Hotel Samrat, New Delhi

Very good rooms. Very good infrastructure. Very poor management. Courtesy and politeness are things not known to staff at front office and resturant. Typical governmental attitude and mediicrity. Horrible dinner at level G which was charged Rs 1500 for dry roti and some cheap veg dishes. Worst dinner I ever had in my travel across 24 countries. On the second night I ordered room service which was a bit better.

This is an ITDC hotel, the same as The Ashok, situated in the heart of Delhi at Chanakyapuri. The most impressive is perhaps the Lobby of this property. It is spacious and not crowded with sofas. The room I was allotted was in itself quite good and spacious. The bed was comfortable and the area quiet. It had enough lights and enough charging points distributed around the room. The Wifi was good. There is a minifridge in the room. The toiletries provided are rather basic. Though the toilet is reasonably well -equipped the tap handles and other fittings are not properly cleaned and maintained. This is somewhat unfortunate. However, what was the real shocker is that the hotel has no restaurant and provides just room service for lunch and dinner. Strangely, a reasonable breakfast is served in a restaurant which, I suppose, does not function at other times. Much work is needed to raise this place to a level worthy of its location.

The hotel was not clean, the room smell was not good, the furniture was really old and not pleasant to the eye. The kettle looked unclean but they changed it when i asked for that. The breakfast was fine and they used to cater big bottles of soft drinks and fruits to the rooms free of charge. I checked two rooms, the first one looked like a prison as the window overlooked some construction bars, so you cannot really open the window when the room didnt smell good and looked too old. I changed the room to a better one as the furniture was a bit better and the window overlooked a garden with tall trees and a waterless fountain, and finally i was able to breathe. The tap and shower water was not warm all the time, so sometimes you find warm water and sometimes not!! The location is really good and very close to the local markets. You have to walk up for around 3 minutes to reach the lobby from the hotel gate so it is not recommended for guests with mobility problems. The housekeepers were polite and decent "I recall Samir and the rest of the team members". The reception staff were ok although one of them was very nervous with his colleagues!! Anupam Mishra "Assistant Manager- Food and Beverage" offered his help at our convenience. Another hotel senior manager which i cant recall his name gave us info on the local markets. There was a festival celebration at one of the hotel halls and one of the hotel staff invited us to join that celebration. The hotel still needs a lot of work and it was going under some construction work in Jan 2023, but i believe that the rooms need a complete makeover!!