- How long will it take to get from the airport to Hebbal? I would like to be able to schedule some meetings that day. Should I play it safe and just schedule them for after 1 pm?
35-40 minutes. Hebbal is on the way to the central business district from the airport.
- What should I do for ground transportation? Should I arrange for a car and driver (from where, and how much would it be?), or should I just get a pre-paid cab from the airport, and deal with in-city travel using cabs? In my estimates, I had budgeted about $50 a day for transport, which I thought would give me a lot of wriggle room, but it sounds like Bangalore is much more expensive than Kolkata (no big surprise there!)
Just use Meru or Easycabs. They both serve out of the 'Airport Taxi' line outside departures. Just step out of the building, walk past the glass-walled cluster of ATMs, ignore the handful of touts and stand at the queue marked 'Airport Taxi'; it's no different from the cab service at Changi. Their numbers are marked on the cars, and you can book them from the city as well, either by phone or online.
Airport to Hebbal one way will be about Rs.350 (about $7) I think.
- What would be a good hotel near the client site? I have a "decent" budget, but again, I would rather be close to the client site than sit in traffic just to be able to stay at a nice place. But I would love to stay at either the Leela or Oberoi... are they too far? Any good hotels near Hebbal?
On the high end, probably Taj West End or the Lalit Ashok, which are closer to city centre than airport, and not as far from Hebbal as the others.
- Any advice on female work clothes? This is a non-IT chem lab environment, so business suits would probably be overkill, but again, should I play it safe? (Its normally business suits in the US office)
Sorry I'm male, but I suppose salwars or a pantsuit would be fine.