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| The view that greeted me at the end of each day |
Upon entering the room, I was greeted with a bowl of cookies and plate of fresh fruits to start off the night. Over the course of my stay of 6 nights, the bowl of cookies and plate of fresh fruits were actually replenished daily. It would be better if the cookies were displayed in a little box with a date stated rather than on a little bowl exposed to the elements (it really makes one thing about the sanitation and freshness of the cookies when you want to take a bite).
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| A bowl of cookies and fresh fruits |
The room was clean, pleasant and spacious, with a nice clean and comfortable bed. The room slippers were placed right next to the bed on the first night - it wasn’t in a plastic bag so it did make me think if it was ever previously worn. However, the slippers were replaced with news ones 2 days into the stay.
Next, would be that big comfy bed, which was home truly for the 6 nights I was there. It was clean, comfortable and firm enough that you do not end up with a backache the next day. The soft fluffy pillows made sleep all the more pleasant.
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| Time for bed time! |
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| Some little collects along with the pillow menu and an introduction to the spa. Not to mention the different setup for the bed. |
Tip: For those of you who would rather sleep with a harder or fluffier pillow, there is a pillow menu that you can select your desired pillow.The mini-bar was not complimentary, but there were 3 bottles of complimentary water that were replenished daily. You are supposed to use 1 of the bottles for brushing your teeth (since it was placed in the bathroom). There was one day (the second day) though that only 2 bottles of water were replenished, but only that one day.
Tea and coffee are also complimentary; you just have to boil the water yourself. There were also 2 cans of pop corn for sale. They looked nice, but I didn’t try them. The layout of the room was spacious enough and the TV had plenty of channels.
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| TV, fridge, tea and coffee, not to mention the pop corn too. |
The bathroom was equally spacious: there was a bathtub along with the shower area and vanity corner!
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| The spacious bathroom! |
The wardrobe also opens up two ways: from the bathroom and from the outside. The amenities provided were the usual vanity set (i.e. cotton wool, cotton buds), toothbrush and toothpaste, comb, sewing kit, shower cap, body scrub etc…, and were replenished daily. The shampoo, conditioner and body gel were of the Biotique variety.
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| The wardrobe with robes, that opens up both ways - from inside the bathroom and from the room. |
The only gripe about the bathroom would be that the shower water pressure was hard to control and alternating between the shower head and rain shower was not smooth – the rain shower still leaked water (so that is where the shower caps come in handy!) occasionally when trying to use the shower head instead. Also the door which was supposed to be watertight once the door was closed was actually leaking water, so imagine coming out to a slightly (or very) wet floor after you are done.
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| While the upkeep and cleanliness of the bathroom was commendable, some wear and tear was starting to show. |
My room overlooked the pool and it was quite a calming sight in the evenings looking down at the pool, with the traffic beeping away in the background. The motorized curtains not only blocked out the light but also some of the noise emitted from the never ending traffic in New Delhi.
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| The view of the pool and traffic in the background. |
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| The working area |
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| They even changed the flowers! |
I had plenty of time to experiment with the curtains and (natural) lighting on the last day, as I had a bout of tummy upset the night before, which resulted in a sleepless and vomit-y night and incapacitated my from going into the office the next day, but well enough to work from my hotel room. I practically just survived on 2 bananas and ordered room service for some clear vegetable soup and rice!
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| Room Service which cost me about 1,100 rupees |
The electrical outlets in the room are international so you do not need to worry about not being able to plug in. The Wi-Fi provided was not consistent (there was a constant need to re-log in) but it was adequate if you need it to work on your laptop or check your Facebook/email via your mobile phone.
Turn down service was interesting: they would knock on the door and ask if you would like to have your room turned down. I only encountered this on the evenings we were back at the hotel early. But I mostly declined the service, since I was already too tired and wanted to just jump into the bed!
The air-conditioning was adjustable and it was interesting having to re-adjust the temperature when it got too cold and dry at night. It would also seem that power outages are quite common in India (or at least in Gurgaon). On the last night, at about 10pm the lights suddenly went off. So if you are caught unprepared, it could be quite shocking. Thankfully(?) we experienced something similar when we were at the office so the impact of sudden darkness was somewhat lessened. Within 15 seconds or so, the backup generator kicked in and everything was back on again for like about 10 minutes before the next outage occurred again (and than back up and running). It was good that I was already preparing to head to bed, I can’t imagine being in the bathroom when the lights suddenly go out (one of my colleagues experienced just that!), it would be really disconcerting.
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Conclusion: As a business hotel, it is a reasonable hotel with good clean rooms and facilities. The service rendered was what made the stay more memorable. Food, while a tad pricey, is palatable and familiar (for the less adventurous), at the same time retaining its Indian charm. The rooms are relatively updated. Crowne Plaza Gurgaon, New Delhi, may be quite a distance from the main attractions but for those doing business within the vicinity of Gurgaon, it is a convenient location to be. There are also a few attractions such as the Kingdom of Dreams within the vicinity, so it is not really that secluded.
- Service
- Value
- Sleep Quality
- Cleanliness
- Location
- Rooms
Overall Experience:
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