http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481 http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481 http://ie2.trivago.com/images/layoutimages/logos/default.png http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278668 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:48:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278662 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:47:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278650 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:46:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278646 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:45:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278642 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:45:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278640 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:45:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278638 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:44:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278634 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:44:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278632 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:43:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278630 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:42:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278626 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:42:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278624 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:41:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278622 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:41:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278618 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:41:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278616 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:40:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278612 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:39:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278586 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:38:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278570 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:34:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278562 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:33:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/picture-i9278558 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:32:00 +0200 ]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/review-o382476 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:54:00 +0200
On this particular trip we'd started out by spoiling ourselves with a night at the Imperial, a truly beautiful and very memorable hotel but an indulgence we couldn't afford to repeat at the end of the visit. For our final night I scouted around the hotel booking sites and hit upon the Nikko Metropolitan. Knowing that it's a Japanese hotel chain I could be sure that - despite the rather reasonable price of around £65 for the night - it would be of a good standard. Japanese tourists don't DO 'slumming it'. I believe it's now no longer part of the Nikko group but I can't entirely confirm that.

The night before we'd been with our tour group at the horrible Jaypee Siddarth in the north west of the city. We booked a taxi to take us to the Nikko which took about 15 to 20 minutes. I wasn't expecting anything too marvellous but when we arrived we were quite impressed. To put it into context it's nowhere close to the sublime gorgeousness of the Imperial but it beat the pants off the Siddarth. The blast of air conditioned air as we entered the lobby was more than welcome. The check in was friendly and polite and we were given chairs to sit in whilst two members of staff took our details, checked our passports etc. We were asked when our flights would be and they offered to book a car to the airport for us, told us about the various restaurants in the hotel and then issued us with our room keys.

The lobby is a large open space with light marble flooring, lots of pink armchairs and coffee table and a few rather nice large bronzes. The floor is scattered with attractive patterned rugs and there are floor to ceiling windows looking out at the back onto the swimming pool. To one side of the lobby is a restaurant and the other is a rather fun bar with an African safari theme. We headed out to look at the pool - a rather stunning and good-sized pool with sun beds and umbrellas but in the heat of the day the only ones taking a dip were the pigeons. I don't know about other women but for me the idea of taking my clothes off to swim in such a conservative country just doesn't seem right and when combined with a fear or all manner of weird lurgies that could be in the water, I'm not likely to take a dip. Across from the pool and down some steps we found a very nice gift shop that offered a very wide range of products at high but not ridiculous prices. I can imagine that the Japanese habit of gifting makes it very important to have a hotel shop with lots of options.

Our room was small but pretty in light colours with a large bed and an armchair with an ottoman. There was a small desk/dressing table and all the necessary storage furniture. I didn't take detailed notes at the time but got a sense of a 'nice' but not extraordinary room. We had a window that overlooked a small local shanty town and strange as it might sound, it was fascinating to sit and watch the inhabitants wandering back and forth about their daily business. The bathroom was small but well equipped.

As we settled down to find our guidebook and plan our final assault on the city, I came across our flight confirmation and I experienced the sense of my blood turning to ice. I'd got all the dates wrong and we were supposed to be on the lunchtime Virgin flight back to the UK that day and not the day after. Suddenly I could understand why I'd not been able to check in on line when we'd gone to the business centre earlier. I'd already missed the deadline. To say that I panicked would be an understatement. I'm generally a very unflappable person but the realisation of what I'd done stopped me in my tracks. We were on flights booked with airmiles and surely that would make us the lowest of the low when it came to changing our tickets. I'd just been made redundant and could see my miniscule redundancy money evaporating before my eyes.

When I'd started to breathe properly again we headed downstairs to the hotel's travel desk where two very calm and smartly dressed assistants called Virgin, explained the problem and put me through to their office. We were told there was no problem, it would cost £25 each to change the flights and we could pick up the confirmation at the airport. No worries! Of course I did worry and insisted that we'd go to the Virgin office and get the new tickets straight away. For the calm way they handled a near hysterical guest I have to give a big round of applause to the unflappable travel desk.

Returning to the hotel in the evening we ate in the ground floor restaurant called 'Patio' which serves a wide range of international cuisine. The prices were predictably a lot higher than elsewhere in the city but that was to be expected and still a lot cheaper than a 4 star hotel restaurant in Europe. We were just looking for a quiet stress-free dinner and not after a gourmet delight. Outside at the pool families of Indian guests were splashing around, scaring off the pigeons and having a great time. We popped to the bar for a beer and headed off for an early night.

In addition to Patio they have a Japanese restaurant that has won awards for its food as well as an Indian restaurant.

The next morning we did get a bit of a shock at just how much tax the hotel had managed to add on to the bill due to the bizarre Delhi law that basis luxury tax not on how much you paid for the room but on what the Rack-rate was. As we'd booked through Expedia whose confirmation unhelpfully said 'Rate may or may not include taxes' we were rather more annoyed with them than with the hotel - the taxes amounted to about 25% extra on the bill.

The hotel had arranged an air conditioned car to take us to the airport at a reasonable price of around £15. I certainly recommend to anyone who has an option to avoid the early morning or late night flights out of Delhi and go for the much more civilised lunch time departures

The Metropolitan has a lot going for it - it's location on a side street near to a beautiful Sikh temple keeps it exceptionally quiet in a city where peace is definitely at a premium. The bar and restaurants are not outrageously expensive, the pool is attractive and the shop would be handy for anyone passing through who doesn't have time to get out and hit the city for a bit of retail therapy. I wouldn't pay full price and would really only go for the hotel if I could get it at a bargain, but we did enjoy our stay, found the place very comfortable and the staff extremely calm and courteous.
]]> http://www.trivago.co.uk/delhi-84766/hotel/the-metropolitan-hotel---spa-99481/rating-e444109 Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:48:00 +0200