Hyatt Regency Delhi REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
 

Anyone knows why this one left the chain that fast???

Do you know of any other Hyatts that were operating only for such a short time under the Hyatt name???

Muerz

HR New Delhi - any recent opinions ?
 

I have a vacation stay booked there in February as a Diamond member. Our award stay is booked in the RC. First trip to India and the stay will encompass my wife’s birthday. Would much appreciate recent reaction to the hotel and if possible - recommendations of other hotels if your opinion of this property is negative. TIA.

I'm not a fan of the hotel rooms -- even on the RC -- at the HR Delhi (and I'm especially not a fan of the low showerheads in the bathroom). That said, the restaurants and public facilities and gym/swimming pool are fairly good and ones I frequent in Delhi. Part of that has to do with staff there actually remembering me even if they have not seen me for a while.

There is a thread where DEL hotels were ranked by me and a few other people. A search for that thread may help. (If I could run search easily from this device, then I would but I cannot currently. Sorry)

Which hotel is best depends on your location needs and facility needs/use. The Taj Mansingh and the recently opened Shangri-La seem to be amongst the more popular as of late -- at least with visiting dignitaries. The Imperial is more of a classic. The Oberoi has not aged too well since the matron became a recluse. The InterContinentals are ok but one is near a mega-construction zone and the other is out of the way. Claridges and the Taj Ambassador have been good with recognizing birthdays but they are not the highest of high-end hotels in Delhi yet are more reflective of Lutyen's Delhi than the newer hotels. The Imperial is also a favorite of people trying to get a feel for the Indian Raj days. The Maurya Sheraton I don't like too much but it's comparable to the Hyatt and somewhat better located. The Radisson is out by the airport and across from a mega road-building project with all that entails. And the Marriott is just out of the way in Saket/South Delhi and the Taj Palace hotel is also out of the way for touristy things but has less of that noise issue.

The staff at the RC ARE very nice. The breakfasts and dinner munchies are also pretty good. Rooms are tired , but the gym and pool are very nice by comparison. Watching Lufthansa hosties whilst on the treadmill makes the miles fly by :D
I find it nice to escape to at the end of a long day.
The others I have tried are not too much better (Sheraton, Taj, old GH).

It is close to airport which has a bearing for me with the times I get in and leave.

charged $41/night on HR Delhi award stay!
 

Just posting to notify everyone of something that happened to a friend of mine at the Hyatt Regency in New Delhi:

After staying for several nights using points for each of the nights, a charge of approximately $41/night (billed in the local currency, Rupees) appeared on the folio as "12.5% Luxury Tax". Upon further questioning, the hotel maintained that it was policy of the government to charge 12.5% of the room rate regardless of whether the stay was free or not.
Seems erroneous, as even if you assume that they can do this legally (which I suspect is not true), a 12.5% charge would mean they are using a rate of about $350! -the last time I checked on their website, rack rates appeared to be way below that!

If it is true, then you might as well consider using points a losing option when staying with Hyatt in India.

Has this happened to anyone else/any similar experiences recently?

I think I have heard about this and yes, it is legal in India (unfortunately).

It's a tax on rack rate for the room -- and it irks me routinely. I am curious to see what happens to those who book a suite using points. :eek: Getting upgraded can break the desired budget too. :(

The rate on which tax is charged is routinely higher than the rates advertised and booked by the general public. This is unfortunately a tax on RACK rate -- as listed with the government -- and not a tax based on the per night rate paid by an actual customer on a specific occasion.

Does this also apply to stay certificates where tax is supposedly included? Also is this the only property in India that does this? I know the HR Mumbai at the moment charges no tax on any of its rooms at any rate.

It seems to be a DEL thing. The IC in DEL also does a similar tax on rack rate.

I didnt pay it during my Febraury stay there. There was an attempt to add it to my bill and I raised holy h*ll over it advising them that it was never disclosed anywhere until checkin. I did suggest that we put just those taxes on a separate charge so I can contest it with AMEX when I return and that seemed to get them waived.

I'm surprised that they let you leave the country!

The tax surprise was just one in a series of dissapointments at that hotel. It would behoove them to disclose it somewhere prior to check in.

Was your experience with the IC Nehru Place or IC Grand?

My experience has the InterContinental Grand in DEL doing this too as of the first half of 2005; a year earlier in 2004, the tax on rack rate wasn't applicable anywhere in DEL.

This tax on rack rate thing seems to have come out at the same time as the Central Government budget in DEL which had the "perks" taxes thrown in, some of which were then clearly complicatedly burdensome to business. Maybe it was a DEL budget thing, for I've not yet paid the tax on rack rate when doing award stays outside of DEL.

Last time I looked, Hyatt disclosed this better on paid rates than some other hotel chains -- and certainly better than InterContinental. Sad to see that it is not disclosed on award stays in at least as clear a manner.

Agreed. I appreciate the breakdown of tax / service on paid nights. On the res. on the web site as well as the email copies it was no where to be found for my stay.

As I pointed out to the hotel manager I would be happy to pay it if it was disclosed in advance but to levy it once you are at the property looks opportunistic but at that hotel seemingly in keeping with most other aspects of the place.