HOTELIER101

Hello!
We were considering visiting India in august and are looking for a place to stay at. We are currently considering hotels in the 150 - 200$ range. Maybe 50$ more. We have looked at The Oberoi, the Taj Mahal hotel, The Imperial and the Maurya Sheraton. Please advise us on which one of these to choose, based on luxury and service of the hotel.
Thank You.

parnel

welcome to FT. There are numerous threads about hotels in India and if you use the search function you will get more info than you ever wanted.
Look through all the major hotel chains listed on FT not just the SPG one which you asked your question on.
I presume you are going to stay in Delhi but you did not specify.

agtoau

If you have the budget it is a no-brainer: the Oberoi is head and shoulders above the rest of the chains, and the 'vilas' properties (Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Ranthambore) are among the world's best.

HOTELIER101

Oh yeah i forgot to specify that i was looking to stay in Delhi. Please Reply!
Thank You

GUWonder

I presumed you were talking about Delhi given the mention about the Maurya Sheraton (and the other hotels in the list).

There is a thread where I and a few others (in either the hotel forums or in this one) rated the hotels in DEL. I cannot run a search for you currently, but there was a fairly decent list and ranking there.

HOTELIER101

Thank You! I finally am deciding to choose the Maurya Sheraton for my stay while i am taking a connecting flight to Bombay. While returning, however i am booking at the Imperial(Its AAA Five Diamond award really attracted me)!

yosithezet

The Trident Hilton just outside of the city in Gurgaon is perhaps the most spectacular hotels you'll find. The price tag is hefty and you'll want to book well in advance.

GUWonder

The Imperial is where The Moroccan Royal Tool -- he has many titles -- fools arounds when in Delhi.

sbagal

The real treat in Delhi is the Oberoi Maidens - in the Civil Lines area of Delhi - true old Raj elegance now conected to the Delhi underground and modern transit stations right at its front door. Beautiful grounds and old world ambiance and a short walk away from the far more interesting charms of Old Delhi. Highly recommended - this is where upper class Indians stay and you can't pick a better place to get started or end a trip to India. Take a look at its website and see if you don't fall in love with it.

TRAVELSIG

I just booked in at the Oberoi- the corporate rate was 335 USD- is this correct or is there a way to get better rates?? It seems a bit pricy compared to the competition....

GUWonder

It seems high -- but I've never had to pay for a single one of my stays there either.

$159 to $229 is what comes up at this time of the year. And somewhat better -- or closer to $159 than $229 -- is generally had through local travel agencies.

When are you going?

(This week in Delhi the Oberoi is sold out for a few days and so that may be affecting the rates too but check out oberoihotels.com too.)

TRAVELSIG

Thanks for the advice-depart tomorrow. I think that you are right that the rate was high because the hotel is sold out- I ended up at the JW Marriott on the club level for 239 USD at a corporate rate.

GUWonder

JW Marriott in DEL? Or do you mean the Marriott in Saket/DEL?

When I think JW Marriott and India I think of the one in Bombay.

I hope there is no confusion about the cities. For the New Delhi Marriott (in Saket) -- no JW Marriott in DEL that I know of -- it may be useful to have the address since even nowadays some cabbies have issues with finding the Marriott in DEL.

(The JW Marriott in Bombay, cabbies have less of an issue finding.)

TRAVELSIG

You are right! Thanks for the tip- without FT I would have ended up without a room....yikes

HOTELIER101

On the contrary, although many high - class Indians choose to stay there, it is not that good of a hotel at all. You know, i say this because i had to go through the horrible experience of staying there during my trip. First of all, we arrived there atabout 12:00 pm in the night, after booking a few MONTHS earlier for a suite, and they said "Sorry, Sir, but we are sold out, however we can shift you to the Gujarati samaj for one night as it is right next by". I was totally horrified, i mean, the GUJARATI SAMAJ? that place is filled with bimbos who sleep on the floor and food that causes diarrhea. I mean seriously, i would have wanted better vlue for my money. So anyway, when we moved into the 'Oberoi Maidens' it was another shock. Their 'suite' which cost 12,000 Rs per night, was although HUGE, very dilapidated and in general, ANCIENT, and when i say that, i mean it. The T.V which you would expect to be a plasma, was in actuality 15 inches and it was crt! Anyways, on top of that i though we had complimentary tea, so we ordered a pot of tea. When the waiter came, he gave us a bill of !!500!! rs. SHOCKING!! So i call up the front desk, and ask him about the price, when it was complimentary. And guess what he says? "Sir, This is the "OBEROI" nothing is complimentary" in a very mocking tone. Gosh was i mad. And the breakfast in the morning was HORRIBLE! So all in all, i would not reccomend anyone to stay here. Absolutely not!