Hotel review: Crowne Plaza, Greater Noida

I recently stayed a night at the Crowne Plaza in Greater Noida, India where I delivered a lecture at a client's conference, and they hosted me for the night. Unfortunately, the timing of the event was such, that I had to leave the hotel rather early in the morning, to catch a flight from Delhi. Which means that this review doesn't include breakfast. In fact, it would be too much to call it a hotel review - it is, at its best, a room review.

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida exterior view

I should mention, that the hotel is in the middle of virtually nowhere! It is located some 45 kms from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL), and barring a couple of golf courses nearby, there isn't really anything of tourist importance in Greater Noida. However, the hotel prides itself on being a venue for large corporate conferences, weddings, etc, and proves it by operating nearly 2000 guest rooms, and a whole lot of conference/banquet space and lawns.

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida exterior night view

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida view from room

I arrived at the hotel in the early part of the afternoon, and checked in directly since my lecture wasn't for another couple of hours. This was a corporate booking made by my client, and hence was a non-qualifying stay for points. However upon being asked, I did mention that I was an IHG Gold Elite member, I was welcomed just a little bit differently! I also received this welcome gift, which turned out to be a small notepad. Quite handy!

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida welcome gift

The hotel seemed to be preparing for Christmas, which was less than a week away from when I stayed here. So there were some X-mas themed decorations in the lobby area, which itself was quite large, though I felt there wasn't relatively enough seating for a hotel of this size.

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida lobby

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida lobby

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida lobby

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida lobby

I was also upgraded to an apartment room, the layout of which reminded me a lot of my room at the Intercontinental Warsaw, where I stayed last year. Talk about cookie-cutters!

Because of the large size of the hotel, there were multiple elevators, and long, winding corridors. I lost my way on at least two occasions, partly also because the signposting wasn't great.

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida hallway to rooms

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida hallway to rooms

Upon entering the room, there was a moderately long passageway, 

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida room

flanked by a sliding door to the left and a powder room on the right.

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida powder room

The sliding door covered what was a first for me - a washing machine and dryer! But then, I was in an apartment room...

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida washing machine

That led to a living room with large, comfortable couches, a work desk and a 32-inch LCD TV.

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida living area

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida work desk

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida living area

The mini-bar was also there, but with limited supplies!

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida mini-bar

There was also a kitchenette to the right, with a bar-stool seating area.

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida kitchenette

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida kitchenette and barstool

To the left, was the bedroom, which was large and as comfortable as it could get!

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida bedroom

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida bedroom

To the left again, was a walk-in wardrobe and the bathroom. Again, spacious and relaxing, and with the standard bath amenities.

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida bathroom

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida bathroom

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida bathroom

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida amenities

My room overlooked both the highway

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida highway view from room

as well as an open-air sitting area / bar below.

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida hotel view

I left the room to join my client, and noticed this view that some of the other rooms in this building look out to. Not a very pretty sight.

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida exterior view

The one saving grace was the swimming pool. And while I didn't use it, I loved its location and the design around it!

Crowne Plaza Greater Noida swimming pool

As I mentioned before, this was a pretty short stay, and I had to leave early the following morning. That said, I did have dinner at the hotel, and the overall food quality was quite good. While I'm no professional food critic, I'd rate the food 7 or 8 on 10. By extension, I would assume that I missed what might have been a good breakfast!

The wireless internet in the hotel is complimentary for IHG elite tier guests, and is rather good. Overall, great hotel. Again, there's no reason to visit this hotel except for a conference or a function / event of some sort, or if you want to stop over in the early or late part of a trip out of / in to Delhi.

This is an IHG Category 5 hotel, which means it is redeemable for 30,000 IHG Rewards Club points. The typical price for a base category room is about Rs 6,800, if booked at least 2 weeks in advance. At this kind of pricing, this isn't an optimal usage of IHG Rewards Club points, so I'd suggest paying cash instead.

Other than that, I couldn't also find much that was missing at this hotel. Maybe breakfast could've sorted that out?

Have you stayed at this hotel? Any comments / inputs that you'd like to add?