One night is often all a guest has to sum up a hotel and make a decision as to whether to return, to recommend, to criticise.
I doubtless sound impossibly crass and totally shallow when I say it took me all of – what? – 5 minutes to decide that the WelcomHotel Sheraton New Delhi was most definitely in the “recommend and return” category.
If first impressions count, and we all know they do, then the first impressions of my room were this :
Isn’t it divine ?
Here, have another look. Close up this time :
There was also this little touch (below) on the bedside table – though I sort of winced when I saw this, as opposed to smile delightedly, as I did for my lovely customised pillow :
Welcom(e) is an integral part of the hotel’s name and USP, and they went all out to project that welcome :
There were other welcoming touches in the sitting room :
And all sorts of innovative little extras in the bathroom, such as a shampoo kit for coloured hair, which was a first for me :
Really sensible touches like nail varnish remover which is something I never, ever remember to take (how DID they know?):
Much more useful things than the standard soap and cotton wool balls that most hotels offer were in the lovely huge bathroom. Love the shampoo comb. (Housekeeping – yes, I took it…) :
Along with another blogger, Charis Bhagianathan, I was a guest of ITC Hotels on a four night trip on their Golden Triangle circuit, and this was our first night.
We stayed in Executive Suites, which consist of a large sitting room…
…a large bedroom,with lovely embroidered linen…
a large, well-stocked bathroom and a guest loo, which came complete with a step machine :
Sadly, we were so busy that I didn’t have time to use this – though amazingly, I did manage to find time to wolf down the cheese and walnuts…
There was a well stocked bar area, with loads of bottles of water, and an excellent choice of teas :
But – and this is my only “but” of the visit – instant coffee, which for a caffeine addict like myself was disappointing :
(The other 2 Welcome hotels where we subsequently stayed, both had French push type plungers and real coffee, which was lovely)
Sadly, I also never found a spare 15 minutes to test out this lovely creature in my bedroom :
On arrival we were given an internet coupon which was a nice touch.
We were shown the other categories of rooms in the hotel, and as women travellers we were both particularly interested in the Eva rooms, exclusively for women and staffed only by women. There rooms come with a screen so you can see who is at the door, and in fact no unescorted male is allowed on the floor. The night of my return from this Golden Triangle trip I met a cousin over dinner. My age, she travels a lot on business and on hearing that I had been a guest of ITC, she immediately asked “Did you stay in the Eva rooms ? I always do.”
QED.
Conclusions ?
A luxurious, brilliantly appointed room. Very attentive service. Good location very close to the malls and offices of Saket.
Would I stay here again? Yes, but realistically since I live in Delhi, chances are (sadly) remote. Would I recommend the WelcomHotel Sheraton New Delhi?
Absolutely.
And I absolutely love my pillow.