We are 3 adults planning on travelling in 2009 (month is TBD still) and have started to search for info now. The visit will only be a few days as it's part of a 6 country visit. Willing to stay together in "suites" if available but want in room bathrooms. Cleanliness is highest priority and good service. Prices seem to be a wide range. What are you thoughts on the following hotels in Delhi and Agra?

The Manor – Trip Advisor #4 (of 213) ranked, average (yr round) price $115
Hotel Palace Heights – Trip Advisor #7, average price $195
Sheraton New Delhi – Trip Advisor #9 average price $170

Trident Hilton Agra – Trip advisor ranked #2 (of 32) , avg (yr round) price $133
Clarks Shiraz – Trip Advisor ranked #5, avg rate $184
Taj View Hotel – Trip Advisor ranked #6, also mentioned on Fodors, avg rate $212

If you cab ger the Mauyra Sheraton for 170 USD I would take it! I stay in Delhi for work and pay a lot more and its not as nice in my opinion. Its a lovely hotel. Pool looks nice too. I usually come to the sharaton to eat. There is a nice bar and good restaurants

My husband and I just returned from a month-long pleasure trip to India, travelling independently. We stayed at the Hotel Palace Heights in Delhi for one night on the return home. It was a very professionally run, clean, pretty small hotel in a great location, highly recommended if you want to be a part of the local Indian scene. I wished we had stayed there longer. Outside the door is Connaught Place with the markets, etc. It thrusts you right into the local scene, but if you have never been to India before, it might be intimidating. The restaurant at the hotel is very good and the local middle class families eat there. We ate everything at the hotels in India and never got sick. The rooms are small but comfortable and modern and pretty. We had one king size bed and very little extra room around it. Shiny, clean, fresh, modern style. We felt safe. The hotel is on the second floor of the building with a doorman at the elevator. Highly recommended for cleanliness and location. We paid Rs 5500 for a double deluxe room. $195USD seems a little high.

If you prefer a more "western " experience with luxe hotel, New Delhi to the south would be better.

The Sheraton in New Delhi is no longer run by Sheraton, but it is still operated by the same group who has been running it since it opened, ITC group, who terminated their franchise with Sheraton earlier this year for many of their hotels in India, including this one (and the one in Agra). It’s just called the ITC Maurya these days. http://www.itcwelcomgroup.in. It’s still a nice hotel and a fine choice if you want it. You might also ask about “ITC One”, which is their boutique hotel-within-a-hotel property. Quieter and more luxurious than the regular rooms. They don't always mention it if you call for reservations, but it may be on their website.

The Manor is IMO just a little bit out of the way for many parts of Delhi (but the Sheraton is not a whole lot better, but has a restaurant which is sort of a designation in itself). If you want to be in the Manor neighborhood, I would take the Oberoi which is more well-located and an excellent hotel, the hotel has a good location esp for Nizzamudin station if you are taking the train down to Agra. Both the ITC Maurya and the Manor (and the Oberoi) would be considered to be in the luxury category so in-room bathrooms and cleanliness are not going to be an issue assuming you have no issue paying their prices. I would agree that the average price quoted on tripadvisor for the Sheraton (now ITC Maurya ) would seem on the low side and probably not actually accurate esp for high season, and the Manor would be the same. You should contact them to see what the actual prices are (I find trip advisor not accurate on the price ranges).

I don’t know the Hotel Palace Heights but from the review above and the trip advisor review (which I generally find accurate in terms of guest experience) I think it sounds good. I always like a Connaught location if you can do it. Also in that area and a nice hotel with several good restaurants would be Hotel the Park see http://newdelhi.theparkhotels.com/. Of course the Imperial in that area is superb but a much higher price range.

In Agra, I have recccod the Taj View on this site many times and would certainly do so for you as well. The do have one bedroom suites with Taj views that may work very well for you all, check those out. I would not stay at the Clarks, IMO that really is not that nice a hotel, it’s a three star and IMO that’s when you start running into cleanliness issues. The Trident Agra is OK, some rooms are better than others, but its location is quite far out and IMO its really a motel with a dressed up lobby. Don’t’ let the “Hilton” in the name fool you. I’m shocked that it’s #2 in Agra, this means (assuming Amarvilas is #1) it beat out the former Sheraton (now the ITC Mugal Agra), the Taj View, the Park Place and the Jaypee Palace? (which has some nice rooms and facilities but is really quite far from the Taj). That does surprise me.

I can only recommend the Oberoi Amasvilas for pure luxury for 1-2 nights. I think it is worth the splurge. Expensive, but plush with outstanding service.

Sorry, I guess I should clarify that there IS a Sheraton in New Delhi, but it is in Saket in South Delhi. This was a Marriott until about a year ago. It is a perfectly fine hotel, but the location is really not that convenient for sighting seeing in central Delhi, it could easily take 45 minutes to get to the Connaught and Rajpath areas. The “Sheraton” most people think of for Delhi is now just the ITC Maurya and is located in the diplomatic enclave in Sardar Patel Marg. I don’t know which you were referring to from tripadvisior. Siobhan is referring to the ITC Maurya, as that is the one with the famous Bukhara restaurant.

Thanks so much! I had not considered the distance of some hotels. This is our first visit so I have some more research to do.

Hi,

I just returned day before yesterday from a FANTASTIC trip to Incredible India.

I stayed at the Sheraton New Delhi in Saket and thought it excellent. I stayed there on my arrival and on the return from Rajastan. I think it is a wonderful hotel and highly recommend it. The staff are great, it has a beautiful pool and a wonderful buffet. It is around the corner from a brand new mall. Ask for a room on the "even" side as these rooms look over the back of the hotel and are quieter then the "odd" room numbers on the street side.

I also stayed at the Trident Hilton in Agra and thought it was very nice. Clean and comfortable.

Enjoy India. It is amazing.

hi
We stayed at the Palace Heights at the end of our month in india and we loved it-small rooms but very clean, newly renovated, comfortable beds and great restaurant -not too pricey. Location good and very near metro. We paid 158.00 in dec 2008.

Pam , I endorse the comments about the Hilton at Agra. Stayed there 2 years ago and booked I might add on the strength of the Fodors Guide Book recommendation which said it had spacious rooms etc.Well it was really ordinairy .Rooms small and the dining room was lit like a school dining hall . We went to Clarks Shiraz to dine in their restaurant which is known for its MughaL food.It was excellent . The hotel was busy , a bit tired but I think in its class and budget was ok .

We thought the Hilton Agra was very nice, with a nice pool and gardens. The rooms and beds were comfortable and the dining room was nothing like a school cafeteria! The hotel has a sleek modern style that is softened by a lovely yellow color scheme with dozens of yellow roses everywhere. We thought the location was just fine. I don't know about the interiors or rooms at the Taj, but from the outside it looked like a concrete block high rise. For the differences in price, I would certainly pick the Hilton.