Nicely designed rooms and bath rooms, stylish, comfortable
Disadvantages:
Careless Housekeeping
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Isn't it a drag when you arrive somewhere late at night and have to haul two bags and both buttocks all the way into town, adding an hour to an already overlong journey? Or, when you wake up in the middle of the night, almost before going to bed, to pack two bags and buttocks and haul them all the way out to the airport? You take a couple of intravenous coffees, to keep yourself awake till you get on the plane, then once safely tucked up on board you are buzzing so much you can't sleep!
I guess this is why someone invented the "Airport Hotel" - probably one of many things that the Wright Brothers would curse if they were still around. If they were to stay at a typical airport hotel they might almost regret their invention!
This particular airport hotel is located near the International Airport of Mumbai, formerly Bombay, so it's not very convenient for the business district, but is fine if you are arriving late in the evening, or flying out early in the morning - which is the very reason that I was staying there. I wouldn't bed down by Mumbai Airport for any other reason!
ARRIVAL I arrived at the airport in the evening, ready to take a cab to the hotel, but a charming and gorgeous airline rep, who had taken it upon herself to help me, saw a chap holding a Hyatt sign in the arrivals area. He had a list of people booked in that day, my name was on the list, so he was ready to take me to the hotel. I was ready not to argue. I was disappointed that I had to leave the gorgeous airline rep behind, though.
As the taxi pulled into the hotel, though, he handed me a slip of paper to sign. Oh. I checked to make sure it didn't say anything like "I promise to give you a Ferrari" or "IOU A million pounds" or "My firstborn is yours"; it seemed innocuous, if blank, so I signed it, making a mental note to keep an extra eye on my firstborn, not having either of the other two.
LOBBY AND RECEPTION My first impression arriving was that the lobby was dark; had they forgotten to turn the lights on? Had they run out of five rupee coins for the meter? Then I realised that it was deliberate! The lobby was grey marble walls, with some large, round, grey columns, interspersed with lots of layered glass walls backlit in blue or green. There was loud, pumping music from the business/function rooms to the left; anywhere else, it would be a nightclub, but in India any event has to have deafening music, so it could be a business dinner, product presentation, or a meditation class. Some railings to the right separated the lobby lounge and one of the restaurants. The front wall appeared to be missing; it was floor to ceiling glass. Everywhere the decor involved lots of clean, straight lines, glass walls and generally a very modern and minimalist style, almost 90s futuristic.
However, the decor was so minimal that there were no signs indicating the reception desk. It had the feel of somewhere between an empty futuristic night club and the entry to a trendy eastern spa. I headed to a simple counter in front of a backlit glass wall with four people in uniform which turned out to be the right guess. Each person had a queue of 2 people waiting but I just had to wait a few minutes before the person in front of me moved away, the young lady receptionist looked up at me, smiled and called out, "Hi there!"
Once I was checked in, and my passport copied (to be distributed to the nearest forgery shopping centre no doubt!), she pointed me towards the lifts which were behind one of the walls, unsigned, but with her help I found them quickly. I then found the room which thankfully was numbered and signed, unlike anything else!
THE ROOM Like downstairs, there seems to have been a very big effort to make it look different. The marbled hallway was cool, as was the wooden room floor, with a rug protruding about ten inches either side of the bed - almost big enough for my feet. Cream walls, dark wood panels and beige padded wall behind the bed, all looked stylish. The was a large mirror on the opposite wall from the bed, I guess so that one can watch oneself in bed; it makes a change from mirrored ceilings.
There was a nice combination of colours around the room, giving it a fresh feel, and the actual layout and shape were slightly different from the standard hotel room - someone had made an effort! The grey marble entry way angled slightly to the left as I entered, with a wooden sliding door cupboard on one side, with luggage shelf and a safe, and wooden sliding door to bathroom on the other. The inner wall was curved, with grey marble continuing round from the bathroom to a small, narrow alcove with the AC control - useful too, perhaps for storing long, narrow things.
The bed was unusually wide, dressed with about 5 pillows more than necessary, most of which soon ended up on the floor. As I soon discovered, it was also very comfortable, except for the frame jutting out beyond the mattress at the corners, perfectly design to catch your shin as you walk past! As well as the bed there was one small dark armchair and footstool. For work there was a small, oval glass desk attached to small drawers. A small, round glass table held a bowl containing three apples. A set of shelves held a bowl, kettle and small box of coffee, tea bags etc. There was a flat screen TV attached to the wall opposite the bed.
In general, the room did feel somewhat different, more comfortable and spacious than an average hotel room, because of the large size bed but general lack of clutter such as pointless drawer units and chairs and unnecessarily large desk.
The bathroom, though, was more than somewhat different; it was very different! To one side was the basin and counter, both made of clear glass; in front of me was toilet behind a frosted glass panel. Before the toilet were three steps down to a bath and a sunken shower stall. It looked and felt different. In the morning the shower was powerful and effective.
In-room internet available and they even supplied a cable. The cost was Rs500 (US$11) for 2 hours or Rs850 (US$19) for 24 hours. Not a bad all-day package, for a hotel, but the two hour package was too much considering I planned to crawl into the large bed shortly, so I declined.
In the morning an English language newspaper was left in a bag hanging from my door handle. It was the DNA, or Daily News Analysis, a new and trendy newspaper from Mumbai.
THE SAGA OF THE KETTLE AND THE BASIN When I arrived, I was feeling thirsty so I looked around but there were no bottles of water in the room. I decided to get something from the minibar but that was locked, with a small sign telling me to call Housekeeping to unlock it. Now, it's a small thing but after arriving at the hotel late in the evening I want to sit back and relax, not wait for some clown to come and twiddle a key then linger asking if I need anything else. So I decided to have a cup of coffee.
I filled kettle with water from tap then, as I waited for it to boil, I looked around for a note, or a sign, or even an entry in the Service Directory telling me that the tap water was safe to drink. I couldn't find one. Then when the kettle had boiled I lifted it, and found that it had leaked all over the shelf; as I held it, more water dripped onto the floor.
So I poured the kettle into the sink. Don't ask why I poured it into the glass sink, not the toilet, I just did. However I was just starting to wonder if that was the smartest thing to do when there was a loud CRACK, I jumped back, almost falling down the steps into the sunken shower, and saw a large crack in the lovely glass basin that had not been there seconds before!
So I called Housekeeping and they sent someone to bring me several bottles of water and a new kettle. I checked whether he could speak english, but he couldn't, so I told him about the cracked basin. He smiled and shrugged, not understanding, but my conscience was clear. He left, I filled and boiled the kettle and finally, 30 mins after arriving, I was able to have a cup of coffee.
RESTAURANTS AND BARS The hotel has just two real restaurants and no real bar, but one of them IS open 24 hours - one good thing about airport hotels, I guess.
The hotel guide claims that Stax is International, though the food seems to be mainly Italian and there was a brochure promoting their Italian chef and Italian food. It also described the interactive kitchen and a separate bar area.
The other restaurant, Glasshouse offers all day, 24 hour, Indian food. I think this is where the breakfast was served, it was hard to tell as it was just to one side and barely separated from the lobby . The breakfast was not bad, with a selection of cold meats and cheeses, several yoghurts, fresh fruit, pastries, as well as a hot selection of Indian and western food. Eggs were made to order or you could try the scrambled eggs with Indian spices. I did. Don't.
There is also the Lobby Lounge which seemed to be another area merging from and blending with whatever the lobby restaurant was. This offers 24 hour tea and pastries, so says the booklet.
Then of course there was Room Service, 24 hours, with a selection of Italian food from Stax including pizzas as well as Indian food, sandwiches etc, but not much if you didn't want pizza, pasta or spicey. I didn't so I settled for my coffee.
FACILITIES According to the Service Directory, the hotel offers a beauty salon, laundry, a large fitness centre and the "Club Prana Spa".
There is also an outdoor swimming pool which I cannot vouch for as I didn't see it, an outdoor tennis court which I can vouch for as it was a few floors below my window, and an indoor squash court.
For the business traveller there is a 24 hour business centre and Conference and meeting rooms. I saw one of the meeting rooms, which was bright, well lit, comfortable, with the necessary equipment and with helpful people on hand.
DEPARTURE In the morning, the lobby looked much more mild and calming than the nightclub feel from the night before. It seemed simplistic, eastern, Sheng Phooey without the water - unless that was represented by the glass. It gave the feeling of open space, which I guess is what the architect had in mind, but it was somewhat marred by the large pillar and an excess of glass interior panels.
Check out was fairly quick, and pleasant, but I had to smile when I was asked if I had used the minibar. Surely they know their minibars are locked and, if someone calls to have it unlocked, then would they not put a note on the file? Or is that too logical?
SUMMARY Very nicely designed rooms, reasonably pleasant service, average breakfast, average meeting rooms. For rooms that were designed with attention to detail, it's a shame that it was then let down by the locked minibar, no water and the
The going rate at the hotel is Rs12,150, about GBP140, so not cheap.
Recommended? Only just, and mostly for the comfort and style of the room.
