Limited facilities, not quite international standard
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Stepping off the train at Jalandhar station, the first thing the hit me - literally - were the FLIES! No, I was not looking at gentlemen's zips - these were the irritating, little, black, buzzing things swarming around my face from the moment I stood in the train doorway. I was not wearing "Doggy Pooh" aftershave, nor was I chewing anything sweet; this was just Jalandhar railway station.
I batted them away from my face, repeatedly, and headed towards the exit. Either the flies followed me, or I just moved from swarm to swarm, but they didn't let up until I left the station and found the chap from the Radisson holding a piece of paper with my name on.
Welcome to the Punjab.
The Punjab is probably one of the two best known regions of India, the other being Rajastan. Other than being one of the larger cities in the Punjab, Jalandhar is not especially noteworthy. There are a few historical buildings, and there is some business and commerce. I have two significant memories of my visit; one is the flies at the station. The other is…well, in Delhi it is quite common to see men standing in the street peeing against the nearest wall. Jalandhar is the first place that I saw someone squatting down having a crap into the gutter.
Oh. And there was the Radisson Hotel. When I knew that would be stopping overnight, I checked out what hotels there were - I wanted a room with its own toilet, at least (I can't squat in streets…. It hurts my knees). Being booked into the Radisson was a relief, for myself and for my knees. There was not a lot of choice; it is the only international hotel chain in the city!
ARRIVAL The hotel offers a pick-up service from the station - there is no airport - and this worked perfectly. Well, among the massed hoard outside, and the dozens of people shouting "Yes Sir, Taxi", "Hello Sir, give bag", "Yes sir, here, come" and so on, I spotted a chap holding up a piece of paper with my name on. So I went with him, trailed by a couple of die-hards trying to persuade me to go with them instead. How nice it is to be popular and wanted!
About ten minutes later the car swung into a small parking area in front of a plain, white building. It seemed a bit quiet; nobody rushed out to get my bag, but when I got up the steps to the door I saw that the driver was carrying my bag in.
The Reception desk was on the left; to the right was a café and ahead was a corridor with the lifts on the left; opposite the lifts was a patisserie and the business centre. At the end of the corridor was the 24-hour restaurant.
Check-in was quick, they had the right details about my reservation. I was handed a detailed Registration card but they only wanted a few details completed - name, address, phone number and passport details.
When I turned back round, I saw that my bag had gone. "Porter has taken it to your room, sir," I was told. OK, but I hadn't asked him to. Up at the room, I indeed found my bag inside. The Porter was waiting outside - apparently to show me how to turn the lights off and on.
THE ROOM I spend quite a lot of times in hotels, usually in the larger chains. Once in a while, it is a really pleasure to come across a hotel where the room is something different, a bit unusual, where some thought has gone into making it a bit apart from the norm. Whenever I open the door, a little part of me (don't ask which little part) wonders if this will be one of those occasions.
It wasn't. I could have been anywhere. Oh well, that little part of me told me that it could have been worse. At least the flies had disappeared.
The door opened to a small tiled hallway. To the left, was the door to the bathroom and ahead, the room itself.
The room seemed clean and well kept, even the beige and brown carpet showed little sign of wear. The double bed had a wooden head board, matching the natural wood bedside tables. There was a small writing desk, with a desk light, positioned next to a laptop phone socket and a convenient power point. There was also a chest of drawers and a matching small chest to place bags, Most of the furniture was natural wood, topped with marble. A large screen TV sat on the chest of drawers; next to it were a kettle and two coffee cups, with sachets of tea, coffee etc. There was also an armchair, a safe and iron and ironing board - but note, on the desk was a small sign saying "Please do not use iron on carpet or furniture." No worries, I thought, you can iron your own bloody carpet.
The room was fairly pleasant and appealing, as these things go. The only real jolt came from the bedspread, which was a rather vile checked and tartan pattern of red beige and green with blue stripes. Thankfully in the evening it had gone, I really could not have faced that at bedtime!
The bathroom was compact (read: "small") but comfortable (read: "comfortable"). It had, as might be expected, a toilet, basin and a bath tub with shower and a hair dryer. The usual condiments were provided - soap, a shower cap (does anyone actually use those?), a vanity set and shampoo, shower gel and moisturiser, all "ayuverdic" products made by "Morning Nectar".
The air conditioning was effective and very quiet. Overall the room was pleasantly restful, expect for that bedspread.
FOOD AND DRINK There are two restaurants to choose from, plus a bar which serves the requisite bar snacks.
Jack Danielle's bar, one floor up from the lobby, has a central cheers-style bar with chairs and tables around. At one end is a pool table. When I popped in for a refresher, it was empty apart from two staff, one of whom looked barely awake despite the TV on max volume. They quickly turned it down and got me my drink, with a snack bowl.
Tiffany's is the 24-hour coffee shop, on the ground floor. The main meals are offered buffet-style, but some a-la-carte is also available. I had the dinner there, which was not bad. There was a choice of Indian and continental appetizers followed by half a dozen main courses of which at least half a dozen were Indian. A separate cooking station to one side offered a few local delicacies cooked to order. Getting a bottle of wine was the only challenge - when I asked what wine they had, I was told "red or white". I asked for a wine list and they could not find one, so I just settled on a local white wine which was passable.
The Great Kabab Factory is the other restaurant on offer - yes, I spelt that correctly. Or at least, as they spell it! This is apparently a small chain of restaurants who specialise in kababs, or kebabs. By all accounts, the food is good and portions generous.
There is also a Lobby Café offering tea and coffee and perhaps something else but I didn't look.
FACILITIES Other than the restaurants and bar, there didn't seem to be a lot going on. Certainly the hotel is not large, and it did not seem to be very busy.
There is a <I>Business Centre</I> but it was closed when I tried to look in. The hotel information guide says that there is also a conference room available.
The hotel guide does say that banqueting is possible but not for how many. I didn't see any large banquet rooms while I was there.
The hotel offers a <I>Fitness Centre</I> with gym and sauna. I didn't get to try them out.
There is a <I>Gift shop</I> which is basically a stall set up opposite the lifts, next to the coffee shop, selling some local crafts and gifts as well as essentials and toiletries.
COST The hotel rates actually offer pretty good value for money, for a hotel which is somewhere arounsd 4 star, striving to be 5 star.
A regular room rate is Rs2900, or Rs4500 for a "Spacious Room" which has a few extras. A two-room suite is Rs6500.
The regular rooms are also available over the internet for a rate of Rs2300. With taxes etc this comes to about Rs2450 (£35, or $60).
SUMMARY Compared to what I had been expecting, it was very pleasant and comfortable. The hotel is quite small, they don't have a lot of facilities etc, and they manage to maintain good enough standards without being exceptional. The people are pleasant and helpful, but compared to Radissons in other parts of the world they have a little way to go - with a wine list, for example. But overall, quite pleasant and I would stay there again if back in Jalandhar.
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Quality of Food & Drink
Average
Family Friendly
Average
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