Feb 27, 2008 07:35 PM
3592 Views
This was my only second visit to Calcutta and one of my friends recommended me to stay with Taj Bengal. He said "Divakar, you will really like it there". I decided to give it a try.
First impression
I booked for a single standard room and upon booking, within 1 hour I received an email from Taj Bengal hotel. The email asked a series of my preferences like room type, bed type, food preference, reading preference and so on. I was really impressed. "They really know how to take good care of their first time customer" I thought.
Reaching there / location
I took morning flight from Mumbai and reached Calcutta by 10:30am. The drive from airport to the hotel was about 45 minutes. The hotel is located in Alipore area, which is stone's throw away from the famous Victoria Memorial. Later I was told that other attractions like Zoological and horticultural gardens, race course were also nearby.
*Ambience / lobby / interiors / check in
*I was received very warmly by the doorman as I entered the hotel. The hotel building and frontage looked very modern, new and well maintained. The lobby or atrium is really huge and has two huge chandeliers. The front desk is nicely decorated with contemporary Indian puppets. The whole set-up there is nicely complimented by a fine mix of modern architecture and antique furniture pieces.
The whole ambience was nice comfortable and a nice mild herbal aroma filled the air, creating a very fresh feeling.
The check-in was smooth and in less than 5 minutes. Wow!
*Room
*The hotel has 229 rooms(I asked the lady at front desk). My room was on 4th floor(the hotel has 5 floors), and was a non-smoking one - I had asked for it in my preferences. The room was ready, clean, spacious, tidy. It has a wardrobe, working desk, king-size bed and other standard accessories like colour TV, mini-bar, tea-coffee maker etc. I missed though, the steam iron in the room(which nowadays is very commonly provided in the rooms in business hotels). The room also had wireless internet access - of course at additional cost.
*Restaurants
*The hotel has unbelievably 7 restaurants. I heard that one of these named "The Hub" is voted as the best all day dining restaurants in Calcutta. The others are - Sonargaon, The Indian restaurant, Junction Bar, Griil at poolside, Chambers Restaurant - only for hotel residents and Chinoiserie - chinese restaurant. "So little time and so many places to try", I said. I was staying only for two days there.
I tried Sonargaon and The Hub. The food quality and presentation is really great.
*Service
*I must comment and that the staff here is highly motivated to give their very best. Each of the members tried to give me exceptation service with smile. I have to mention about Kaushik in The Hub. Always smiling and ready to help, he offered several nice varieties during the morning breakfast. Knowing that I came from Mumbai, he even brewed a special strong tea for me everyday.
*Other facilities
*Like any other 5-star hotel, they too have gym, swimming pool, business center, shopping area, conference and ballrooms, banquet halls.
Each floor is nicely decorated with Indian antique pieces. Worth a dekko!
I can only say that this hotel is highly recommended.
