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Real value for money. Beg a member to book you in. Forget the sparse rooms, just think of being inside a happening cultural centre with all kinds of cerebral activities—from talks to art shows—going on all the time. It’s a gathering point for Delhi’s culture vultures, academics and development do-gooders. It will put you on the inside of Delhi life in a way a hotel never can. Dining areas open to nonmembers are the American Diner, with retro music and soda-fountain kitsch, and the noisy food court, punningly [name]d Eatopia. Otherwise there’s a crowded clubby bar called Past Times, the stylish Oriental Octopus and the friendly Indian restaurant Dilli-o-Dilli.
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Business in congested Old Delhi? Hotel Broadway has the best of both worlds as it’s right on the periphery of the walled city. Not too bad a choice if you’re on a budget and visiting the city for a trade fair. It’s fairly close to the Pragati Maidan exhibition complex. You’ll get quite another Delhi here: cultural entertainment, guided Old Delhi walks and excellent Kashmiri food in its eccentric restaurant Chor Bizarre.
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The Hyatt Regency is located in the more raucous—and uglier—business district off the city’s chaotic Ring Road. It serves up five-star luxury all right, and the business facilities are excellent, but it has a standardised hotel-chain feel. However, the hotel’s Djinns nightclub has proved magnetic—the city’s twenty-somethings think nothing of dropping a few hundred quid a night here after a meal at the hotel’s Italian restaurant La Piazza, or TK’s Oriental Grill. They work off the calories at the Olympus fitness centre.
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Famous as one of Bill Clinton’s favourite places—his favourite restaurant is Bukhara. The Maurya can hold conferences, but it’s better to stay here and hold the convention at the Taj Palace next door. It has cult restaurants and for banquets the Kamal Mahal room is the best in town, if you want both size and great Indian/ European food to follow. There’s also the open-air Nandiya Garden. The Maurya is conveniently located between the airport and the most popular city destinations. Staff are friendly. However, the newly renovated lobby is sleeker but lacks the easy conviviality of the old one, perhaps because the coffee shop’s inviting buffet carousel is now tucked out of sight.
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Le Meridien is in the fashionable business centre and, although its exterior and extensive facilities certainly impress, it can’t shake off its identikit ‘business hotel’ identity, which makes it feel like it could be anywhere in the world. However, one thing that does stand out are the canapés served up at its cocktail parties. When asking for the hotel, don’t pronounce it the French way, just say Mi-rid-yen.
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