claes059

Pictures of the hotel: http://www.e-traveller.net/pics/2005...alSheraton.php
Thanks to the help of LH 738.

I had made reservations for this hotel at home in Amsterdam. Reading the reviews of this hotel, I was considering to stay in another hotel, the Taj for instead. However the Taj was fully booked.

The check-in was made via guest relations office. It was clear the manager of the Towers in Delhi had made his call!
The woman accompanied me to my room. The hotel was fully booked with, in general, package tourists. The woman explained to me that the hotel had a different treatment of individual guests and guests of the package tours.
She asked me what kind of plans I had for dinner, she made reservations for the Indian restaurant and I was happy with that.

When entering the room, it appeared to be a suite. Large with a sitting area,, dining area and sleeping area. The bed was king size and was very comfortable.
Upon arrival there were flowers in the room. From the windows there should be a nice view of the Taj Mahal, however the fog spoiled it for me!
In one corner of the room, before one of the window you could sit down on cushions to enjoy the view.
Later that day there were complimentary fruits and cookies!

The safe in the room appeared to have its own way of instructions. The manager told me not to push the buttons too quickly because it will not do anything. He told me later, here in India we adapt to the climate, and we will these things slowly! It was funny.

Via roomservice I ordered a sandwich for a quick bite, in half an hour I was heading to the Red Fort and the Taj! Roomservice was very fast! They even check by telephone if the room service was in time!

The hotel has nice gardens with water area’s. The swimming pool looked very attractive. I did not visit the health club since I only stayed here one night and I had to make a lot of trips.

The service in the Indian restaurant (Bagh-e-Bahar?) was very friendly and it made me feel at home. The guests however were from the tour / package/ groups and the atmosphere in the restaurant was really different than I am used to. Quality of the food was ok.

After my meal I wanted to have some coffee and cake. The coffee bar however was packed with the guests from the tours. I tried to look for another place, downstairs near the garden, but everywhere it was fully packed.

I decided to take the coffee in my room. Roomservice was fast again, and they served it with some nice cookies.

In the morning I had breakfast in the Maikhana restaurant. There was an extensive buffet. Quality was rather low however. Something really different than the quality in the Towerslounge of the Sheraton Maurya in Delhi!
According to the manager, guests who do not belong to the package-tours were supposed to go to another restaurant for breakfast, downstairs. Perhaps the Majong room?

All in all, I had a very comfortable stay in this hotel. I would surely recommend this hotel if going to Agra. I would surely like to return. Only be sure to use the different restaurants than the package tourists do, if you like to have a nice tasteful breakfast.

Life_Platinum

Thanks for the pics. We plan to go to Agra next year and to repeat your stay at the Sheraton.

zakami

I had a very pleasant stay the Mughal Sheraton with my family several years ago. To this day my sister and I remember the coffee shop. I like this hotel and its a steal for points.

claes059

You're welcome!
If you go on your own, you can use the concierge in the Maurya, to plan your trip. See my review of the ITT Sheraton Maurya hotel in Delhi.

Be sure not to go when there is so much fog! It spoils a little bit the view of the Taj Mahal! In the morning there is so much fog you cannot see it at all, the guide told me.
However, I found the view spectacular in the late afternoon with the red sunlight reflected on the Taj Mahal, the foggy background.

Considering the transport, there are lots of delays in the traffic, train, plane, etc.

Life_Platinum

Agra. The Starwood property is on three levels, and is far removed from the street by open green spaces and surrounded by a wall with police at the entrance. There is a desk with two chairs on the right side of the lobby for Starwood SPG members, across from the registration desk. Upon checking in we were offered a room with a view of the Taj Mahal, but had to decline, as Mrs. Life_PLatinum has recently had arthroscopic surgery on her knee from a sports-related injury and I had concerns about her repeatedly climbing stairs to the top floor, as this property does not have any elevators. We were assigned room 206, about 7 steps up from the ground floor overlooking one of the internal courtyards. This (and another room described later) were unusual rooms in that the windows protruded about four feet out into the courtyard, and the interior of the room had this protrusion elevated about 6 inches above the rest of the floor. Placed on this protrusion was a firm mattress that made it a sitting area during the day that was converted into our daughter's bed at night. During the afternoon of the last day we were there, we received a call from the front office manager, Rajesh Nath, who asked if we wanted to change our room as a suite was available, and within 10 minutes we found ourselves in room 501, a large suite with a view of the Taj Mahal. We had passed the time of day with Rajesh on numerous occasions as he patrolled the lobby and frequently sat at the SPG desk checking in new arrivals and showing them to their rooms. We thought this was an interesting management style, and he was very effective, as customers seemed to like the contact with the manager as they checked in. Like all three properties, staff over and over said "good morning", "are you comfortable", "is there anything we can get you"?. We were greeted far more with these phrases than we ever have been at any hotel. Like all three hotels, those charged with looking after our rooms were men who were very attentive, and who fulfilled all our requests within a few minutes. I think we paid about $130 with two breakfasts included for these rooms. The weather was foggy and chilly early in the morning, but the temperature was in the mid-70s by mid-day, causing occasional guests to soak up some rays at the pool, but we did not see anyone in the pool. We suspected failure of guests to use the pool was not the water temperature but the numerous pigeons who used shallow parts of the pool as their own personal bird baths. Continental breakfasts with a chef making egg dishes and Indian favorites were adequate with sufficient choices for Westerners, Indians, and Orientals. However, Peshawri, an Indian restaurant was superb, and we chose to eat there twice. On one occasion, we went to the Oberai's Amarvilas for dinner and ate at their Western restaurant, and were disappointed that their Indian restaurant was closed to non-hotel guests. We rated the lunches in the Sheraton's main dining room and two dinners we had at Peshawri and as superior to any thing we had at the Amarvilas, the Taj, and the Hilton, other hotels we chose to visit. After returning home, I found that my SPG stays, points, and 500 welcome ammenity did not post, and a call to Starwood quickly got action on the first two requests. For those intersted in shopping,we spent considerable rupees at the first shop just across the street and to the right of the main gate, and for the adventuresome, auto-rickshaws can be found across the street from the main gate as well. We hired the Travelhouse car, driver, and guide for the Taj, and the Travelhouse driver found a good cyclorickshaw driver/guide for us at the Bird Santuary (a must and our superb red-turbaned cyclo rickshaw driver, Mr. Singh, was all the guide we needed), the Red Fort, and other sites. Lots of tour groups (mainly Japanese, Chinese, and Australian) frequent this hotel. All in all, a superb value.

lerasp

I did a search about *woods in Agra and Jaipur and have seen some of the reviews. I have couple specific questions:
1) have a choice to stay in Agra Sheraton for either $80 with breakfast or for 2K/3K points. Are award stays without breakfast (i assume so)? How much is breakfast? I'm SPG Gold - how are the upgrades?

2) has anyone stayed at the Le Meridien Jaipur? Can't find any reviews at all. Have reservation for 5500 points or $135/night. both without breakfast. Same questions - how are upgrades and how's the property in general? I'm probably going to pay for this stay.

thanks

Nevsky

I stayed in Agra recently and used a 50% off on a suite (for a net of $175), which was just spectacular with a view (in the far distance) of the Taj. It had two flat screen TVs.

Breakfast was included, but I must say the breakfast there is very disappointing, which was my only real disappointment with this property. There was not a huge selection and it was industrial quality. Same for the dinner buffet.

Also, but this is a Platinum issue, they gave me a nice miniature of the Taj as a Platinum amenity without asking if I wanted the points instead.

Also, when there, try to take the trip to Fatehpur Sikri.

lerasp

thanks for info. how many could sleep in the suit? we will be 4 and i was booking 2 rooms. if they have a suit that sleeps 4, then that'd be great.

Life_Platinum

We were three when we visited Agra and Jaipur and the bedroom was able to accomodate us comformably. The suite we stayed in at Agra contained an exceedingly large dining/sitting room, so that moving two rollaways in would be exceedingly easy. In the Junior suite we had at the Jaipur Sheraton, it would tight to have 4.

Nevsky

Agra has quite a few different configurations of suites. You might want to contact the hotel. If you can use a 50% off coupon you will do very well. My suite was truly gorgeous.

mikeinseattle

I've stayed at both hotels and I think you can add some extra points and be upgraded to a better room and have transfers/breakfast included. One of the best kept secrets is paying double the starpoints for a suite room which is quite large and will accomodate 4 quite comfortably. Of course both of these hotels were category 1's the last time I stayed to doubling the points was not a big deal.

beachfan

Stayed two nights this month, wished I had booked more.

1) Got a fantastic SPG.com web rate of $150 or so for the suite (cancellable). The suite is awesome
2) It was our anniversary, hotel treated us fabulously
3) Breakfast was quite good, you had several choices of made to order items, Western or Indian, as well as a decent buffet
4) Bed and pillows were fantastic
5) Massage chair in suite was one of the best massage chairs I've tried. Very effective on upper back and shoulders, not bad on lower back either.
6) Peshwari restuarant is the exact duplicate of Bukhara in the Maurya, the one that's supposed to be the best in India. Bukhara was very, very good, but Peshwari was a notch better to my tastes (same exact menu is offered), and about $10/dish cheaper

Only wrinkle is that the bathroom shower didn't drain well and it flooded the room. And bad on me, I didn't take the time to report it and now the next person will get flooded too.

This hotel definitely deserved being in the Luxury Collection.

iahphx

Given it's location near the Taj Mahal, I'm surprised the Luxury Collection property in Agra hasn't merited more discussion.

I was going to pop in for a night to see the Taj, but the property gets excellent reviews on tripadvisor and, as a Cat. 2, seems like a bargain on points. So I think I'll stay at least 2 nights. I'm assuming that staying anywhere else in the area -- where I'd have to pay real money -- would be foolish, and that using my points for this property is the way to go?

sdcarver

Starting to make plans for Feb/Mar 2011 and am looking into going to the ITC Mughal Agra as part of my Taj Mahal experience. Does anyone have any recent experiences here? I could not find a dedicated thread to this property with the last review being Jan. 08.

Thanks,
sdcarver

Keyser

i have about half a dozen stays here every year....its a decent property....run by itc....never had any reasons to complain here....taj mahal is about 15 minutes away....always get good suite upgrades at this property....