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This Week in Hotel Lust: The Leela Kempinski Goa
Goa, India is an attractive resort state associated with equal parts bohemianism and luxury frills. Spirituality seeking backpackers enjoy it just as much as their richer-than-rich counterparts, who have a good number of opulent hotels to choose from as the tourism industry has taken off over the years.
The Leela operates a family of high-end hotels in some of the country's most popular destinations, among them Bangalore, Udiapur, and Goa, of course. It's the latter that we're focusing on in this installment of "This Week Hotel in Lust," with plenty of near-royal touches to qualify among the ranks of last week's Villa D'Este in Italy. And we do mean "royal"—they've had the audacity to include the word "Palace" in their name, a buzzword for anyone hoping to live the high life while traveling abroad.
Tags: India Hotels / Hotel Pools / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
The Park Hyderabad Takes Its Pool to Another Dimension
We keep hearing that The Park Hotels chain is doing the real, five-star luxury thing right in India. They've got a new 285-room property opening up sometime this fall in Hyderabad, which sounds like it fits the promise of being a "design hotel".
But what intrigues us more than the main architecture of the hotel — its unusual shape has been computer-modeled to maximize the natural light that gets in, for example — is the pool. Although these renderings make it look like just a large, slightly-oddly shaped pool, there's apparently a lot more to it than that: in fact it's
a “three-dimensional” horizon pool, with a stair tube connecting the hotel's night club to The Veranda through the volume of the pool.
We really need more pictures, but does this really mean that we could swim past people climbing the stairs to the night club? Do we want to do that? We're not quite sure.
We've got a few months to wait before we can find out exactly how this goes. Opening prices haven't been publicized yet but this hotel's cousin, the Park Hotels Bangalore has rooms starting at around 6,000 INR ($125) in fall.
Tags: Hotel Openings / India Hotels / Dream Hotels / VCH Hotels / Vikram Chatwal / → All Tags
Vikram Chatwal Wants Us Floating On a Cloud at Dream Cochin
While the opening of the Downtown Dream Hotel in New York is, pardon the pun, still just a dream, Vikram Chatwal's VCH group seems to have managed to get their act together with another Dream hotel at least: the Dream Cochin in Kerala is now up and running.
Per Luxist, The Indian tourism ministry has apparently already awarded the Dream Cochin five stars, although the Dream gang seem to think their new hotel is even better than that; they promise it "offers a glimpse of the future of deluxe accommodations."
The future is apparently going to be blue in color, which the Dream people think will give us the feeling of floating on a cloud. Think a mix of hippy and hip, because they've also tried to plug in modern technology all over the place too.
Tags: India Hotels / Hotel Awards / Killer View / → All Tags
"Life-Changing Views" of the Oberoi Amarvilas
Though our pockets might not be as deep as that of a Condé Nast Traveler reader, we’re all for scouring the richie-rich preferences of the rag’s readers to round out our own hotel wish list. Because, duh, rich people have good taste! And CNT’s 2008 Reader’s Choice Awards Top 100 list does not disappoint.
No. 8 on the coveted list, with an impressive score of 97.3--the Oberoi Amarvilas in Agra, Indian--has us particularly giddy. Promising “life-changing views of the Taj Mahal,” the hotel is so close to the wowzer Wonder of the World that guests are shuttled to the monument via golf cart by hotel staffers.
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Langham Place Now Headed for India (With Ice Caves)
Here comes yet another Langham Hotel: this one's going to be the Langham Place, Koregaon Park in the city of Pune in India. Well, here almost comes another Langham, since it's not actually due to open until sometime in 2010.
Like other Langhams, this one will be a bit fancy. The big selling point at the moment is a huge atrium including (among other things) palm trees, a resident DJ and three-storey windows. There's also going to be a Portal, which unfortunately is not somewhere you can go to get whisked away to another dimension, but instead this Langham Place hotel plans to:
combine its lobby lounge, cocktail bar and business centre in one area called Portal, where work and play seamlessly intertwine to meet the needs of today's multi-tasking world.
Tags: Anti-View / India Hotels / → All Tags
Room With an Anti-View: Window to Window in Pune, India
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
With a name as grand sounding as the Royal Orchid Golden Suites, you'd expect something quite magnificent when you were heading here in Pune, a city in the Maharashtra region of India. Unfortunately, at least one of the rooms has a view like this.
This is really a pity, because from all reports the gang at the Royal Orchid Golden Suites treat their guests very well and it's one of the most popular hotels in Pune. Average rates are something around $125 a night, and for that rate in this city we'd be hoping for a better view, so check the room before you check in.
[Photo: martinstelbrink]
Tags: Killer View / India Hotels / Hotels Near the Taj Mahal / → All Tags
Room With a Killer View: Get the Taj Mahal in Your Sights
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
There's nothing quite like a hotel room with a view over one of the world's most famous monuments. And that's what you get at the Oberoi Amarvilas in Agra, India: being just 600 meters away, many of the rooms, like this one, come with a view of the Taj Mahal.
As well as having literally unbeatable views, the Oberoi Amarvillas come out on top at TripAdvisor too, with the #1 position of all hotels in Agra. Rates start at 29,500 Indian Rupee for the cheapest rooms, which is around US$740--which sounds expensive even before you remember that it's in India, where the cost of living is a lot cheaper. But come on--a view of the Taj Mahal from your window? That's not something you get every day.
[Photo: js42]
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The Green Hotels Craze (Thankfully) Hits India
India gets a bad press for its increasing use of energy and fossil fuels to feed a booming economy. But it's not all bad - there's a trend towards building 'green' hotels which use around 35 per cent less energy as standard hotels.
The latest is the Park Hotel in Hyderabad, capital of the Indian state Andhra Pradesh. It's due to open in mid-2009 and will have 280 eco-friendly rooms. Its baby green hotel-sister also being built in Pune by the same chain.
They make a big deal of the 90 per cent non-smoking rule - if you've ever smelt the fumes rising from an Indian cigarette, you'll know that banning smoking in the country would cut India's pollution effect by around half.
Tags: Hotel Bars / India Hotels / Design Hotels / → All Tags
Trendy Hotel Bar Trend Can Also Be Found in India
The hot trend of opening a hip bar and lounge inside a hotel doesn't just apply to the lodging establishments stateside.
At the Park Hotel in Bangalore, the new i-Bar has opened. Designed by the Project Orange design group, the bar has been transformed into a high-end drinking establishment.
The layout is understood as a box within a box where the inner sanctum is accessed via the sliding timber screens. This area has a lowered ceiling and features a collection of furniture all covered in red leather, silk and cotton. On the floor are a number of individually designed textured rugs by Project Orange.
The bar itself is on the end wall standing in front of a huge textured hand carved sandstone relief. It’s timber top is supported on a long row of turned timber spindles that are lit by individual led lights.
Aside from serving up Indian and imported spirits, i-Bar has its own menu of specialty cocktails, along with a menu of Indian, western and oriental snacks. And like every bar and nightclub these days, the i-Bar
has a DJ come spin tunes at night.
As for the Park Hotel, it's a member of the Design Hotels group and gets decent reviews amongst guests looking for an "achingly hip" place to stay. However, one guest warns that Sundays usually bring a loud disco party by the pool.
Tags: Infinity Pools / India Hotels / → All Tags
An Infinity Pool at the End of India
Today's inspiring infinity pool--because we really just can't get enough of them--comes from the Leela Kempinski Kovalam Beach near Kerala on the southern tip of India. Sandwiched between sea and mountains, this area gets a relatively high rainfall which makes the landscape the greenest in India.
The Leela has had a large addition over the years, so that there is an old wing and a new wing of the hotel. Be sure to stay in the section near the infinity pool and then there's an added bonus of a bar overlooking the sea which has large sofa-beds where you can enjoy your drink in the most relaxing way possible.
They have "Winter Bliss" packages available now (today it was 87 degrees at the Leela) starting from $293 per night for a Beach View suite, include buffet breakfast, $25 food and beverage credit per night and airport transfers. Their so-called winter runs until April 30, 2008.
[Photo: Brenda111]
Tags: Killer View / India Hotels / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
Room With a Killer View: Pool and Sea from Marriott Mumbai
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
Last time we were looking out a hotel window in India's huge city of Mumbai, we found mainly wasteland at the Hotel Rang Sharda. Fortunately, there are also some hotel rooms in Mumbai that have a more than decent view, like this killer view from a room at the JW Marriott Hotel Mumbai with its beautiful pool and coastal view.
The Marriott Mumbai is a five-star luxury spot on Juhu Beach, and it's also not far from Mumbai Airport. You can't see them all in the picture, but there are in fact three outdoor swimming pools to choose from. And after your swim, while enjoying the views, you can choose from a few different eating spots: Indian, Italian, Thai or Teppanyaki. The Marriott Mumbai is also popular as a business hotel, and it's got wireless access throughout the public areas, meeting rooms and the guest rooms, too. Although you should be looking at the nice view rather than at your computer screen.
[Photo: steve149]
Tags: Asia Hotel Scene / India Hotels / Singapore Hotels / Bangkok Hotels / → All Tags
More Hotels Hit India While a Theater Hits Bangkok
All across Asia, hoteliers are rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of more and more tourists landing in their hotel rooms. Take India as an example: prices and demand for upscale hotel rooms are both rising, and figures just released show that in 2006, room rates rose by a huge 40%.
That means that large chains like Marriott, Hilton, Four Seasons and Shangri-La are all planning big expansions throughout India. Marriott, for example, is planning to add another 15 hotels in the next couple of years, and like most chains is looking at cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kerala.
But further east in Thailand, hotels are looking at other ways to increase their exposure and income. The Millennium Hilton Bangkok, for example, has something interesting starting up at the end of the month. It's providing its Grand Ballroom as the venue for a performance by the British Theatre Playhouse of "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice", which won a stack of theater awards in Britain. The play will then move on to Singapore where it will be staged in the Raffles Hotel. Perhaps the next stop will be one of the many new hotels in India.
[Photo: g-hat]
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