… but it’s strictly average—except for the staff
By Anoothi Vishal
The determined onslaught by foreign hospitality chains into the Indian market means that the industry is currently abuzz with who is moving where. Amongst the biggest players to have entered Delhi this year is the Hilton—the US-based brand founded by Conrad Hilton (whose great granddaughter Paris Hilton is someone you may be more familiar with) and it is in news not just because of the famous surname but because of the unlikely location it has chosen for itself: Janakpuri.
In west Delhi, Janakpuri is a middle-class residential locality whose fortunes the metro line built a couple of years ago is no doubt likely to change. Real estate prices are booming and there is much activity not in the least in the form of a couple of star hotels that the locality didn’t quite have until just now. The first of these about-to-come up properties is the Hilton, essentially a full-fledged business hotel like it is almost everywhere in the world, but with enough elements of leisure built in to draw the local crowd from nearby cash-rich areas and turn this into a profitable venture.
The hotel is a big and ambitious property— 10 floors, highrise, with as many as three speciality restaurants, a coffee shop, a bar, and a spa; all the works if you like. This weekend, I was invited for a stay at the property to review it and check out two of its restaurants that are open (the rest will take about a month more).
The design has been done by the Thai interior design agency PI 10, and the look is quintessentially “hotel” with lots of glass, wood and marble all around. The main lobby is impressive—a huge space, minimum seating and accented by a huge blown glass chandelier that reflects lights thrown its way from below. There are hundreds of other LED lights which make this an impressive space as you step in in the evening— just right perhaps for the West Delhi crowd that thrives on bling and would rather have more than less to flaunt.
The swimming pool on the third floor with its open-air ambience is perhaps the best designed space in the hotel. A room overlooking this may be on top of your desired list and you may certainly like to lounge around this space. On the other hand, I have a few grouses too. The carpeted flooring does nothing for the hotel. The look is 1980s, when wall-to-wall carpeting even in the tropical Indian weather was the rage. But there is nothing more putting off to a modern day traveler than musty carpets. Alas both the rooms and the corridors of the hotel seem destined for precisely that.
I checked out the Indian restaurant Zume—and found the same “retro” (but not chic) element there. With brass bric-a-brac and an ornate look, the “ethnic” restaurant—complete with a live song cast—is definitely the stuff of the 1980s. It is a restaurant from the past when Indian restaurants looked a certain way, conforming to a certain Western construct of ethnicity. It has been a long time since anyone dared to bring this format on to the table.
The food is unforgivable. Sure, this is a “foreign” brand and has for its guests many Hilton regulars who no doubt seek clichés when it comes to the India experience. And yet… The restaurant is supposed to specialize in Kashmiri food—they even have some Wazwan seating. But just 20 per cent of the menu is devoted to Kashmiri specialities, amongst them, rogan josh—the most done-to-death curry in Indian restaurants anywhere. Should you seek a wazwan experience, the staff assures, they will seat you on a low table, serve you perhaps in a trami but feed you from their regular menu— dal makhni, gushtaba, chicken tikkas et al! In a day and age, where dining in “Indian” restaurants has become much more sophisticated, and chefs and restaurateurs are going out of their way to serve up authentic regional experiences, this kind of a tacky, quintessentially “restauranty” menu without any depth whatsoever is shocking to come across. A chef has been imported from Red Fort restaurant in London—though it defies all logic considering that someone more in tune with Indian realities, contemporary and traditional would have been better suited.
Even the taste of what is served up cannot stand critical scrutiny. The Hyderabadi biryani is a travesty— the rice without any flavour; served up a sealed metal (!) handi. But the dough seal is just a prop; the rice is undoubtedly cooked separately from the meat, and they are bunged in together a la minute at the time of service.
But while I am going to be severe on the food, a word about the staff: This is the only area where the Hilton’s international standards are on display. The staff is extremely well trained and can converse intelligently should you want to do that. The rooms per se are once again average. I had visited the Hilton Garden Inn some months ago and was bowled away by their attention to detail and level of personalized service which is what a guest really craves for these days. No such luck at the sister property. Besides, a couple of design features within the rooms and baths need looking into. The bath tubs are extremely slippery and slightly raised from the rest of the bathroom. One false step on the raised edge while coming out of the tub and you may just injure yourself — or that’s how I felt.
To be fair, the hotel is still being done up and we will go back to check it out once the glitches are all sorted out. But my first impression—and apologies to their brilliant staff whom I genuinely liked—that this is an average, cliched hotel. Welcome for West Delhi because the area doesn’t have anything at all. On the other hand, I am told that once all three speciality restaurants (a Chinese and an Italian one are on the anvil) become operational, there are going to be many more leisure activities. A leisurely brunch on Sundays will involve just one fixed price for all three restaurants. You could sit anywhere and order from all three menus. A definite treat. Also, kids will have their own “cards” allowing them various discounts. We look forward to that.
