bmifly

I'm staying at the Starwood affiliate ITC Sonar hotel in Calcutta. A search produces little information from the forum on this hotel. I wondered if anyone had any idea if an room upgrade was likely as a lowly SPG Gold?

Thanks for any advice!

yosithezet

I stayed there a few months ago. As a Plat I was upgraded to the ITC One wing. Huge room. Massage chair. Large sitting area although still only one room. ITC One lounge had an ok spread, nothing to write home about. I strongly recommend you try the Peshwar restaurant and have the Dil Bukhani. It is the same menu and food as Bukhara in the ITC Maurya in Delhi which is supposed to be the best restaurant in Asia.

bmifly

Thanks for the advice. I've e-mailed the hotel asking for a space available upgrade to an ITC One room but have heard nothing from them. Clearly I should pay more attention to SPG than HHonors.

bmifly

Starwood Lurker II

Hi bmifly,

Which email address have you written to? You may like to try writing to [email protected] which is the published email address for this property.

As usual, upgrades are subjected to availability upon check in at the property.

[email protected]

yosithezet

Especially if you travel to India where there are no longer any Hilton properties. That is going to change eventually, but meanwhile Hyatt and Starwood are my core for India.

bmifly

Thanks. I'd used a different address so I've used the one you supplied. The lack of Hilton's in India will be earning Starwood a fair bit of business from me over the next couple of years!

Best,

bmifly

brahms77

I am thinking of redeeming a five night stay here for 28K points (now a Cat 3 hotel). Any recent stay reports? How's the hotel treatment for Platinum guests?

I've stayed at various SPG properties in India and most of the time, my stays were very pleasant (nice upgrades ).

Delhi: ITC and LM
Chennai: LM
Hyderabad: ITC
Jaipur: Sheraton
Agra: ITC (I really came to like this property and at CAT2, it's a real bargain!)

Shantanu

I'm having building works undertaken at my Kolkata home, hence, stayed at the ITC Sonar on my recent trip to India.

I was hesitant to stay at this property as I have always had unpleasant service experiences at the restaurants at this property, however, I wanted to use the cash and points option for at least one night at this hotel.

I booked the cheapest room available for the first 3 nights (which worked out Rs.1000 less than the rate on my SET rate.....which is virtually always cheaper than any published rate). I was happy with the cheapest room, but was upgraded to ITC One (without asking). The room was very pleasant, large, had a strange looking massage chair, complimentary fruit, some type of sweet pastry (replenished daily), plenty of free mineral water, again, replenished daily. Separate wc to the bathroom, the bathroom had a Jacob Delafon tub with a separate large shower cubicle. Both WC and bathroom had a glass wall on the exterior side, facing an inaccessible, private, open air space.

They gave Mrs Shantanu the kit for "single" women which included some magazines and some toiletries. All in all, the stay was very pleasant. The service was excellent....even at the restaurant Pan Asian which has been notoriously poor in the past.

The fourth night was on cash and points. They said we would have to move to a Towers room for the c&p night, but in the end, did not. The fifth and sixth nights were back on a cash rate. Again, I booked the cheapest room and was permitted to remain in the ITC One room.

All points have posted well, except for the Platinum amenity....I will give them a few nights before chasing this up.

The overall stay........left us very pleased indeed.

Keyser

i've had 2 stays here, the first one last year when i had gold status & the other a few months ago as platinum....was upgraded both times to the itc one room....its more like a junior suite but the room is done up very well....overall, a very nice hotel....

YYFer

Stayed at the ITC Sonar in March 2010. Booked two rooms on cash and points and both were upgraded to the One Wing. The service was superb from start to finish - only wish we had stayed more than one night. Lounge was very friendly - a couple of travel warriors staying there made for good company and gave us some good advice. Meal at the Peshawar was spectacular - the chef (one of several) came to the table and offered to prepare an off-menu meal. Fantastic! But, avoid the giant naan bread which apparently is something of a legend. It would feed a group of 20. Wine list is over the top, price-wise. We enquired about house wines and got a S. American red which they serve in the lounge. Not on the wine list, but a third of the cost of the lowest priced one on the list. Amazing breakfast, with a staggering selection of food from every part of the world. Rooms were great - as described by other posters.

BKKLEE

Anyone have more recent experiences at this property?
Benefits to platinum members??

Keyser

last stay was earlier this year....was upgraded to an itc one room & got free breakfast....internet is still an issue at all itc properties....they offer you the lower speed for free & charge for the faster speed....

Spent_All_My_Miles

I am a Plat and stayed there a few months ago.
I spent very little time in the hotel -- I am arrived around dinnertime, and left before dawn the next day to catch a flight -- but I was treated very well

- I got a very large room or a suite. The one funny thing is that the rom had a nice audio system but had cassette tape decks (must have been several decades old)
- There is a lounge of some kind where I got free drinks
- I don't remember the details of dinner, but the restaurants were nice
- They did several pieces of laundry for free -- quick turnaround
- Free internet
- Since I was leaving before the normal hours of breakfast, they prepared something for me to take in a box

I would recommend the hotel to anyone. A C&P booking for a Plat was one of the best value for money experiences I've had anywhere

BKKLEE

ITC Sonor Kolkata seems to provide immediate responses to Travel Advisor postings

http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Hotel_...st_Bengal.html

but is total non responsive to repeated direct E-mail contacts listed in SPG.com

[email protected]

BKKLEE

made C&P reservations back in February while this property was still a Cat 2 (2800 points + $45 -- approx. INR2025) however upon checking out noticed I was being billed INR3105 (approx. $70) before taxes added per night (and even with INR 3105 stated as base rate they charged me INR3737 base rate for the first night)
Even at this properties current Cat 3, a C&P would be 4000 points +$60 so where they are coming up with their base rate of $70 to begin with is questionable (and again, it should have been $45!!).

So, before just signing off on your bill I suggest reviewing it carefully because something ''ain't" right with their billings.

I'm awaiting a disputed bill notice response from the property as they could not, or would not, respond before I checked out but this episode has definitely soured me on staying at this property in the future