July, 2009
Rating: 9 out of 10
The Tariff:
1 week stay for a family of 4
Atmosphere & Location
This Boutique Hotel, set in a nice
neighborhood and well located in Pune may not be as fancy as a 4
or 5 star western hotel, but it has much to offer in addition to its
very reasonable rates! First, it actually has a look and décor to match
its country. Carvings, fancy trim, fountains, and fancy balconies adorn
the front of the hotel. An open air lobby welcomes visitors, and
friendly staff offers their help with whatever is needed. Neat and clean
rooms are simple but functional. Art work decorates the halls and small
lounge areas on each floor. The rooftop restaurant, called appropriately
Curry on the Roof, serves up delicious dinners at very reasonable prices
and offers the same great menu for room service as well.
Rooms
For our stay we had two rooms down the
hall from one another—one was a deluxe room and the other a super deluxe
room. Both had a/c. The main difference was that the deluxe room had one
king size bed and the super deluxe room had two twins, a bit more space
and a mini ‘fridge.
An interesting note for westerners is
that often times Indian hotels (and homes I assume) have the shower in
the bathroom with a drain in the floor and sometimes no shower curtain
at all. A bath mat is placed outside the bathroom door. It’s no more
difficult to shower, but it’s annoying that the bathroom floor is often
soaking wet, so your feet get wet if you go in to brush your teeth for
example.
Service
As stated, the staff is very helpful.
We unfortunately had numerous problems with getting an internet
connection and they tried their best to accommodate us. Front desk
staff even let me use the concierge desk computer to make reservations.
They were eager to get a car or hail a cab any time we needed one. Room
service and housekeeping staff were very accommodating but did not speak
much English. In the restaurant the waiters, who knew my husband from
previous business trips, were very solicitous. They were helpful with
suggestions of delicious dishes and would even take room service calls
late in the evening if necessary.
Food
Curry on the Roof is an intimate dining
room and we took our buffet breakfasts there as well as several dinners
and a cocktail hour. For breakfast there was tea (excellent) and coffee,
cereal with hot or cold milk, fruit, juice, toast and butter and jam or
honey, eggs cooked to order (masala omelets were very good), and usually
a local specialty that changed daily: kitchedi, idli and sambur, idapam,
choles, spiced potatoes fritters, etc. Some of the dinner entrees we
tried and liked were the chicken tikka masala, palak paneer, butter
curry—paneer in a rich red curry sauce, mushroom curry, dahl makhani,
and yellow dahl. We usually had basmati rice and some naan, either plain
or with butter and garlic.
Sometimes We Had Room Service
Hotel Royalty
Prabhat Road (across from Police
Station)
Near Deccan Gymkhana, Pune, India |
