Dhaka, Bangladesh. Not the kind of place you want to arrive late at night, when you can't pronounce the name of the hotel. In fact, there are some that would say it is not the kind of place you want to arrive at under any circumstances! However, the city itself was a fairly pleasant surprise ... Read review
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Advantages: Comfortable, pleasant, good service Disadvantages: Not easy to work in the rooms
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Not the kind of place you want to arrive late at night, when you can't pronounce the name of the hotel. In fact, there are some that would say it is not the kind of place you want to arrive at under any circumstances! However, the city itself was a fairly pleasant surprise - shopping malls, cheap pearls and even cheaper DVDs, but that's another story.
Airport Pick-Up
So there I was, getting off an aged Biman ... ...I should have been. It was approaching midnight, I knew that a car had been booked but would it still be there? Yes it was. Relief. I didn't fancy the idea of trying to say "Son-are-gow-on" to a taxi shark, even without drinking - specially as it is pronounced "Shon-are-gon".
The hotel rep singled me out as I came toward customs. He nimbly steered me away from the X-ray machines, into the muggy warmth beyond the ... more
Dhaka, Bangladesh. Not the kind of place you want to arrive late at night, when you can't pronounce the name of the hotel. In fact, there are some that would say it is not the kind of place you want to arrive at under any circumstances! However, the city itself was a fairly pleasant surprise - shopping malls, cheap pearls and even cheaper DVDs, but that's another story.
Airport Pick-Up So there I was, getting off an aged Biman Airways aircraft, quite a few hours older (or delayed) than I should have been. It was approaching midnight, I knew that a car had been booked but would it still be there? Yes it was. Relief. I didn't fancy the idea of trying to say "Son-are-gow-on" to a taxi shark, even without drinking - specially as it is pronounced "Shon-are-gon".
The hotel rep singled me out as I came toward customs. He nimbly steered me away from the X-ray machines, into the muggy warmth beyond the doors and into the car. We set off towards the hotel, which is about a thirty minute drive at the time of night.
My gratitude was beginning to be frayed ten minutes into the journey by his incessant chatter. At midnight, after a multiple hour delay, I really don't care if the dark spot on the left is the prime minister's palace, the army football club or the state hula dancing stadium. After a dozen or so grunts and a fiddle with the mobile phone he finally shut up and at last we swung into the hotel drive.
Location The hotel is located to the south of the commercial Gulshan area, so not in the centre itself but about ten minutes away. It is just a few minutes walk to the city's largest shopping mall and there are a number of other shops and restaurants within easy walk, though walking is not recommended - more for the hassle of the beggars rather than personal safety.
Reception and Check In Security is quite tight in Dhaka and, as a result, there is an X-ray machine and metal detector archway at the main entrance. Once you're through here, normal hotel ambience returns!
To the right is a concierge desk followed by reception. Running the length of the lobby is a lounge area, which has some discreet live music at certain times of day - a chap or two sitting on what looks like a decorated ox cart. At the far end you can continue straight into a small shopping arcade, or turn left towards the lifts and restaurants. In the corner is a chap offering shoe polishing - and a good job he does, too.
Check in was quick and efficient, very cheerful too considering the time of night.
My bag was wheeled to my room and stowed away; I got my key card and was shown to my room, where I was ready for bed!
The Room The room is a fairly standard hotel room, not remarkable but fair sized and comfortable which, of course, may actually be remarkable in Bangladesh.
The bed, the most important item in a bedroom of course, was kingsized and comfortable. There was a small sofa, a work desk, and a unit with cupboards, containing the minibar, and drawers. On top of this was the TV on one side, and a selection of snacks from the minibar - crisps, nuts and biscuits - on the other. Yes, I resisted. Mostly.
The TV was a fair size, not the largest I've seen in a hotel room but far from the smallest. I didn't measure it, as I don't carry a tape measure (do airlines let you take a tape measure in your carry on?). However, there was a reasonable selection of channels, both local and international.
The suites mostly have two rooms, with an a living room that has a couple of armchairs and sofa, dining table, and a kettle with tea and coffee. A kettle can be provided in the regular rooms on request.
The bathrooms have a bath tub with shower, toilet and sink and not much room for anything else. The toiletaries are "Yu'i" and quite exotic - lime and basil shampoo and shower gel.
My main complaint about the rooms is that, despite all rooms having internet access and cables supplied, it is difficult to work as the plugs are in the wrong place and hard to get to. At the desk, the plug is underneath and difficult to reach. If you choose to work from the bed, the internet cable won't reach and there is no power supply within reach either. In the suites, the cable barely reaches the seats, and does not reach the table. Although there is wireless internet in the public areas, it does not work in the rooms. So trying to work in the rooms is very frustrating.
Lounge Two floors are dedicated "Pacific Floors" which includes the suites. Staying on these floors gives access to a lounge which has light snacks available during the day and a cocktail hour in the evening with complimentary hot and cold snacks and drinks. There is also a breakfast served here - in the mornings, coincidentally - with fresh fruit, yoghurt, pastries and eggs to order.
The lounge has seperate smoking and non-smoking breakfast rooms, either side of a central lounge area with TV.
Food and Drink The hotel restaurants are all either on the ground or the first floor.
The Cafe Bazar is the coffee shop, open from early till late. They offer a buffet for all the main meals, as well as an a-la-carte menu, and have themed nights several times a week. The breakfast is good and comprehensive with international options such as Miso soup and congee as well as the normal hot options.
The top restaurant is the Jharnar which specialises in fresh seafood, flown in daily frmo Cox's Bazar. When I ate here, the food was excellent and the service friendly and informative.
The Ciao restaurant offers good Italian and European food. Again the food is good and the service attentive.
Light snacks are also available in the lobby lounge and the hotel has its own pastry shop.
The hotel bar, known as the "bar", is rather ordinary except for two or three nights a week when they have a disco. Extra securty is brought in and there is a door charge, and a line of Dhaka's young male hopefuls waiting in a queue down the stairs.
Facilities There is an outdoor Pool which is a reasonable size and has a children's pool alongside.
By the pools you can also get into the Health Club which has a reasonably well equipped gym and steam room, though these do look a bit on the aged side.
Conveniently next to the fitness centre is a medical centre with full time medical staff.
There are meeting rooms of various sizes available, and a ball room for the larger functions.
Service The service throughout the hotel, at all points, is very good. the people are all pleasant and friendly and happy to help and, in general, they speak English.
The restaurants, room service, the porters and the reception staff were all very welcoming, some of them remembered my name and addressed me personally througout my stay.
My only complaint here is that the staff all appear to be instructed to say "good morning" at every contact. I don't mind this most of the time, but whoever trained them forgot to say "don't greet the guest if he is in another conversation". I was on the talking phone, walking and talking with a colleague or a customer, but still every single member of staff would interrupt and say good morning or good afternoon, which disrupted countless conversations and trains of though - and these are hard to come by at the moment!
Summary Overall, very good for Dhaka. This is kind of reflected in the price.
The hotel website offers rooms from USD225 per night, but the same is available on Travelocity for USD150. I tried half a dozen dates on hotels.com and it was always not available.
I'd recommend the hotel as possibly the best place to stay in Dhaka at the moment, but they need to sort out the in-room working.
Advantages: Comfy Room, Friendly Service, Some Good Restaurants Disadvantages: Service Too Friendly!
It's not very often that I want to shout at someone, specially for trying to be helpful. And even less often that I feel obliged to defend my honour, such that it is. Both of these occasions arose during my stay at the Sheraton in Dhaka.
I've stayed also at the unpronounceable PanPacificSonargaon Hotel but on one occasion, for whatever reason, I decided to try the Sheraton. I think maybe I needed the Starwood points. However now, if I go back to Dhaka, I will start learning how to pronounce "Sonargaon"!
It's Shon-a-gun, apparently
Arrival
Things started well. I arrived in Dhaka in the late afternoon and, before I even got to passport control, there was a man with a sign bearing my name. "I'm Mr Vodka," I introduced myself and he took my passport and arrival card and, minutes later, I was through immigration. I chuckled ...
