Hotel review: Holiday Inn Aerocity, Delhi International Airport

These last few weeks, I’ve had more than normal amount of travel, considering my relatively impoverished (in miles and points terms) scenario now. But - and exactly for that reason - any opportunity to earn miles and points, should, in my view, never be thrown away; at least not until after fair consideration! 

Anyway, the upshot of my travel is that I may actually qualify to earn bonus points under IHG’s Accelerate 2016 promotion. And although I wouldn’t be maximising all of my offers, I don’t think I could’ve earned the achievement bonus any easier, given how last-minute my travel can be. Which finally brings me to this post – a stay at the Holiday Inn, Aerocity, Delhi International Airport (the other stay so far was at the Crowne Plaza, Gurgaon). 

My booking rate with the hotel included airport pickup (which the hotels in Aerocity can be either very generous about or, as happens more frequently, very tight-fisted), and I was whisked off to the hotel in about 5-7 minutes.

Probably because it was a Sunday night, and with the Auto Expo 2016 going on in Delhi, the lobby was rather busy, and it appeared that the front desk agents were generally at the end of their rope! Or it was simply because it isn't a very large lobby / front desk area!

Holiday Inn Delhi -  Lobby

Holiday Inn Delhi -  Lobby

However, I was fortunate to have a super friendly agent check me in. 

Holiday Inn Delhi -  Check in

The hotel has over 250 rooms arranged in a “U” formation, spread over four floors. While most rooms are quite similar, you will find varied rates based on the package components. And because of the layout of the hotel, I had a pretty long walk through the corridors before I finally got to my room on the second floor. 

Holiday Inn Delhi -  Hallways

I’ll let the pictures do the talking for a bit, from here. 

Holiday Inn Delhi -  Room entrance

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  Room view

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  Room view

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  work desk

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  couch

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  TV and amenities

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  Room view

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  Room amenities

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  minibar

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  Room view

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  Bathroom

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  Clothes closet

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  Safe and storage

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  bath supplies

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  view of the neighbouring IBIS from my room

Because I was booked on a relatively higher rate package, my room charges included an invitation to The Hangar bar (which is a must visit for any serious aviation and avionics aficionado, which I am not), good for 3 drinks of any of the following: 

• Teacher’s whisky 
• Bacardi rum 
• Smirnoff vodka 
• Beefeater gin 
• Fosters beer pint 
• House wine by the glass 
• Mocktails 

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  drinks voucher

Feeling thirsty, I decided to use the invitation and ended up with one whisky and soda (or maybe three). I should clarify that though my stay was for one night only, the invitation is for every day of stay that is booked under the relevant eligible rate. 

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  Bar entrance

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  Bar interior

The next morning, I headed down to the coffee shop for a rather leisurely breakfast (by my standards), since my meeting wasn’t until noon. This gave me a chance to look at a few aspects of the hotel that I’d missed the previous night. Like the open-air atrium on the second floor (same floor as my room), or the swimming pool that’s effectively located above the lobby.

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  open-air atrium

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  swimming pool

The layout for breakfast was one long line of a buffet, with live kitchens right behind the display for many of the items, which ensured quick refills on the bain-maries. There were separate counters for breads, juices, yogurts and coffee. However, the spread itself was pretty much similar to what you get at most four- and five- star hotels in India these days –south Indian (dosa, idli, chutneys), north Indian (paratha, poori-bhaji, etc), continental (salads, grilled vegetables, eggs, bacon, etc), and Asian (noodles, congee and the like).

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  breakfast

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  breakfast

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  breakfast

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  breakfast

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  breakfast

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  breakfast

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  breakfast

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  breakfast

  Holiday Inn Delhi -  breakfast

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  breakfast

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  breakfast

You can get breads, waffles, eggs, et al, at your table.

 Holiday Inn Delhi -  breakfast

The service staff as well as kitchen staff did a commendable job and were extremely efficient – they’d have to be, considering the number of folks at breakfast! 

My only real grouse with this hotel is the wi-fi internet speed. I’ve experienced a variety of internet quality at various hotels in India – particularly in Delhi – but I’d rate the Holiday Inn Delhi Airport quite low on internet speed. Having said, I imagine it could have well been due to the high occupancy at the hotel during my stay. Nonethess, I expected better internet.

Overall, a fantastic hotel, especially the bar – which, I’ve decided, deserves a separate post, even if it is just for the few half-decent pictures I was able to get in the low-light settings.

Have you stayed at the Holiday Inn Aerocity, Delhi International Airport? Do you want to share your thoughts or add any comments?