ITC Windsor Bangalore - red carpet treatment!

One long-standing wish of mine was to stay at what was then the Windsor Manor in Bangalore. I guess this desire was triggered after I watched the award-winning movie, Pushpak (1987), a major part of which was set and shot at this hotel. That desire was fulfilled recently, 26 years later, at the ITC Windsor in Bengaluru. The name of the hotel and even of the city, might have changed, but the hotel is as impressive as I recall it from the movie.

That's how they roll out the red carpet here!

There was also one more reason that I was looking forward to this stay. I had registered earlier for the complimentary SPG Gold status with the SPG World MasterCard offer, and this opportunity presented itself quite timely. (You can read my post on that offer here – btw, it is valid till July 2015, so do try and see if you can benefit from this). And the fact that the Take Two promotion is on, doesn’t hurt either! (I haven’t written about the Take Two promotion from SPG, but here’s the link to the landing page – registration required.)

I was here on a whirlwind trip, comprising a late afternoon flight to BLR, a meeting followed by dinner, 4 hours’ worth of sleep, and the early return to MAA early the next morning. But I can tell you, that every moment of discomfort that such a hectic trip causes, was more than offset by the visit to the ITC Windsor, notwithstanding how short that visit was.

We were greeted by imposing gates, and the security guards were carrying some rather funky devices to check the boot and seating space in the car. They took our bags away for scanning, and I was reunited with my bags at the check-in counter.

 

My poor bags were orphaned, albeit temporarily! Anyway, moving on...

The first thing you notice when you enter the building, is the grandeur of the lobby. One look down, and your reflection looks right back at you from the highly polished marble floor. The central fountain is a welcome addition and provides a comfortable ambient noise for social interactions, without being disturbing or intrusive.

 

The 2 photos above were taken at 4.30 am, which is why the lobby is as deserted as it is.

As I was part of a larger group that had rooms reserved in the towers section, we bypassed the regular reception and check in area, and were led straight through to the towers section for check-in. There was a special seat for SPG check in, but frankly, that looked more like an interrogation space – if you don’t believe me, take a look at the picture below!

There’s enough lobby and seating space all over, which I thought was a great idea. Check in for the 5 of us took some time, even though there were two agents who were checking us in, and only one of us (yours truly) was an SPG member. Personally, the check-in process could have been handled much more efficiently.

Anyway, off to the elevators and onward to my room on the 2nd floor. At the lobby level, right opposite the elevators, is again some more seating area. This also serves as a waiting area to access the bar and restaurant (Dum Pukht) that are located in this wing of the hotel. Here’s what I saw just before getting into the elevator.

Unlike the other rooms that branched off the corridor, my room, #2246, was a corner room.

I didn’t realize what this meant, till I opened the door. It opened to a reasonably large vestibule area where the coffee machine, mini bar and some fruits were kept. Here are some views.

Clockwise from top left: As you enter the room | After entering the room | Coffee maker & mini bar | Vestibule to clothes closet and the rest of the room

A little further on, and to the left was the clothes closet. Turn right, small vestibule, with the bathroom branching off to the right, and the vestibule itself leading straight to the main area of the room. This comprised a double bed, flat screen TV, two-seater couch, and a work desk. Take a look.

 

 

The bathroom itself was a bit cramped for room, but that’s only in relation the overall size of the room. Maybe that’s just me. Interestingly, they’ve taken the “colonial” and “royalty” themes to the hilt, with even their bathroom supplies being packaged in this style. (I just realized that I’m a big sucker for colonial stuff. I was equally impressed by The Oberoi Grand, which was also built in the same style; you can read about that here.)

After some freshening up, I left for the coffee shop (called the Raj Pavilion) for a quick refreshment before my meeting, and managed to get a dekko at most of the offerings at this hotel. The usual staples that you can find at most ITC properties are here – Dum Pukht (frontier cuisine restaurant), Dakshin (South Indian restaurant), Dublin (bar/nightclub), etc. En route, I spotted the in-hotel shop, called the East India Company, which I though was quite creatively named! After all, commerce is commerce!

Hotel shop

That's the coffee shop, Raj Pavilion

Dakshin - South Indian cuisine

A quick snack and coffee at the coffee shop, and I was off for my meeting. That took the better part of two hours, and it was close to 10.30 pm before drinks and dinner were served by the poolside. Don’t miss the view of the rooms / balconies, shot from the poolside.

The spread was vast, but I had to leave early if I wanted to catch some shut eye before a 4.00 am start the next morning, so that’s exactly what I did. The next morning was quite rushed because I missed my alarm, and I woke up 15 minutes later only because the front desk called me reminding me about my flight – I found that quite thoughtful of them, particularly when I hadn’t instructed them or set a wake up call. I had only mentioned to them the previous evening, upon check-in, about my early morning flight.

One more thoughtful intervention from the hotel was they packed a small breakfast (croissant, Danish and muffin – one each, two small jars of preserves, a couple of bananas and a small carton of fruit juice), in a take-away box! I was truly impressed! Sad thing, I couldn’t get a picture.

And then, after one final picture at the hotel…

…off to the airport.

When do I return? I wonder.

Now, about that SPG Gold status…

[Update - March 2014]

• What's good: great service, excellent rooms, attention to detail and a very friendly staff
• What could be better: more front desk staff