Retired FF
Jan 23, 04, 6:27 am
My wife and I just returned from a six week trip of Asia of which we spent about a month in India. Wherever possible, we stayed at *wood properties. In mumbai, the only *wood property is near the airport, which is a long distance (from 45 minutes to 2 hours by taxi depending upon the time of day) from town, so we stayed at a Taj hotel most of the time except 2 nights at the Sheraton.
DELHI-MAURYA SHERATON: We stayed there on the first day of our arrival and then again for three nights before returning. I had arranged for a hotel car to pick us up which turned out to be complimentry, given my platinum status. As I was approaching the check in counter, a hostess asked if she could help. I gave her my name and said that I was checking in and she asked how was our long flight from Toronto, obviously had reviewed the guest list. She went behind the counter, picked up a package and escorted us directly to a junior suite (upgrade from a std room). She took all the needed info. while explaining hotel services. There was nice bowl of fruits and a bottle of wine, with a welcome card from the manager. Once the check in was finished, she took us to the Towers lounge (another wing) and introduced us to the host of the lounge. The lounge had a happy hour from 6:30 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. when they provide complementry 'local' drinks, beer and wine along with 2-3 appetizers brought to the table in individual plates. Most enjoyable.
Breakfast was included in our rate and we enjoyed a lavish Indian/Continental breakfast in the cafe. When checking out, we advised them of our return about a month later for three nights and requested a towers wing and were pleased to receive it upon arrival. Although, a smaller room than the junior suite, we preferred being in the towers wing. It had a separate check in. Oddly, I found the Towers check in staff NOT to be nearly as helpful as that for the standard wing. There were 2-3 young agents and seemd to get confused at every request and the supervisor, who was an older gentleman, seemed very upset at them and was not trying hard at all to hide his emotions. Both my wife and I noticed this throughout our stay of three days.
The Towers lounge also serves a small cold breakfast and were pleased to get eggs etc. made to order to go with the cold items.
Overall, our stay was excellent and the staff remembered us during our stay. We were leaving a small tip whenever we used the lounge and that did not hurt at all the service that we received dring our stay..
I will definitely go back to the Sheraton in Delhi. The Sheraton is also considered to have one of the best Inidan restaurant (Bhukara) in all of Delhi. We ahd lunch there and it was great.
Mumbai Grand Maratha Sheraton: an airport hotel. Checked in for two nights just prior to leaving Mumbai. We were upgraded to a huge one bedroom suite on a standard floor but were given access to the Towers lounge.
A relatively new hotel with excellent decor and lots of ambiance. Not much to do near the airport so we used to hotel just to relax. We got a massage at the Spa and were very pleased with it. Approx. $20 USD per hour. The cafe served an excellent choice of Indian and continental dishes in a buffet style ( a la carte was also available) at a reasonable price for a 5* hotel. In addition to the Towers lounge there was an executive lounge open to all guests, which also had a happy hour from 6:30 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. and served complimentry domestic alcohal, beer and wine. The Towers lounge, in addition to the drinks, also served a couple appetizers. I preferred the executive lounge as it was more open and had a better overall ambiance.
The hotel provides complimentry airport transfers (domestic and international) to Towers guests and also to Platinum guests. A great airport hotel but not appropriate if you want to visit town. I was told that they are planning on opening a property closer to town next year.
Jaipur- Sheraton Rajputana: Based on some negative comments about this hotel on this forum, I had communicated in advance with the hotel and was assured that I will be happy with my visit. The check in agent recognized my name righ away and within a minute I was checked in and was being escorted to a large one bedrrom suite. The hotel is an old structure (while it is claimed to be PALACE hotel, I think it might have been used for junior folks in comparison to other Palace hotels. Still considered to be a 5* hotel. Located very close to the train station, the approach to the hotel is very depressing due to slums and dirt, but once inside, the hotel is fairly nice.
Our room had been stocked with complimentry beer, soft drinks and mineral water along with lots of fruits and some Indian snacks. We had a couple meals at the hotel which were just okay. We went to the famous Rambagh Palace hotel for a visit and lunch one day, and were very pleased with the meal there. While a much better setting than the Sheraton, we were more than satisfied with our accomodations given the upgrade we received and also that we only used 3K points per night (Rambagh was costing $250 USD ++ for a STD room). We were met by the front desk manager when checking out asking about our stay and once again assuring us that the problem reported on this forum was an isolated case.
While I preferred the service in Delhi and in Mumbai, given that this is a category 2 hotel, we were more than saisfied.
Overall, I was very happy with the Platinum treatment I received. I realized however upon my return that NONE of the hotels asked or gave us the 500 points as amenity bonus. We had FOUR stays in India, so that is 2000 points. Any way I can ask for this now!!
DELHI-MAURYA SHERATON: We stayed there on the first day of our arrival and then again for three nights before returning. I had arranged for a hotel car to pick us up which turned out to be complimentry, given my platinum status. As I was approaching the check in counter, a hostess asked if she could help. I gave her my name and said that I was checking in and she asked how was our long flight from Toronto, obviously had reviewed the guest list. She went behind the counter, picked up a package and escorted us directly to a junior suite (upgrade from a std room). She took all the needed info. while explaining hotel services. There was nice bowl of fruits and a bottle of wine, with a welcome card from the manager. Once the check in was finished, she took us to the Towers lounge (another wing) and introduced us to the host of the lounge. The lounge had a happy hour from 6:30 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. when they provide complementry 'local' drinks, beer and wine along with 2-3 appetizers brought to the table in individual plates. Most enjoyable.
Breakfast was included in our rate and we enjoyed a lavish Indian/Continental breakfast in the cafe. When checking out, we advised them of our return about a month later for three nights and requested a towers wing and were pleased to receive it upon arrival. Although, a smaller room than the junior suite, we preferred being in the towers wing. It had a separate check in. Oddly, I found the Towers check in staff NOT to be nearly as helpful as that for the standard wing. There were 2-3 young agents and seemd to get confused at every request and the supervisor, who was an older gentleman, seemed very upset at them and was not trying hard at all to hide his emotions. Both my wife and I noticed this throughout our stay of three days.
The Towers lounge also serves a small cold breakfast and were pleased to get eggs etc. made to order to go with the cold items.
Overall, our stay was excellent and the staff remembered us during our stay. We were leaving a small tip whenever we used the lounge and that did not hurt at all the service that we received dring our stay..
I will definitely go back to the Sheraton in Delhi. The Sheraton is also considered to have one of the best Inidan restaurant (Bhukara) in all of Delhi. We ahd lunch there and it was great.
Mumbai Grand Maratha Sheraton: an airport hotel. Checked in for two nights just prior to leaving Mumbai. We were upgraded to a huge one bedroom suite on a standard floor but were given access to the Towers lounge.
A relatively new hotel with excellent decor and lots of ambiance. Not much to do near the airport so we used to hotel just to relax. We got a massage at the Spa and were very pleased with it. Approx. $20 USD per hour. The cafe served an excellent choice of Indian and continental dishes in a buffet style ( a la carte was also available) at a reasonable price for a 5* hotel. In addition to the Towers lounge there was an executive lounge open to all guests, which also had a happy hour from 6:30 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. and served complimentry domestic alcohal, beer and wine. The Towers lounge, in addition to the drinks, also served a couple appetizers. I preferred the executive lounge as it was more open and had a better overall ambiance.
The hotel provides complimentry airport transfers (domestic and international) to Towers guests and also to Platinum guests. A great airport hotel but not appropriate if you want to visit town. I was told that they are planning on opening a property closer to town next year.
Jaipur- Sheraton Rajputana: Based on some negative comments about this hotel on this forum, I had communicated in advance with the hotel and was assured that I will be happy with my visit. The check in agent recognized my name righ away and within a minute I was checked in and was being escorted to a large one bedrrom suite. The hotel is an old structure (while it is claimed to be PALACE hotel, I think it might have been used for junior folks in comparison to other Palace hotels. Still considered to be a 5* hotel. Located very close to the train station, the approach to the hotel is very depressing due to slums and dirt, but once inside, the hotel is fairly nice.
Our room had been stocked with complimentry beer, soft drinks and mineral water along with lots of fruits and some Indian snacks. We had a couple meals at the hotel which were just okay. We went to the famous Rambagh Palace hotel for a visit and lunch one day, and were very pleased with the meal there. While a much better setting than the Sheraton, we were more than satisfied with our accomodations given the upgrade we received and also that we only used 3K points per night (Rambagh was costing $250 USD ++ for a STD room). We were met by the front desk manager when checking out asking about our stay and once again assuring us that the problem reported on this forum was an isolated case.
While I preferred the service in Delhi and in Mumbai, given that this is a category 2 hotel, we were more than saisfied.
Overall, I was very happy with the Platinum treatment I received. I realized however upon my return that NONE of the hotels asked or gave us the 500 points as amenity bonus. We had FOUR stays in India, so that is 2000 points. Any way I can ask for this now!!