DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Agra {IND}
Oct 29, 2014, 12:13 pm
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Agra {IND}
I called HHonors but they were no help.....big surprise.
Oct 31, 2014, 9:12 am
I called HHonors but they were no help.....big surprise.
Just wanted to provide some answers!
This is a new property, and your reservation for January 3, 2015 will be honored. Please feel free to reach out via PM if you have any other questions!
Cheers,
Erin
Feb 4, 2015, 10:17 am
In fact I'm burning HH points at HGI New Delhi/Saket where the points plus miles seem a pretty good deal as well.
Got a few more nights in India and trying to decide where else to go -- Bangalore, Kolkatta, Jaipur. Decided to make the trip when I found a $2800 RT business fare US to DEL.
Feb 4, 2015, 1:16 pm
In fact I'm burning HH points at HGI New Delhi/Saket where the points plus miles seem a pretty good deal as well.
Got a few more nights in India and trying to decide where else to go -- Bangalore, Kolkatta, Jaipur. Decided to make the trip when I found a $2800 RT business fare US to DEL.
My TA review can be found below.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ECK_RATES_CONT
Apr 7, 2016, 9:47 am
Doubletree By Hilton Hotel Agra
Plot H2, B2, Taj Nagri Phase 2 Yojna Agra, IN 282001
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Agra Review (14 Photos)
Doubletree By Hilton Hotel Agra
The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Agra opened at the start of 2015, so most of the hardware was in good condition.
As is the norm at many hotels in India, at the entrance to the hotel compound, our car was visually inspected, and on entering the hotel lobby, we had to walk through a metal detector and put our bags through the x-ray scanner.
At check-in, the front desk associate gave us the signature DoubleTree cookies and scanned our passports (biodata and visa pages). I enquired about the possibility of a room upgrade (as a Hilton HHonors Diamond member). We were told that there were no suites available and were asked to take a seat on the sofa in the lobby whilst the front desk staff checked room availability. Around 5 minutes later, another associate escorted us to our room. He was very friendly and helped us with our bags.
Room
When we arrived in our room, the associate told us that we had been upgraded from a standard twin room to a king room with a view of the Taj Mahal (there are only 2 suites in the hotel, so don’t be too optimistic about receiving a Diamond suite upgrade).
There were two bottles of water and a kettle:
In reality, as the hotel was quite far from the Taj Mahal, it was only vaguely visible from the room:
A zoom-in on the Taj Mahal:
The bathroom was quite small:
Although the hotel was only around a year old, the floor tiles and the countertop in the bathroom looked fairly worn out.
Given the almost non-existent view of the Taj Mahal from our ‘upgraded’ twin room, we asked if it was possible to have a twin room instead (as we preferred having two beds).
The associate was very accommodating and helped us to move our bags to the new room (which was 3 rooms down the corridor from the previous room).
Essentially, the new room had the same view as the previous one, but because of its position/angle, the Taj Mahal was blocked by another building. The size of the room was the same as the previous one.
If you stay in this hotel, I would recommend requesting a room on the top floor (3rd floor) with a view of the pool. It is not worth paying extra to reserve a room with a ‘view of the Taj Mahal’ because it is so far away and, in any case, you can go to the outdoor pool area on the 1st floor if you want to have a view of the Taj Mahal in the distance.
There was a welcome bowl of fruit (but no welcome letter) in the room:
The bathroom was quite small:
As I mentioned on another thread, although I was able to access the ‘premium’ internet connection free of charge as a Diamond member, it was very slow.
Facilities
This hotel does not have an Executive Lounge.
As mentioned above, there is a small outdoor swimming pool/relaxation area on the 1st floor with a view of the Taj Mahal in the distance.
There is also a gym and spa on the 1st floor.
There was a sitar performance in the lobby in the evening:
Breakfast
We had breakfast in the ‘North 27’ restaurant on the ground floor. The staff were friendly. However, the variety and the quality of the buffet food were unremarkable. A few dishes were available made to order (such as eggs, dosa and uttapam).
Overall
Overall, it was a very average stay at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Agra. If a view of the Taj Mahal is important to you, I would recommend choosing another hotel. It is quite a small hotel (ground floor – lobby and restaurants; 1st floor – pool, gym and spa; 2nd and 3rd floors – guest rooms) so even when it is fully booked (as it was during our stay) it does not feel too overcrowded.
Jan 4, 2017, 9:25 pm
While my room upgrade was merely to a '4 fixture room' (inner corner rooms on the floorplan), which unlike the normal rooms sport an expansive bathroom with a tub, the staff's attitude is in complete contrast with the 'tip me and I will be obsequious' vibe predominant in the upper range hotels in Delhi, with some of them displaying the genuine hospitality which makes the country special.
Some highlights:
- dinner at the Indian restaurant: great food, and hands down the best service I have received in an eatery this decade; admittedly probably due to the waiter's personal traits (tact, knowledge, friendliness, disposition), but nonetheless a credit to the DT.
- a very present duo of curiously lookalike gentlemen (GM? owners?), who came to greet me at dinner and breakfast, and obviously left instructions about how to treat 'our diamond guest'
- e.g. at breakfast I was allocated one of the very few windowside tables, and assigned a very personable member of the staff full time to anticipate my needs from her station behind me, not unlike FC on an Asiana or Thai 747. She quickly assessed my preferences and guided me towards the local specialties made on the premises. Her 8 proactive refills of the two freshly squeezed juices (pineapple and watermelon, the others are industrial) were highly appreciated by a dehydrated yours truly.
I didn't partake in the western breakfast choices, but the Indian ones were good, and made in front of your eyes.
- said two gentlemen asked whether I, 'as our diamond member' would deign pose for a photo with their staff
- change was provided from a special stash of brand new 100 rupee notes, appreciated in a country where derelict taped-together currency is all too common. It was made clear this was not standard procedure, unlike at e.g. most self-respecting Bangkok 5*'s.
I strongly recommend this hotel, especially on points, and recommend giving its Indian restaurant a chance. It might have been positioned slightly too far upmarket, but I still have fond memories of my one meal there (whereas most hotel restaurant meals are quickly forgotten).
While the above is probably too status-centric a post (not fond of similar ones by Plats on the SPG forum, which give a distorted view of reality), I believe this hotel is a steal at 10K HH, and that a non-status guest could get nearly the same experience e.g. by sponsoring the Indian restaurant on a quiet weekday (I was the only guest there, and was treated just as well before the managers' visit) to provide the hotel some revenue which HH obviously won't, and by sampling local dishes over a western breakfast, watermelon juice over OJ, etc.
View is not really an issue, as I assume most guests will be out and about during daylight hours, and have seen plenty of the Taj Mahal while out.
May 28, 2017, 1:06 pm
Or a non-suite is about half that.
Does 2 days seem like a good amount of time in Agra? Of course I'd want to see/visit the Taj Mahal, as well as other sites in the area.
May 30, 2017, 3:17 am
Some will argue Agra itself is a dump, but the DT is much better value than Delhi, so 2 nights allowing to depart freshly showered on day 3 is actually a good option, more pleasant than a sweaty return at the end of day 2.
If you are on a circuit tour and pressed for time, 1 night would be the usual choice.
Aug 26, 2017, 4:17 am
You should avoid stay there as long as you can.
This DoubleTree hotel don't have club lounge, which is very unusual in asia, at least 90% DoubleTree Hotel in asia have clube Lounge.
95% Room in this hotel are the same.
Only very few corner room and the only 2 suite are different.
95% Room in this hotel don't have bathtub.
This hotel have clear policy that Diamond member have to paid to get a corner room upgrade.
All staff include GM are both very bad attitude most time and always full of lie.
You won't be able to see Taj Mahal in this hotel.
Overall this is a Garden Inn hotel some how get a DoubleTree Brand,
Which make it one of the Worst DoubleTree hotel in Asia.
And there are lot of Garden Inn hotel better than this one in Asia.
Aug 26, 2017, 5:16 am
You should avoid stay there as long as you can.
This DoubleTree hotel don't have club lounge, which is very unusual in asia, at least 90% DoubleTree Hotel in asia have clube Lounge.
95% Room in this hotel are the same.
Only very few corner room and the only 2 suite are different.
95% Room in this hotel don't have bathtub.
This hotel have clear policy that Diamond member have to paid to get a corner room upgrade.
All staff include GM are both very bad attitude most time and always full of lie.
You won't be able to see Taj Mahal in this hotel.
Overall this is a Garden Inn hotel some how get a DoubleTree Brand,
Which make it one of the Worst DoubleTree hotel in Asia.
And there are lot of Garden Inn hotel better than this one in Asia.
Aug 26, 2017, 6:41 pm
Or a non-suite is about half that.
Does 2 days seem like a good amount of time in Agra? Of course I'd want to see/visit the Taj Mahal, as well as other sites in the area.
Aug 26, 2017, 7:45 pm
You should avoid stay there as long as you can.
This DoubleTree hotel don't have club lounge, which is very unusual in asia, at least 90% DoubleTree Hotel in asia have clube Lounge.
95% Room in this hotel are the same.
Only very few corner room and the only 2 suite are different.
95% Room in this hotel don't have bathtub.
This hotel have clear policy that Diamond member have to paid to get a corner room upgrade.
All staff include GM are both very bad attitude most time and always full of lie.
You won't be able to see Taj Mahal in this hotel.
Overall this is a Garden Inn hotel some how get a DoubleTree Brand,
Which make it one of the Worst DoubleTree hotel in Asia.
And there are lot of Garden Inn hotel better than this one in Asia.
About the staff lying, it happens in the best of places and in some place like Agra it is not surprising. However, there are white lies, grey lies & black lies. I would bet you did not encounter any in the last category.
I was in Agra last a couple of months ago and was booked into a nice room at the Crystal Sarovar Hotel (by the person who organized my travel there). From my high-floor room I had a floor to ceiling glass window with a view of the Taj. But it was far away, often covered by smog and haze. Unless you are staying at the Amar Vilas (Oberoi) you do not really get a great view of the Taj; and then you would pay several multiples of the price you paid at the DT.
Overall, I think your post is full of hyperbole.
Sep 27, 2017, 7:08 pm
The suite was on the 3rd floor with a view of the pool. Had a living room with bar area and a powder room. The bedroom had a king bed, and a nice bathroom with rain shower (and a handheld).
A fruit plate was waiting, and of course they gave out the Doubletree cookie. As wtih Jaipur, there was an elephant made of towels on the bed. The fridge had about 10 cans of soda and some candy bars with a note on top indicating that they were complimentary. There were at least 4 bottles scattered around the room...on the bar area above the fridge, in the bathroom, etc.
I arrived around 8pm or so, was up for sunrise at the Taj Mahal (if you're going to see it, that's the way to go), then back for breakfast and to check out, before heading to Agra Fort, then back to New Delhi.
Breakfast was a bit of a cluster at 9am, as so many people follow a similar schedule, going early to the Taj Mahal, then coming back for breakfast/relax/check-out. Again the manager was there, came over and apologized, and offered to bring things to my table.
The ride (I didn't even think of driving myself) to the Taj Mahal at 5:15am took maybe 10 minutes. Going back after took a little longer, maybe 20 minutes. Then to Agra Fort I'd guess similar.
While the property wasn't quite as nice as the Jaipur Hilton, it was certainly better than many other Doubletree properties I've been to.