48 Hours at the Dusit Devarana, New Delhi
To be honest, New Delhi is not very famous for having countless luxury hotels like London, Paris and New York. However, the selection of hotels is quite diverse and some of them have really unique selling points like the Dusit Devarana. Being a true urban resort, this luxury hotel offers vast grounds, a jungle-like atmosphere, an amazing design and low buildings, giving you the feeling of staying at a holiday resort instead a city hotel. Of course this atmosphere and concept needs space, therefore the hotel is not located in the centre of New Delhi – in fact it is located between Delhi and Gurgaon (a major business city). Due to the location we first stayed at a different hotel from where we started the sightseeing tour through the old part of Delhi and were then driven to the Dusit Devarana.
Before we could even gather the main building of the resort, we arrived at the security gate of the hotel. Only after checking the car, we were allowed to enter the gates. I would say spectacular is the only word to describe the entrance of this slightly different city hotel. While we were still impressed of the trees growing out in the middle of the welcome area, there was already a welcome committee of four employees who helped us with our luggage and accompanied us to the security check (very usual in Indian luxury hotels and helped us feel really safe). After a few stairs and passing some amazing artworks, we arrived at the amazing front desk where the Brand Executive, the General Manager Ms Holm and our lovely Lifestyle Manager were waiting with welcome drinks, refreshing towels and a warm and welcoming smile. Soon after we finished our drinks, the tour began and we were accompanied to our Devarana Pool Room, their highest category – and yes the name is what it seems, you have access to their never-ending 100-metres pool.
Our Lifestyle Manager opened the door and immediately the curtains opened automatically – a spectacular performance! I would say that the “room” itself was one of the most spectacular we ever stayed in and honestly, it could have easily been a private villa on a Maldivian island. Looking onto our semi-private pool area which lead into the main long pool, this room had everything a luxury traveller can dream of: Open bathroom with the heaviest free-standing basins I have ever seen, lots of wardrobe space, two vanity desks (!), a walk in shower in finest white marble, a toilet with separate seating area where they had some magazines, a huge writing desk, lounge area to chill in, a free standing tub with amazing views as well a super-king bed (2 meters by 2 meters). In front of the pool, there was a seating area with two Dedon chairs.
I really much liked their toiletries by “Jardins d’India”, the many heavenly towels inside the room, the amazing bed with a really big blanket (Finally a hotel understands our preferences!) as well as the idea to control all things from the iPad – including lights, curtains, television and even the door. Housekeeping was always doing a great job, my laundry has been processed within a half day and they take good care on the mosquitos: one staff member arrives at 7pm to bring some burning sticks which last until 9pm. If you want to seat outside after 9pm, you just call them and someone will take care of the service again. It is highly recommended to do that – however nothing happened to us even tough we failed to do so on the first night. The only point to mention is that we were not fully satisfied with the soundproofing of the Pool rooms, this is definitely better at the “regular” rooms hence their doors are not opening. You could therefore hear the neighbours laughing on the pool during the evenings. However we were absolutely not disturbed by the noise from the arriving planes, which is of course unavoidable due to the proximity to the airport.
During our stay we had the exclusive opportunity to also dine in the hotel. While there is one International restaurant with Indian, Thai and European dishes plus a wonderful interior design, the other restaurant is a super-stylish Chinese restaurant where you are sitting under a canopy-like ceiling. The service was great at both places, however our nice waitress from the Chinese restaurant Chi Ni (she originally comes from the Indian border to Mongolia) was especially outrageous and together with our lovely Lifestyle Manager, the friendliest and most dedicated staff member we have met. They felt like our personal assistants and honestly it was like they would be there just for us, which in fact they were not. Great Job! Both restaurants, international Kiyan and chinese Chi Ni fully met our expectations, however if you have just one evening, go for Chi Ni as it is more unique and special!
As we were leaving for a full-day tour of the Taj Mahal and the Fort of Agra (which is nearly 4 Hours south of Delhi) we had a breakfast to go on the first morning and on the next morning we simply overslept breakfast – well at least we got two Cappuccino by some nice staff members who knocked on our door at 11am and asked if we need anything since we did not arrive at the restaurant – isn’t that gorgeous? Before our flight to Muscat, we got two 30-minutes full body massages at the magnificent Devarana Spa just at the end of the hotel. Situated within the amazing gardens, the spa is definitely a must see when staying there and our treatments were well done with a perfect feet massage and a tea before the main massage. All in all, the spa was wonderfully designed and had elegant furniture as the whole hotel. Everything was top notch and of highest quality (starting with Dedon outdoor furniture and ending with the most luxurious white marble in the bathrooms!
Honestly, this hotel might not have the best location in Delhi, however the atmosphere, design and the kind staff members are all worth a stay there. There was nothing we found unattractive nor not fitting together, the architects did an amazing job and we are already looking forward to our next trip or at least layover in Delhi! It is one of the most wonderful hotels (and best maintained) we have stayed in and can highly recommend this hotel.
We were generously invited by the Dusit Devarana and Bird Group for the test stay. However all above written expresses my own opinion and has not been influenced.
