Best Western Hotel Kenilworth, Calcutta

Advantages: You'll never forget it
Disadvantages: You may never want to remember it

...Kensington and Bloomsbury. Calcutta may be only three hundred years old, but it could be three thousand... it has the appearence of a city that has been hit by catastrophe, with life teeming amongst its ruins. The smells of pollution, open fires, cooking, exotic spices, decaying organic matter, stale urine and fragrant incense, waft through appallingly congested colonial avenues and streets. Waterloo Street, Harrison Road, Elgin Road, Curzon Street, Calcutta may no longer look like London, but it still sounds like it. Calcutta is not a place for the feint-hearted. It is an assault on the senses, compassionate, contemptful, awesome and frightening at times, yet undiscovered gems hide behind every street corner. Take a deep breath and enjoy. Places to Stay: The Oberoi Grand on Chowringhee Road is one of the most opulent and graceful hotels... Read review

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Advantages: Efficient (usually), Not very busy
Disadvantages: Old Internation terminal, Safety concerns over road at night

...Calcutta Airport is split into 2 terminals, the domestic and international, and passenger numbers using it as a gateway into India are increasing every year although by international standards it is a small airport. INTERNATIONAL - there are direct services to and from Calcutta by British Airways (London), Amsterdam (KLM), Amman (Royal Jordanian) and Dubai (Royal Brunei) as well as various destinations in SouthEast Asia. If coming from South East Asia it is often cheaper to enter India via Calcutta and the flight time is shorter. Many passengers using Royal Brunei to fly on to Australia also take a stop in India using this airport. DOMESTIC - Calcutta is connected to all major Indian cities and to smaller Cities in Eastern India by Indian Airlines and Jet Airways. FACILITIES - The International terminal is pretty basic. There aren... Read review

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Advantages:
Disadvantages: big city, lots of poor people

...Densely populated and polluted, Calcutta is often an ugly an desperate place that to many poeple sums up the worst of India, yet it´s also one of the country´s most fascinating cnetres and has some scenes of rare beauty. Certainly the people are a friendly bunch and Bengali humour is renowned throughout Inida. Don´t let the squalor of first impressions put your off this city. There are a lot of jewels to be dicovered and the´re a not far from the surface. However, Calcutta is not a good introduction to India and is best visited after you´ve had a chance to get used to some the country´s extremes. With it´s 12 million inhabitans and a big poor crowd it´s not easy to handle.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful