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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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The Taj Palace has 13 well-equipped halls for conventions and exhibitions where 700 delegates and 1,000 dinner guests can be accommodated. Its two lawns can also be pressed into service for receptions. It’s next door to the Maurya Sheraton, but lacks the latter’s personal touch. The huge lobby, extra floors and endless corridors bring it closer to the government-run Ashok Hotel. Do dine at the exclusive Orient Express, which some consider to be Delhi’s finest restaurant. The more relaxed Masala Art eatery has a funky approach to Indian cuisine, specialising in street-style food.
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Oberoi is synonymous with hoteliering in India, and is now into its third generation. Its properties, including spectacular resorts in Jaipur, Udaipur, Agra and Ranthambhore, are run as an obsessive passion, stemming from its chairman PRS ‘Biki’ Oberoi. The Oberoi Delhi (opened 1965) was India’s first business hotel and introduced housemaids and splendidly uniformed doormen to Delhi’s hotel scene. This five-star luxury hotel offers every comfort and convenience, with restrained, elegant rooms overlooking The Delhi Golf Course or the historic Humayun tomb. The Oberoi group has a tie-in with the Thai Banyan Tree spa services.
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