See for pictures of this hotel:
http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/2005...-ITCMaurya.php
See for pictures of other Starwood hotels:
http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/hotel.php
Thanks to the help of LH738!
Transfer:
Though my flight had a delay of one hour, upon arrival the chauffeur of the hotel was waiting for me. The road was busy and there was a lot of hooting of the cars……. Around midnight!
Check-in:
Was not so smoothly. When I asked if there would be an upgrade they took some time to sort it out. But finally I was upgraded to a Towersroom. I had made reservations for a executive room and a few nights, after my trip to the Sheraton Mughal in Agra, for a Towersroom.
The first room on a lower floor had a view of the parking lot. I asked for a higher floor for a better view and it seemed to be available.
The butler was very friendly and service minded. He explained the ins and outs of the service, the room etc. and gave me suggestions concerning my trips.
The room was fine, nice interior, two chairs, a workingarea , and had a marble bathroom. The bed was queen size, seemed a little hard at first but appeared to be very comfortable. In the room was complimentary fruit ( apples), bottled natural water and a small box of chocolates which tasted very good.
The next morning the view appeared somewhat disappointing, see my pics. Since there was a fog, I could not see the city of Delhi. Only the houses directly behind the hotel, at first interesting but later on rather a bit depressing…
So, I asked for a room with a nicer view, and yep the hotel gave me a room with a better view! The personnel was very friendly and took care of it, and I was a very happy guest indeed.
The Tower lounge is one of the most comfortable lounges I have ever visited. The interior is luxurious and comfortable. Butlers in spotless white uniforms serve during the day coffee and tea. There are some complimentary small sweets / cakes. Personnel is very friendly and attentive. During the happy hour you can order alcoholic drinks. They serve nice warm snacks (chicken nuggets f.i. ) with it, nuts and chips.
In the morning the lounge has a separate restaurant, where continental breakfast is served. The breakfastbuffet is somewhat limited and the croissants are rather “tres petite”, but the taste is very good.
You can always order a la carte, and the waffles are very tasteful and crisp. After the first time, the personnel remembered my favourites and served what I liked, cappuccino, waffles and some pancakes! What a way to start your day!
In general you find business men in the lounge. From the loudness of speaking, it was clear to me some Americans were here: One of them was very loud in his manners, and he was not content with the food which was served to him. The personnel however was very professional to him, I think that I would have been not so patient with him….
The lounge was not very busy in the period I was there ( 28th of December – 5th of January), I was told the lounge was rather busy during the rest of the year.
In the evenings I had very interesting conversations / discussions with the supervisor / manager of the towerlounge, mr. Brit M Razdan. A nice way to talk about culture, society and politics.
There was also a trainee in the lounge, mr. S.K Shafique. I was very impressed with his way of serving people and noticed he had to work very long hours. I did not have a clue he was a trainee however, since he appeared to have the right natural attitude towards guests!
The Towers has its own separate building, and the interior of the lobby and reception appear to be rather luxury. Receptionists were in general very friendly. However concerning an extension of my stay, an evening due to a late departure, they did not understand my questions towards the amount of SPG points (8500)for those few hours. I was somewhat confused because I had to ask them three times and every time they said they would look into this matter…… but still they did not answer my questions.
I did have a nice meeting with the manager of the Towers, mr. Rakesh Puri, because I had asked for another room with a view after my arrival. He gave me suggestions for my trip to Agra and made sure my stay in the Sheraton Mughal would be comfortable and would have a room with a view! And indeed, comfortable it was!
There are many restaurants in the hotel, f.i. the 24 hour restaurant the Pavillion. In the evening they serve buffets, but it is also possible to order a la carte.
The Indian restaurant, Bukhara, where president Clinton had some dinner, was always fully booked. I was so lucky that the supervisor of the Tower lounge made reservations for me. I had high expectations, the food was of good quality, but the service became lousy when many guests came walking in. I had to ask many times before I could order something. And when I did, the man did not seem to take it seriously since he just went on doing other things. Honestly, I felt rather lost here and was quite disappointed by the quality of this restaurant which appeared to have won several awards.
The hotel has a beautiful swimming pool and a well kept garden. In the health club you can have one of the most relaxing massages possible: Ayurvedic. It was really great. It is based on very old Indian techniques. After the massage you go to the steam bath and after that they put some sort of powder on your skin. Finally you have to shower it off. Prices are very economic compared to European standards. I can recommend it to everyone.
Besides the massage you can have a sauna, steam bath or sit in the whirlpool.
There is a small fitness area with a limited variation of machines to have a work out. (See my pics. )
Personnel is very friendly and helpful.
The interior of the hotel is in some areas artistic, f.i. the beautiful ceiling of the lobby ( see my pics) and the colorful glass stained windows.
The hotel has two large shopping arcades. Some of the shop owners can be a little bit pushy however.
Making arrangements for a trip is very easy via the concierge. In general all personnel were friendly. But mr. Rahul did a good job for me when he arranged my trip to Agra, gave me valuable advice concerning my transportation. F.i. when I proposed to fly to Agra he notice the delays due to the fog and the distance between the airport and Agra. He appeared to be very reliable, friendly and service minded.
All in all my stay was way above my expectations.
Reading the reviews on the site of Flyertalk I was not sure if I would like to stay here. Before my flight to Delhi I noticed the addresses of other hotels as the Oberoi and Taj hotels, so I could seek refuge to those hotels.
But it appeared not necessary at all.
I did have a peek into the executive rooms and they seemed to be very comfortable too. They are just somewhat smaller. The view from these rooms seemed to be better than from the Towers.
It seems rather strange that guests can have such extreme different experiences in a hotel, referring to the negative reviews at Flyertalk.
The ITT Sheraton Maurya hotel became one of my favourite hotels and I can recommend this hotel to everyone. I had a wonderful stay here and I will always remember the friendliness of the personnel. I do hope to come back soon so I can enjoy my stay here again, and again and……
See for pictures of this hotel:
http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/2005...-ITCMaurya.php
See for pictures of other Starwood hotels:
http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/hotel.php
Thanks to the help of LH738!
Pictures and Review of the truly 5* ITT Sheraton Maurya hotel &Towers
... so you better ask them for a new / renovated room! They did admit to me, the new room was much nicer than the old one!!
