Suggestions for trip to HYD in September
 

I am thinking of attending a conference in Hyderabad at the end of September, 2008. I will most likely go. The one thing that may prevent me is the location and getting to it. I have gone to this meeting the last three years it has been held, in Kyoto, Montreal and Helsinki. But they are a lot more convenient to get to than Hyderabad it seems. So I was trying to find out more about suggestions on getting there as well as what is there.

The meeting will be at the convention center, I would probably stay at the host hotel, the Novatel. Can anyone share any info about that site or the hotel? What are some interesting things to see and do in HYD? Ive been to several places in India, MAA, DEL, BOM, Agra and Jaipur but not HYD.

Also, looking at routings it doesnt look great. Im an EXP on AA and 1K on UA so I could do either or their alliance partners. I would seem to have a much better chance at getting an upgrade on AA from ORD-DEL than on LH directly form FRA to HYD. But then I would have to transfer in DEL. Is it that bad if I bite the bullet and just stay at a nice hotel for a day and dont try to wait it out at the airport? Or would I be better off taking the flight directly to HYD on LH and having a lower chance, if any on an upgrade. Thanks for any suggestions.

Go LH
 

You still have a chance at the upgrade from ORD-FRA and can try using a SWU paper certificate on the FRA-HYD portion.

The Novotel is ok -- in terms of convenience to the convention, it cant be beat. Most of the other hotels are at least 15-20 minutes away.

Hyderabad tourist activities should take up a day max (Golconda Fort, Charminar, the Royal Musuem etc.) -- connectivity from Hyd to other parts of India are fairly good so you could easily combo with another destination.

You could try Pondicherry which is accesible from Chennai -- there is a good writeup in The New York Times travel section.

The novotel is kind of far from downtown HYD .. but it is a nice quiet area. Hyderabad has a lot of old fort / tomb type places, and it is a foodie paradise (for biryani - and as you will be going there during the muslim festival of ramadan, you'll have to try this thick soup - almost a porridge - called Haleem)

DEL - certainly a great idea if you dont transfer right at the airport but stay a day. You can try LH or 9W to MAA via BRU (the 9W bird is an AA codeshare, and a very nice one) and MAA is like an hour to HYD plus has far cheaper hotels than DEL does.