Grand Ballroom, a 30,000sq ft event space that boasts its own separate entrance and parking space. An adjoining outdoor terrace offers a seating capacity of over 2,000.
Located four kilometres from the airport, the Radisson Hotel Delhi, recently rebranded as the Radisson Blu Hotel Delhi to promote a more upmarket feel, is a red-brick five-star hotel that often plays host to the Dalai Lama. Its large lobby is fringed by the Great Kabab factory which has developed quite a cult following.
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| Connaught Place, the very centre of town |
The hotel has 256 rooms but the well-heeled business traveller will opt for the 41 Business Class rooms, which all overlook the gardens or pool. Guests can enjoy complimentary breakfasts, access to the Plaza Lounge, with its free happy hours and snacks, large personal safes, an in-room seating area and two hours in the meeting room for free. All rooms offer a few frills, including complimentary buffet breakfasts, free stays for kids under six, two-way airport transfers, free in-room WiFi and bottled mineral water, and daily newspapers. It was popular once for its kababs and not just as a New Delhi airport hotel.
The Uppal’s Orchid Ecotel has been rebranded as the VITS Luxury Business Hotel Delhi. Catering to business travellers, it boasts 151 rooms, green space and exercise facilities. It doesn't come cheap though. Also near the airport, in a garden setting, is the more modestly priced (US$170 range) 82-room Ashok Country Resort New Delhi, which also offers day rates for visitors in transit.
New Delhi boutique hotels, budget inns and guest houses
Hotels in the central Connaught Place area cover all price ranges and are ideal to access restaurants, shops, and sightseeing. Located right in the hub of the action is The Connaught (previously the Hotel Connaught). Far from splashy, its cream-washed exterior makes it look like a large house rather than a hotel. Inside, find a marble lobby, reception, and special facilities for the disabled. The hotel’s best rooms overlook Shivaji stadium where hockey matches are played at the crack of dawn in summer – to beat the heat. The more swank rooms are panelled in wood and can be a little overwhelming but are a favourite with foreign-domiciled returning Indians in winter. A computer room serves as a business centre, some conference facilities are available, and there are small shops to buy forgotten essentials.
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| Colonel's Retreat: value/ photo: hotel |
The ancient Nirula’s Hotel in Connaught Circus (also Rajiv Chowk) shut down a few years ago after losing its lease. Nirula’s has two other hotels in Noida and Panipat. The more recent The Q’ bed-and-breakfast at Malcha Marg Market near the city centre boasts sleek modern rooms with WiFi. This tiny hotel serves up a handful of smart rooms with LCD televisions. It is well located for a dash to the airport or Gurgaon but close enough to downtown and the market offers an array of food from Chinese and Japanese to Indian Mughlai. This is a nice upscale residential area with plenty of green. Downstairs, find the popular QBA, a hopping night spot with live music and a chic all-black bar.
In Old Delhi's Chandni Chowk area tucked away in a nondescript alley is the small and friendly 33-room Hotel Tara Palace. Expect aircon, ceiling fans, colour TV, telephone, Internet access, en suite baths, 24-hour restaurant and value rates that won't bust the bank. All bookings also include free breakfast and airport pick-up. This is Delhi's historic quarter with Mughal era architecture littered about from the magnificent red sandstone Red Fort to the minarets and grand dome of the Jama Masjid mosque, which can be enjoyed from the hotel’s roof.
South Delhi is teeming with guesthouses. They may not be plush but they are certainly more cost effective than five-star hotels and offer a personalised touch in a Delhi home. In Sundar Nagar is the smart and cheerful Jukaso Inn that has also opened a hotel in Gurgaon. With a terrace garden, the 33-room guesthouse is favoured by academics and Western visitors. WiFi is available on the premises. Club Executive rooms are compact but have smart, modern amenities, and the suites are nicely decorated – no longer their former dusty incarnation. Boutique La Sagrita tourist home, also in Sundar Nagar, has smaller rooms but is fortunate enough to be overlooking a pleasant park. All rooms are en suite, and include a private terrace and in-room kitchenette.
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| Amarya Haveli "Orange" room |
Located in splendid seclusion in a spiffy New Delhi suburb, walking distance from the beautiful Lodhi Gardens, is the 11-room Ahuja Residency, a Golf Links guesthouse that has been in operation for 25 years. It faces one of the suburb’s many parks and caters mostly to diplomats and UN officials. Internet is available in the rooms and an in-house computer is located in the lobby. This fast growing chain has also opened similar guesthouses in Defence Colony and more recently in Sunder Nagar, as well as serviced apartments for long stay guests.
Also in South Delhi's suburban Defence Colony, well located for most city sights and business, is the whimsically named Colonel's Retreat, a boutique bed and breakfast that continues to win guest accolades for its "clean, good-sized rooms and friendly service". Singles can stay at a very reasonable Rs4,500 (with breakfast, water, tea and coffee) or around US$94. Extra beds can be had for just Rs500. All rooms are doubles, and you can expect decent bathrooms, flat-screen TVs, a fridge, electronic safe, work desk and, best of all, complimentary WiFi. Meals are available round the clock and laundry is a snip.
Within the same residential enclave, you will find Casa Delhi, run by Casa Boutiques hotel chain, which also operates sister Casa Friends in New Friends Colony. The two suites and five rooms all feature works of art by contemporary Indian artists, and the Mediterranean-themed villa’s ground floor includes a communal lounge, dining area, an outdoor garden with barbeque and bar. Useful if you want to retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city. In Greater Kailash, the Madhuban Inn is one of the city’s older guest houses and located conveniently opposite a bank. Used by short-stay business travellers and wedding parties, good long-stay rates are also available here. There is no Internet although the rooms are equipped with safes.
In the smart Haus Khas enclave is the Amarya Haveli, which boasts six en suite rooms, each named after a major city in India. Each room is individually colour-themed and has complimentary Wi-Fi, 24-hour room service and even massages on request. This converted residence in a quiet upscale neighbourhood offers a homey feel with boutique flourishes evident in the bright splashes of colour on the walls and through elaborate use of bright-hued cushions.
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| Room with a view, b nineteen/ photo: hotel |
A gravelled patio on the ground floor serves as a reading or breakfast area while a rooftop terrace - also with gravel underfoot - offers a sunny winter retreat for a sit-down with a good book. In the pink room, find a pink door, a small LCD TV, a glass cubicle with rain shower, and of course the wonderfully free WiFi. Alex Lieury, the French owner was formerly in the fashion business and later decided to create the haveli to show friends what "life in India" could be like. His take on India includes curios, old furniture and coffee table books. The pace is slow and unhurried - just as at home. Alex also runs the Amarya Villa in Safdarjung Enclave.
More stylish, and on same road as Taj Palace and the Maurya in the Diplomatic Enclave, is Hotel Diplomat. With 25 rooms, it is a clean, smart hotel sometimes accommodating an overflow from its more upmarket competition up the road.
The chic b nineteen hotel in Nizamuddin East (the quieter and leafier side of this neighbourhood) is a mod escape in a laundered white cubist confection with bright splashes of ochre, lime green and blue. It's perfect for those yearning for the comforts of home. Each of the six suites has a living area, en suite bathrooms, private terraces or balcony and Wi-Fi (free for long-term guests, or Rs200 a day). Try to bag the penthouse suite, as this offers unobstructed views of the spectacular Humayun’s Tomb (the forerunner of the Taj Mahal in Agra). This intimate New Delhi boutique hotel also offers a library and rooftop terrace. Guests have kitchen access, so you can cook your own meals if the strong local flavours are getting the tummmy rumbling.
Each room has a differing design, the handiwork of architect owner Rajive Chaudhry, whose passion for organising space is evident throughout. Rajive returned from the USA to set up a genuine home for travellers and picked this secluded corner of Nizamuddin a short drive from the heart of town. In-room expect orange walls, grey-stone floors, brightly patterned Indian fabrics, small LCD screens, and a mosquito net hanging above the bed. Bathrooms are reasonably generous. The Penthouse has less bathing space but serves up a steam room. Can't complain.
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| b nineteen interior: handicrafts galore |
A bit farther out of town in the Vasant Kunj area near Mata Chowk is another New Delhi budget hotel choice, the Hotel Metro Tower. The facilities are simple and unassuming, and very convenient to get to with the complimentary airport transfer. Expect brightly painted air-conditioned rooms with satellite TV and mini-bar, 24-hour room service, attached bathrooms, laundry services, and even a small roof garden. Rates here will set you back just between Rs1,800 double occupancy to Rs2,500 (for a double bed family room). Sister Hotel City Centre in Connaught Place has similar offerings in a more central location.
Gurgaon business hotels, small meetings
As the hub of Delhi’s burgeoning information technology business, Gurgaon is seeing the launch of many new hotels. The modern curving glass facade of the Westin Gurgaon, located just fifteen minutes from the Indira Gandhi Airport, looms above IFFCO Chowk, a particularly busy intersection. To get around this traffic snarl the hotel access is via a side road off the highway with lots of beckoning greenery.
The hotel boasts 313 rooms replete with views of Millennium City and a high-ceiling lobby in corporate pastels and earth tones. Expect Internet, an iHome dock, flat-screen TV, DVD player and rain forest showers. A stay on the Executive Floors offers frills like access to the Club Lounge, early check-in, late check-out and more.
An Executive Suite offers cool marble floors with carpets and pale pinewood walls, a large living space, a spacious light-filled bedroom and a roomy bathroom with bathtub. A sliding smoked glass door leads to the bathing area and its twin vanities. In-room find an iron and ironing board, a flat laptop-size safe, weighing scales, iHome dock, and several three-pin multi-plug sockets. Floor to ceiling windows are welcoming of light and dramatic peak-hour traffic views that will drive home the value of being parked in an oasis like the Westin.
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| Westin Gurgaon's green teddy |
There are smoking floors as well as rooms for women travellers with extra amenities and dollops of pink. Parents can drop off their kids at the Kids Club for fun stuff like board games, Xbox or old-fashioned books (remember them?), while they enjoy the Heavenly Spa or relax by the outdoor pool. There is a WestinWORKOUT area but no WestinWORKOUT rooms.
An older and stately choice is the Trident Gurgaon, ten minutes from the airport and 35 minutes from India Gate. With its domes and stone trellises, the exterior of this minimalist property offers a fusion of Middle Eastern, Mughal and contemporary. The low-rise hotel blends into the landscape. A central reflective pool lined with Italian tiles absorbs the traffic sounds from National Highway 8. To play down human activity the hotel has no obvious driveway. Guests walk to the lobby and its gold-leaf domed ceiling while the luggage gets whisked away to your room from the main entry point.
The serenity, space and seclusion is apparent in the 136 rooms as well. Most are located on the ground floor. Superior and premium rooms are available with pool or garden views. Executive suites overlook a water feature adorned with fragrant frangipani trees, along with a living room, powder room and a walk-in closet. Butler service is available for all guests and if requested female butlers can cater to women travellers.
Other amenities include WiFi, satellite TV, tea and coffee facilities, safe, hairdryer and personal bar. For all its apparent quietude, the Trident is very, very corporate, a fact reflected in the conference rooms, which have facilities like drop-down projectors and video conferencing. Business travellers will enjoy its Business Travel Plus program, which offers complimentary breakfast, free WiFi, 9am check-ins and one way airport transfers. Check out the swimming pool, spa and fitness centre for some relaxation as well.
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| Trident Gurgaon/ photo: hotel |
Premium rooms offer ergonomic chairs. The hotel also downloads and prints newspapers for guests from their home country. Far larger, and set up as a prime address for New Delhi conference hotels, is the The Leela Kempinski Gurgaon, Delhi (NCR). It is joined at the hip to The Leela Residences Kempinski Gurgaon. Together they offer 322 spacious rooms and 90 serviced apartments for long stay visitors in need to extensive business facilities. The Leela is a modern reflective glass structure that links with the kilometre-long Ambience Mall (locally referred to as Ambi Mall). As a meetings hotel, expect over 2,000sq m of convention and conference space. In-room there's WiFi and wired Broadband plus the usual modcons with a 40-inch flat screen TV. Two premium luxury Royal Club floors are also on offer, with benefits similar to sister Leela Palace New Delhi.
The Oberoi Gurgaon (opened early 2011) might stir the pot with its super-luxury 202 rooms and suites, all of which offer views of gardens or the pool. Each room also includes personal butler service, 45-inch TV, DVD player, iPod dock, WiFi, and a separate seating area. Some Premier Suites offer personal heated pools, an open deck, two bedrooms and a whole host of other benefits. You may need to sell the kids though.
Also expect an Olympic-size pool and a 24-hour spa to sooth even the most jetlagged of guests any time of night. Also open round the clock is the gym, which offers complimentary yoga classes every morning. Corporate events can also be arranged here in any one of the two Grand Ballrooms, ten meeting rooms and even outdoors in the gardens.
Located in Sushant Lok the 45-room Park Plaza could almost be a boutique hotel. It’s small enough, standing on just half an acre, but perhaps its style is not classy enough. It looks like a clean European hotel catering for IT executives. Standard rooms overlook a busy highway. Rooms are spacious but a little soulless and come with all the routine accoutrements – safe, coffee and tea-making facilities, WiFi, hair dryer and mini bar. A wellness centre is available as is a rooftop pool. Rates, especially corporate ones, are extremely negotiable.
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| Oberoi Gurgaon/ photo: hotel |
The Fortune Select Global Gurgaon looks a little tense – squeezed in between two hyperactive shopping malls. That minor blemish aside, this is a smart looking modern business hotel. It is part of the ITC chain’s Fortune Hotels selection. It has a fast turnover and caters to middle-rung business travellers looking for good rates and efficient service. It boasts nine suites, 60 standard rooms, 20 Fortune Club rooms and 18 Fortune Club Superior rooms. Club rooms are adequately sized, though some bathrooms come without a bath tub. Enjoy WiFi connectivity, TV, work desk, minibar, safe and Club Lounge access with any purchase. Also in Gurgaon is sister Fortune Select Excalibur, which also caters to business travellers and is slightly cheaper.
With its reception on its second floor, the 84-room Bristol Hotel Gurgaon has been able to filter out unwanted crowds. But although strategically located, the hotel does not seem to tempt the international visitor as much as the domestic traveller. It’s pricing is a bit awry too. For instance, the penthouse studio is pitched at a staggering US$1,900 while deluxe rooms come for just US$180. However, it does offer a good range of dining options, and a spa, swimming pool and fitness centre.
Cinderblock IBIS Hotel Gurgaon is un-noteworthy from the outside but a pleasant surprise inside. Rooms are compact, clean and smart, with up-to-date décor in each of the 217 functional rooms, with flatscreen TV and free Internet. The small Lemon Tree Hotel, CityCenter, is a bright, friendly and unfussy option in Gurgaon. You’ll find 45 rooms with WiFi, cable flat screen TV and, usefully, for that end of day unwind, an orthopaedic mattress and blackout curtains. There is a business centre, fitness centre and meeting facilities for 30-70 people.
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| Westin Sohna Gurgaon/ photo: hotel |
It also offers a special room for physically challenged guests. Similar facilities are available at sibling hotel Lemon Tree Hotel, Udyog Vihar, another good value Gurgaon hotel contender.
The 285-room Hotel Pullman Gurgaon Central Park (August 2011) is a good spot for health fanatics with an outdoor pool, 18-hole golf course, bowling, tennis, basketball, snooker and even an athletics stadium. It is close to the Delhi border (coming from Mehrauli) and offers quick access into the heart of Gurgaon bypassing congested crossroads.
A short way out on the Sohna Road is the small and neat brickwork Westin Sohna Gurgaon Resort & Spa. The hotel is set in manicured lawns with uplit trees and water features. It caters for leisure traffic and doubles comfortably as a small meetings hotel for Delhi corporates and more. Expect two pools, a spa, and the usual Westin WORKOUT and plunge-in beds.
Shopping in Delhi ranges from utterly extravagant – where Indian haute couture costs upwards of Rs200,000 – to mid-priced malls and roadside bargain shopping on Janpath where everything from t-shirts, Tibetan jewellery, fake antiques, and Rajasthani mirror-work fabric, dresses, and cushion covers are on display. A lakh is a unit of 100,000 and this is a term you’ll frequently encounter in India if on business or doing anything dealing in large sums. Each residential area hosts a local market with provision stores. But the larger ones like South Extension, Greater Kailash, Defence Colony, and Khan Market also contain a vast array of curio, antique, clothing, book, flower, handicraft, and electronic shops. Most areas have different closing days (often Sunday or Monday), so check before going.
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| Tombs and walks at Lodhi Gardens |
If your New Delhi shopping brief includes classy, upmarket Indian designer brands and fashion, head to Santushti Shopping Complex in Chanakyapuri, near Ashoka hotel, home to a clutch of leading boutiques and designer outlets. If you tire of shopping, Basil and Thyme (lunchtime only) is located in same complex known for its high quality desserts. Ambavatta building, near the Qutab Minar, is also an excellent source of stylish items, as is the DLF Emporium and less expensive sister DLF Promenade in Vasant Kunj. The latter offers great eateries, including Smokehouse Deli, Keya Bar and Kainush Restaurant. It also boasts its own private open air theatre for some relaxation after shopping. Women should try N Block Market in Greater Kailash II for upmarket international and Indian designers, boutiques, shoes, crystal-ware, and so forth. Don’t forget to pop by Cafe Diva for some Italian food or Shalom Restaurant and Bar for a drink and a snack when you’re done.
When planning your day, keep in mind that both are some of the busiest markets in Delhi and prone to heavy traffic congestion. Technophiles should try Nehru Place. Check out their website (www.npithub.com) for quotations and services beforehand to avoid wandering around aimlessly. Another option is Palika Bazaar in Connaught Place, which boasts a huge array of gadgets, among other things. It was revamped to reduce overcrowding and make a decent stab at a more organised shopping experience. Still, it may be overwhelming for some. Make sure what you buy isn’t fake. Many "authorised" shops are not what they appear. Again, bargain bargain bargain or end up with that infamous "foreigner" price.
Delhi and Gurgaon shopping malls have mushroomed. There are several prominent South Delhi malls but avid shopaholics should head to the Saket District for a real treat. The Metropolitan Mall, Courtyard, and South Court are some you will find here. But the star attraction is definitely the sprawling six-acre behemoth Select Citywalk.
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| Rajasthani embroidery at Janpath |
With over 1.3 million square feet of space, it boasts three separate zones and 125 shops where international mega brands like Esprit and FCUK rub elbows with more traditional fare usually found in the likes of Dilli Haat. It also offers multiple dining options for all budgets and a cinema multiplex. Relax after breaking the bank in the luxurious 100,000sq ft outdoor plaza, with amphitheatre, mood lighting and water fountains.
Other South Delhi malls include Ansal Plaza and Shopper’s Stop in Andrew’s Ganj and Westside in Lajpat Nagar. Not enough? Pop on over to Gurgaon, to the Ambience Mall, which caters more to a younger crowd (mainly teen fashion), and has a play area for kids to romp about in while parents try to squeeze in some retail therapy. By far the largest mall in India, this behemoth has 1.8million square feet of space including a cinema multiplex, bowling alley, ice skating rink and a theme park for the little ones to go wild in. No time to waste? No problem. Visit their website (www.ambiencemalls.com), pick your spots and view floor layouts for your plan of attack for this one-kilometre shopping mall. Other choices in the area include Sahara and Lifestyle malls. Quality is assured and most outlets will exchange items if they have not been used.
For Indian handicrafts, traditional items, and quality textiles, opt for the Cottage Emporium on Janpath, next to The Imperial. A government-run enterprise, prices here are fixed and haggling is not the norm. Similar to this are the various State Emporiums scattered about the city, each selling local specialties where some of the most musty but enjoyable New Delhi shopping is to be done. Dilli Haat (open all week), is a fun open-air market in South Delhi, whose vendors change frequently, and usually come from other states in India. It offers a serendipitous experience where you can bargain your head off. There’s a respectable selection of Indian ware and prices are much lower compared to the Cottage.
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| Khan Market: Good Earth |
Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi is known for its jewellery shops and silverware and Lajpat Nagar Market and Shankar Market are recommended for their textiles and fast tailors.
A favourite Delhi shopping stop for visitors is FabIndia (Greater Kailash and Khan Market) where a huge array of clothes and furnishings is available, and Anokhi (Khan Market) which focuses on Rajasthani prints and fine cottons. Bargain hunters willing to get elbow-deep in pedestrian traffic should head to Sarogini Nagar Market or Central Market in Lajpat Nagar for cheap clothes and shoes. Be ready to haggle.
Top quality leather products can be had for top dollar at Da Milano (Citywalk, Connaught Place, M Block Market). A cheaper alternative is Hidesign (Citywalk, Connaught Place, N Block), which offers a wide selection with better value.
For a quiet hang-out, with coffee shops, bookstores, and flavourful Indian Chinese restaurants, close to the Lodhi Gardens, try Khan Market. This is a popular and busy low-rise development that attracts local residents and plenty of foreigners for its array of boutique clothing, casual fashions, trinkets, home products, book shops and small speciality stores. Pick up a silk saree for around Rs1,500 to Rs3,500 or a richly-worked kanjeevaram for Rs6,500. Pop into The Neemrana Shop (23-B Khan Market, tel: 4358-7183), Good Earth (tel: 2464-7175, 9 Khan Market) for brilliantly-hued silk cushion covers, bed runners, table cloths and other fabrics for the home, and Jai Raj Arts (25B Khan Market) for your trinket haul of bracelets, bangles and necklaces. Along the Khan Market alleys are newspaper vendors, and Kashmiri shawl merchants peddling intricate jamewars for Rs1,500 and up.
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| Lodi - The Garden Restaurant: alfresco |
For a classy personal shopping concierge experience that eliminates the heat and dust and cows, get in touch with the charming and very in-the-know Binita Rawlley (www.binitarawlley.com) who will whisk you off on personalised itineraries.
Delhi nightlife, dining, and a pinch of culture
Dining in Delhi ranges from streetside food (a challenge to any Western constitution, inducing what is fondly termed Delhi belly) to signature restaurants like 360 at The Oberoi, The Imperial’s Silk Route and Maurya’s Bukhara (known for its North West Frontier cuisine). A meal for two in these restaurants, without drinks, will likely cost Rs3,500 to Rs4,000. Another top pick is Oh! Calcutta in Nehru Place, serving cuisine from Kolkata including the signature “boneless” hilsa fish in mustard.
More economical but less splashy are Ploof (Lodhi Colony Market), famous for its selection of fish from all corners of India, Flavors (Defence Colony). Thai High (Ambavatta building) offers mouth-watering views of the Qutab Minar and good Thai food while Yellow Brick Road at the Ambassador Hotel serves up dishes with names like Luyten’s Fantasy – actually a steak Diane with jacket potatoes. (Cost for two without drinks at these eateries is about Rs1,500).
Dilli Haat also boasts a nice outdoor seating area offering food stalls from various states. Or walk into Lodhi Gardens from Lodhi Road and eat excellent fusion Mediterranean cuisine fashionably alfresco or in air-conditioned comfort, looking onto splendid greenery and old Sultanate tombs at Lodi - The Garden Restaurant (tel: 9818743232). Winter is the best time for this spot. Friendly but slow service will give you ample time to get acquainted with your guests. Later stroll through the gardens and marvel at ancient mausoleums.
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| Amour for pizza at Hauz Khas Village |
Not far from here, the Big Chill Café in Khan Market offers a wide array of beverages and veg and non-veg Italian options. Peruse the collection of old movie posters that dominate the walls from floor-to-ceiling and dig in while Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn look on. An Asian alternative is Mamagoto, also in Khan Market, serving Oriental cuisine. Don’t forget to try the rock shrimp tempura.
For something chic and upscale, try Hauz Khas Village that is turning trendier by the minute. It is still rustic, but romantic, despite the dust and carts and cows. At the end of the road is the atmospheric Hauz Khas monument and "tank" or lake while on either side of the narrow lane are low-rise shop houses displaying artsy fashion, books, and more. It is here you'll find amour (tel: 9711877134) up on the fourth floor accessible by an impossibly small lift. Enter to find a vaulted ceiling with chandeliers, grand views of the deer park through large glass windows on one side and an open-air patio on the other with views of the lake. The decor is attractive and the outdoor area is a huge draw in winter. Sample the risotto or try the excellent wood-fire oven pizzas. This is romance as you've never known it in India.
For good South Indian food in Delhi – dosas, idlis, vadas – you’ll get value for money at the Sagar chain (Defence Colony and Mallika Nagar markets). Sagar also runs an outlet at the Ashoka Hotel. The restaurant is purely vegetarian and does not serve alcoholic drinks. A meal for two is around Rs300. Its non-vegetarian sister chain, Swagat (Defence Colony Market) serves excellent crabs and a meal for two kicks in at Rs800. More grungy, hugely aromatic, and strongly recommended for all intrepid travellers is the ever-popular Karim’s in a side street close to the Jama Masjid in crowded Old Delhi. It serves a vast selection of Muslim meat dishes and has another branch in Nizamuddin, a South Delhi residential suburb. For fast and cheap food, try Haldiram’s, with a wide array of Indian snacks and sweet meats. The best way to access the eatery is via the Metro train service. Most restaurants stop taking orders by eleven.
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| Cycle rickshaw: another way to get around |
Coffee purists can look out for Baristas, Café Coffee Day, Costa Coffee and Mocha. Besides serving beverages, mostly coffee, they offer light snacks for those on the go. Art lovers might try out Mocha Arthouse in the DLF Promenade Mall. As its name suggests, it brings together funky art pieces with freshly brewed coffee, sprinkled with some light snacks and electronica music.
Delhi nightlife is almost an oxymoron in a city where entertaining is largely done at home, in civilised surrounds, with The Eagles or Ravi Shankar playing. But an emerging generation of intrepid party-loving Delhi-ites with money to burn means there is a rapidly expanding bar scene.
Top Delhi bars are usually located in luxury hotels, such as Fbar in the Ashok, Blue Ginger Bar at the Taj, Djinns at the Hyatt Regency and Agni at the Park Hotel. Others include long-standing tourist hotspot Urban Pind in N Block, Greater Kailash I, and Q Ba and 1911 Bar, with its staggering 500 drinks.
Neighbouring Ivy boasts the longest bar in Delhi at 42 feet. For something less upmarket, check out the Living Room (or TLR, as it is also known) in the smart rural-chic enclave of Haus Khas Village, which offers informal music events and drinks at reasonable prices. Many of these close early, around 1am, due to a government curfew on noise in residential areas.
Creatures of the night have no fear. The nightclub scene is also growing, where the rich and beautiful groove through the night. Hot at the moment are Hype in the Ashok Hotel and Lapis and Shiro in the Samrat Hotel. Alternatively, head over to Elevate in Noida, an ultra exclusive club that has hosted top DJs like Paul Oakenfield. Clubs in Delhi have a frightening turnover rate, so check that your spot is still open before you head out. A side note: Delhi has government imposed "dry" days throughout the year where alcohol cannot be sold at all (check up this year's dates on the government website, www.excise.delhigovt.nic.in).
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| Aman New Delhi suite |
Cultural activities tend to peak during winter though cultural hubs like the India Habitat Centre, India Islamic Culture Centre or the India International Centre, all near Lodi Road, do offer regular dance recitals, films and lectures. Hotspot Dances of India close to Connaught Place offers live ethnic dance performances from all over India every evening at 7pm. Theatres near Connaught Place like Kamani Auditorium, the National School of Drama, and Sri Ram Centre, regularly run plays.
If all this fails to interest, check out the National Rail Museum (off Shanti Path, Diplomatic Enclave) for some ripe old chuggers and ancient cabooses. It's a great spot for the family and kids and there's a steam engine ride too. At the other end of the city on the National Highway (NH24) towards Noida is the the giant, hand-carved Akshardham Temple built in a classic style without structural steel framework. The stone edifice was built by 11,000 artisans and opened in 2005.
That’s the A to Z of New Delhi business hotels with a fun guide tossed in. Well, as I said, throw away that watch and head into Indian Standard Time.
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