Hotel report: The Hilton Chennai

A few months back, I had written about the Hilton Premium Club, a membership option that offered a set of very decent benefits for a reasonable price. I'd gone on to write this post on my request for a complimentary membership, which they acceded to. One of the benefits was a certificate for complimentary night's stay at a base category room at the Hilton Chennai (which is the hotel affiliation I had picked). So I decided to use this certificate, for an occasion that was coming up.

I called them a week in advance, and had to give them my credit card number (for charging taxes), and the email confirmation arrived within minutes. In fact, it had the usual options for a room upgrade at - what I thought - was a reasonable price, but I didn't take it.

The hotel is situated not too far from the airport, making it convenient for those arriving late in the evening. However, the area around the hotel is being developed for construction of the local metro, and I had a road-facing room, which meant not much of a view.

However, I could say there was part compensation - they agreed to honour my privileges as a HHonors Gold member, even though this wasn't a paid stay - and so I got to use the executive lounge for cocktails and breakfast. They had my personal details with them, and because it was a celebration that I was there for, they offered a complimentary cake.

The lobby itself was simple yet impressive, and check in was efficient. In particular, I really like the wide hallways leading up to the rooms, though the layout of the hotel (specifically, the path from the elevator to my room) was as curious as it it was long and circuitous.

The room itself was a standard L shaped hotel room, with a reasonably mid-sized bathroom. The room also had the usual business desk, and a couch on the side, plus coffee machine and supplies.

There was also a 42" flatscreen TV,

and this very amusing notice at the door, on the inside (which is suggestive of the infrastructural transition that this city is currently going through):

[It says: Dear Guest, Due to the frequent power outages in the city, we request you to also place the manual door hanger for "Do not disturb" and "Make my room" as this will assist us maintain your privacy and also freshen up your room on time."]

The separator for the bath was of clear glass, but with a curtain inside the bathroom - which meant the light could be blocked out completely, unlike the experience I had at the Westin Velachery, Chennai, a few months earlier. The bathroom itself was rather spacious, with separate cubicles for the shower and the toilet - on second thought, maybe the cubicles were a bit cramped. Also, I was really impressed with the bath supplies (Peter Thomas Roth), particularly the shower gel with micro-beads (as I'm told they are called! Check them out here).

After relaxing for a bit, we headed to the executive lounge, access to which is key-card controlled. Curiously, it takes the system about 10-15 seconds to recognise the card and allow access to the lounge. The drinks offering in the lounge was rather limited, but they did serve sangrias and spritzers on request. The food, on the other hand, was pretty good both in terms of spread and taste.

The lounge could have seated about 40, I guess, but in a little over an hour that I was there, a total of 20 guests would have walked in - either not a very popular place, or very few elites checking in here perhaps!

Soon it was dinner time, and we headed to the Q Bar on the rooftop for something a bit more substantial. The view from here is absolutely amazing, and because it had rained earlier in the evening, the weather was absolutely perfect. (Do forgive the low lighting in the pics - I haven't had time to process them.)

Food was decent in terms of taste, though I think they could've had a menu that permitted more comfortable eating and finger foods, given the setting of the place. Nonetheless...

Next morning's breakfast was at the lounge - and this time, it was absolutely empty but for the two of us. Even the hotel staff popped in only twice - to take our order for eggs, and to deliver them. The spread on offer also wasn't as inspiring as what I've seen at other Hiltons, and was rather limited. I'm sure they can do a lot better on this front.

And that was about it.

Oh, one more thing - there's a pastry shop on the lobby level with this strange, Star Trek-ky display counter, that I'll leave you to admire!

[Update - March 2014]

• What's good: positive service attitude, patisserie products, spacious executive lounge
• What could be better: lounge service and content, F&B overall