India only once
 

We are two healthy experienced 70 year olds who want to go to India in January. As there are still other places in the world that we have not seen, this will probably be our only trip to India. Because of this we would like to see highlights in both North and South India. We have a moderate budget (approx. $100 per night per hotel) and about 3 weeks to travel. We are more interested in cultural sights than wildlife, hiking and beaches (we live 5 miles from the So. Calif. beaches). So far we have cut down the number of sites in the North to Delhi, Varanasi, Khajuraho, Agra, Jaipur (we are in the jewelry business) and Udiapur. We have little knowledge of South India. What would you suggest?

January is the right time to travel in SouthIndia.Weather is brilliant.ranging from 11D to 18 D in the hills & 20D to 30D in the plains.The LP South India is a good guide to start with.Give you a fair insight into you places of interest.Chalk out the plan accordingly.Once you're more specific about the places you like to see(fodorite here are well travelled),you can expect accurate info.
South India is huge-Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,Andhrapredesh.Each has to offer a lot.Do research get back.we'll be happy to plan for you.

This is just to give a general idea of what you can see in the three weeks you have, wishing to see both North and South. It is from a tour planning company i've used twice 9and will use again.

http://www.indianpanorama.in/212best_nth_sth.html

There is at least one other north-south itin on the site, that lasts about 20 days

I'd say 3 weeks is a bit tight time wise, but i also understand that you want to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime trip!

Contact Faith, tell her your idea, your budget, etc, and she'll work something out for you, to your liking, with her advice if it will help you have a great trip.

There are other tour planners mentioned here. This is one i know from personal experience to be reliable and responsible.

Early January is still very foggy and can interrupt your travel (flights and trains are delayed due to poor visibility). Plan for later in January into early February. February itself is one of the best months. The nights are still cool, but the daytime is like a perfect warm and sunny California day.

As we do more and more research, I am wondering if we should go to South India at all. Is 3 weeks too short to do both? Since we will skip wildlife (Saw more moose in my husbands home town in NH than in Alaska) and beaches (live near one in So. Cal.) would much of what one goes to S. India be not so interesting as adding more time to the North?

You will find the names of some very good travel companies located in India in this Forum. They can arrange a fully escorted private tour for you at a very reasonable price and usually for less than a group tour. IMHO, this is the only way to go for you and your wife.
My wife and I (both "senior" citizens) used V P Singh (LegendsandPalaces.com) and we recommend him without reservation. Other companies, such as Castle and Cook, are also recommended in this Forum.
I would be happy to discuss our trip with you. You can reach me at [email protected].

We used Anil at Indovision. We spent around 10 days this year travelling Nepal and the Golden Triangle in India. I second going towards the beginning of February as we JUST missed big travel delays because of weather. Do not miss Khajuraho! We got an itinerary that was so well priced and included all internal air and train etc. as well as hotels and breakfast just for the two of us with private guides/driver. We were met everywhere and with just two people you can wander and stay longer wherever strikes your interest. The company was very willing to accommodate our specific requirements (for example we paid very little more for a larger, more comfortable vehicle..well worth it).

Our open dates are after the guests leave at Christmas about Dec. 28 until we must return to California for business about Jan 26. So we cannot change the dates much.
We are mostly interested in history, culture and the people. I am wondering if a dinner organized by a tour company with a family might not give you a true picture.
In researching, I would like to see Aurangabad and the caves of Mahaballipuram.

I've always thought those prearranged dinners sounded a bit..forced? BUT never having tried it, i cant knock it.
I understand very well your eagerness to see as much as you can, but you're all over the map, literally and figuratively.Every time you open a travel forum or guide book, you will see new things that justifiably entice you in INdia. There's n way to do it all in 3 months, let alone three weeks.
I LOVE the most Southern part of Indai-in the three week trip i took to parts of Kerala, Karnataka, TN. A generalization...but the "vibe" is more relaxed, less crowded, less pushy. I If you are interested in culture, yes, you could love to add a trip down the coast of Tamil Nadu, possibly flying into Chennai and continiung south from there. Are you interested in Hindu Temples and traditions ? There are maginficient and famous ones in Madurai, for example

I don't have any advice as this will be my first time to India too, but as you're in the jewelry business, I'm wondering if you have any insider tips or reputable places for buying fine Rajasthani jewelry in Jaipur or Udaipur? Thanks

We buy all of our semi precious stones in Tucson businesses from all over the world come to sell. It goes from the end of January through Feb 15. There are over 40 different locations in Tucson.
That being said, we have the cards of some of the Indian businesses who sell in Tucson that are located in Jaipur. We want to spend a day in Jaipur checking to see if the prices for the same items are better there of if we should just stick to buying Tucson
We do not buy finished jewelry, but I can let you know if I see any.

Have you seen this trip report? fodors.com/community/asia/travelaw-escapes-the-iz-for-rr-in-south-india.cfm

I'd probably skip Khajuraho and minimize my time in Delhi.

Neither of us can sleep on a plane so we are absolutely wasted when we get to our destination. I figure we need at least a day of relaxing to get over the jet lag which is why I have an extra day in Delhi. My husband has his heart set on Khajuraho (sigh).
Before 9/11 we were planning a trip to Egypt and Petra. We cancelled it and went to Australia because of State Department warnings. We are getting too old to worry about such things or we will never see places we have missed.

Delhi has a lot going on, I personally like staying there for a few days each time I go.

You are correct to allow recovery time from your flight. I also cannot sleep well on a plane. The better hotels will pick you up from the airport (just arrange in advance and re-confirm before you leave here). You might spend more on your first night for a hotel that isn't too far from the airport. Delhi is huge, planning your hotel location can save you a lot of city driving time depending on where all you want to go to in Delhi.

Avoid the morning and evening commute hours in Delhi or you will be stuck in traffic with half a million workers trying to get to and from work.

With 3 weeks North India would be a good bet,probably a few flight thrown in to save time.You also say you're looking at jewellery in Jaipur,probably need some time shopping around.I did buy some jewellery for my sis-in law back home,from a fine lady.Her name is Virina.Her mobile is +919799885116.Not sure if she deals with stones though,but can vouch for the authenticity.
Khajuraho is fantastic,there are flights from Delhi,which you could consider.With Delhi as the base,look at the golden triangle,Uttaranchal,could also include Varanasi.

We traveled to the North of India last year for a month. Like you, we are Senior citizens and very healty and full of energy.
We used Mr.VP Sigh at [email protected] We absolutaly recommend this agency because they planned an extraordinay month for us. We had been traveling a lot for many years and actually used agencies only in India and on our recent trip to Jordan and Syria.
We took every day with a smile and with the question- What wondeful sight will be waiting for us today? never were we dissapointed! We traveled 1800 miles by a fine airconditioned SUV, and with a very careful and wonderful driver. uring our travel we stayed in 14 different hotels. The roads we traveled were in excellent shape and the beauty of India you can see much better when going by car. I could not stop taking pictures of all the wonders I saw on the road. The "road culture" is very unique.
We traveled by air from Delhi to Varanasi, from Varanasi to Khajuraho and from Delhi to Amristar and back.
Since we have a 10 years visa, we shall be going back to see the southern and eastern regions in 2011.
If interested, you can read my report that I posted after our return.
The ideal thing would be to concentrate on the Northern Region since you are going only for 3 weeks.
Please don't hasiatate to ask if you have any further questions.

Nalijo, I would love to read your report. How do I find it? I am hoping to spend 2 weeks in the North and 1 week in the South. I will put Mr.Sigh on my list of possible tour agencies.

Nalijo's report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...who-helped.cfm

Marija, thanks for the reference to Nalijo's report.
Nalijo, the report is a lovely summary of your impressions.Thank you for sharing your passion!
Culd add a few details (even at this late date): specific hotel,. total costs, etc? That would help us all. And i totally understand your love of India. I am currently planning trip #4 ...my head, at least!

Marija, thank you for posting the addres for my report.

Rinda 1, I hope you go with Mr. Singh...We will use his services again for next year.

CaliNurse, thanks for the kind words on my "summary report"I see that you love India too. That country sort of bewitched most of everyone who goes there, and one time is not enough!!
It is true; I should have posted the hotels. Great idea!! It is never too late... It will be a good help for some others who find that part of the planning so stressful...
I remember that a month or so after I submitted my report, there were changes in the Fodors format and I wasn't
very happy with it, so I dropped it for a while until it was time for me to start my planning for Jordan and Syria...I did,finaly, got use to the changes:)
Well, reading my report againg I feel bad that I din't respond to rhkmk, never too late.
I will start collecting my information...You will hear from me!

Thank you, Nalijo! Look forward to hearing more, when you get a chance in the midst of other travel plans!

Thanks Rinda for your response about jewelry. I'm going to India before you, so I should probably start a separate jewelry thread and see if anyone has recommendations.

Happy trip planning!

<b>rinda1</b>, it concerns me that you don’t seem to have looked at a map, and don’t know the location of various things. Chennai has nothing to do with the Ajanta and Ellora caves, which are near Mumbai. Chennai and Mumbai on are opposite coasts, like LA and NYC. While there are some interesting bits on your Chennai itin, if you did not originally plan to include the southeast coast, I see no reason to do so just because your travel agent has stuck it in. You seem to be taking a lot of direction from your travel agent, rather than reading guidebooks for areas and sights which interest <u>you</u> and then having the agent work on those.

As a general comment, many of the hotels on the list are just average. I know that your budget is US$100 per night, but don’t know your preference for hotels. Bear in mind that a “5 star” or other rating in India is meaningless, so don’t just go by what an agent tells you. Look at operators, read tripadivisor.com and see comments on this site. A very useful website for hotels in India is http://sawdays.co.uk/, click on the book for India. You can also buy the book, <i>Special Places to Stay India</i>, but the website will give you a very long list of hotels to start with. A lot of these hotels are in the budget range, and all seem interesting and several, like the Imperial in Delhi, are outstanding (but it ‘s not a budget hotel by any means). Two good operators generally in India are the Oberoi group (http://www.oberoihotels.com) and the Taj group (www.tajhotels.com.) Ginger hotels runs some decent budget hotels, see http://www.gingerhotels.com/. There is a small Indian chain called Neemrama which operates a number of unique hotels in palaces and other old buildings and could be something to consider if you want a different experience. Go to http://www.neemranahotels.com. Sheraton and Marriott run a number of good hotels in India as well, generally in the major cites. IF you have points, these may be good options. In any event, I would suggest that you pick the hotels, rather than your agent.

Note that January 26 is National Day in India. It’s a public holiday, which means some museums and other sights may be closed. Check guidebooks and with your agent. Also, there is a big parade in New Delhi which can be quite interesting to see if you can arrange your itin for this.

For your itin so far, I have the following comments

Day 1-3 Delhi - <i>Hotel in Karat Bagh-Clark International ( 1st day rest, 1 day old Delhi, 1 day new Delhi- overnight train to Varanasi</i>. I believe you mean Karol Bagh area of Delhi. I don’t know this hotel, so do check on tripadvisor.com at least for comments. There are numerous good hotel choices in Delhi. Karol Bagh is interesting, but is not near tourist areas, and as you have such a short time, you might want to be more in the tourist area. If you don’t really want a rest day, then take a day off Delhi, although IMO Delhi offers a lot to see and do. There are several excellent museums which your tour may not be including, but which you may want to see. You could do that on your “rest” day.

I don’t understand a night train to Varanasi when flights that take 1.5 hours are easily available. Also, as I mention below, you might look into flying from Bangkok right to Varanasi, as you should be able to get good non-stops from LAX to Bangkok. That may work better.

Day 4 Varanasi - <i>Hotel Meradon Grand. Sightsee Sarnath & Ganges for the Arati.</i> I don’t know the hotel (which I think is spelled Meredon). From its website it does not appear to be on the river, which is a location many people prefer. I don’t know if it is a huge issue, but you might look at the Sawday book or check here for other suggestions.

Day 5 Varanasi <i>dawn (grown) boatride( is there something that we would see on the dawn boatride that we would not have seen the evening before?) and late afternoon flight to Khajuraho. Evening sound and light show. (Any thoughts on the light show?) Hotel the Ramada</i> There is a huge difference between the dawn and evening boat rides. The dawn boat rides are when you see people taking their morning bath and making the sun salutation. You don’t see this in the evening. The dawn boat ride is actually the preferred one, IMO, the evening boat ride would be optional. The evening boat ride is a chance to see the aarti, but IMO you may have a better experience going to one of the Ghats on foot to see this, as you can better observe the chanting, etc. Kind of up to you. The Ghats can be crowded.

Day 6 East & West Temples- <i>evening folk dance performance.(Any thoughts on the folk dance performance) The reason I am asking about the sound and light show and the folk dances it that this is a jam packed itinerary and we might need to rest some evening. </i> Besides being somewhat boring after the first temple, Khajuraho is a pain to get to as it is not near anything else. I understand your husband thinks he wants to see this, but perhaps investing in a good quality edition of the Kama Sutra would be a better idea. (Believe me, after you have seen about the third temple and the guide pointing out with mock solemnity “woman copulating with horse”, the whole thing begins to seem faintly ridiculous.) The folk dances I have seen there are fine; there is also a major professional dance festival in late Feb, which perhaps your trip is coinciding with and these may be included. If that is the case, this would be the only good reason to go the Khajuraho.

Day 7 Morning drive to Orcha <i>( we did not request seeing Orchha nor Gwalior. Are they here because we need to drive through them to get to Agra?) Visit Orccha Hotel Amar Mahal </i> Yes exactly, you are going to spend a day seeing something you did not want to see because it is the only way to get to Agra. The drive from Khajuraho to Jhansi/Orcha is on bloody awful roads for about 5 hours. It seems you are overnighting in the area as well, which really eats into time. The temples are interesting, but if that kind of thing does not interest you, it may be a waste of your time. (If you enjoyed Ankor Wat, then perhaps these temples would interest you however.) However, you could consider including Orcha as a stop on a train trip from Agra to Varanasi, and just skip Khajuraho. You could take an overnight train from Varanasi to Jhansi, spend the day in Orcha, and then take a 2-3 hour train ride in the evening on to Agra. There are no flights into Agra, well there are one or two but they are from Delhi only and flying to Delhi to connect to an Agra flight generally does not work.

Also, I think a temple complex like Madurai in the south is <i>far, far</i> more interesting than either Orcha or Khajurahao. Or Kornak sun temple in Orissa has erotic carvings but offers far more and is also of historical significance. You might want to consider adding either in place of Khajuraho/Orcha.

Day 8 Drive via Gwalior to Agra Hotel- Howard Park Plaza </i> Personally in Agra I would choose the Gateway Hotel, or if budget allows the Amarvilas. But the Park Plaza is near the old town areas which are interesting to walk. There is a Sheraton if you have points, or otherwise want to spend a little more that is fine too. I would try very hard to get to the Taj Mahal for sunset if possible. It is very different at various times of day.

Day 9 <i>See Taj Mahal in a.m Agra Fort in afternoon drive to Jaipur via Fatehpur Sikri. Hotel Shahpura House Sight see Amber Fort and Jaipur City ( We will need to extend another day in Jaipur for business)</i> The am will be a dawn visit as well, but very much worth getting up for. Then this is a long day with a drive to Jaipur and a stop at Fatephur Sikri. Pack a lunch. The Taj is closed on Fridays, so make sure your planned day for the visit is not on a Friday.

Day 10 <i>Overnight sleeper train to Udaipur</i> I would say to consider doing this as a longish day drive and stop at Ranakpur on the way, and also include the far more interesting Kumbulgharh fort.

Day 11 Boat ride Lake Pichola Hotel Jagat Niwas Palace

Day 12 <i>Excursion to Ranakpur Jain Temple and evening flight to Mumbai. The Garden Hotel in Mumbai </i> Ranakpur is about 2.5 hours each way by car from Udaipur. So you are looking at a very long day. I think this is better done as part of a drive down from Udaipur. But really, unless you decide to include Kumbhalgarh, I would skip Ranakpur and go to the Delwara area, which is just outside Udaipur. I thought that the small Hindu temple in Eklingji was as interesting and the carvings as beautiful as the Jain temple at Ranakapur. (The Eklingji is in fact the model for the more famous temple at Mount Abu). You can make a trip to Delwar from Udaipur (about 40 minutes) see the temple in Eklingji and have a meal or tea at Devi Garh rather than making the trek to Rankapur. The village of Delwar is quite interesting as well and worth a walk, quite untouristed.

Day 13 <i>Sightseeing in Mumbai</i>I would seriously consider skipping Mumbai. Sorry, but IMO for a first time visitor on such a short trip Mumbai is just not worth the hassle. Not enough to see, and bad traffic, and esp if you only have one day. Skip it, by taking the evening flight from Udaipur and staying at an airport hotel or in Bandra and get the express train at 6:25 am from Bandra station (not far from the airport) to Aurangabad. Note that the “express train” from either Bandra or Mumbai Central (it is the same train) takes 7 hours to reach Aurangabad. By the time you reach there, have lunch and drive to Ellora (about an hour) IMO you won’t have a whole lot of time to see Ellora (which closes at 5:30 pm; even skipping a lunch and bringing your own won’t save a whole lot of time). There is a 7 am Jet flight from Mumbai which gets to Aurangabad in an hour. While more expensive than the train, the time savings and ability to see more in Aurangabad may be worth it. Or consider using a flight to return to Mumbai. Ellora is closed on Mondays, and Ajanta on Tuesdays, so work this into your schedule.

You could also consider routing yourself to fly from Udaipur to Mumbai on an afternoon Kingfisher flight, and then connect to the 6:30 pm Kingfisher or Jet flight to Aurangabad. This would mean you would skip Mumbai entirely and the attendant hassle, and would save you a night at a hotel in Mumbai.

Not sure which “Garden Hotel” in Mumbai you are referring to, but there is one in Colaba, way down on the tip of the island in the main business area. This will involve quite a long drive from the airport and possibly a longish drive to the train station. Frankly a 2 star hotel in Mumbai would be something I would avoid. OK in smaller towns, but in a place like Mumbai I have my doubts. If the location is in Mumbai West, that may be better for airport and train, but not as good for sightseeing.

Day 14 <i>6am Express train to Aurangabad and visit Ellora Caves. Hotel The Meadows </i>see above about the "express" train to Aurangabad.

Day 15 Day excursion Ajanta Caves return to Aurangabad

Day 16 Fly <i>back to Mumbai and connect to Chennai Hotel Benz Park Sightsee Chennai</i> Don’t know this hotel at all, but would suggest you look at reviews on tripadvisor.com. If the agent tells you it is a five star, that really means nothing. There is a very nice Courtyard by Marriott, a Le Meridien and several other Sheratons, and also a Hyatt is about to open. There is a good Oberoi and at least one Taj hotel. Any of those might be a better choice, or try the Sawday book.

Day 17 <i>Drive down coast via the Cultural Center of Dakshinachitra (showcasing reconstucted house from around the South??? along with working artisans and craftspeople. Arrive Mahabbalipuram in late afternoon. Hotel Sea Breeze</i> This choice of hotel has me worried about your agent. It is pretty basic yet still pricy. I wonder if your agent is getting a commsion from the Sea Breeze. Take a look at the Radisson.

Day 18 <i>Visit 7th century rock cut temples- Shore Temple, Five Rathas and Arjunas Penance</i> I find Mahabalipuram to be quite interesting. However, to fly all the way to Chennai to just see it and the Kanchipuran temples may be a lot of time and effort. If you were spending more time on the east coast, then I could see the point, but I am not totally sure it makes sense for your itin. You might also consider flying from Chennai to Madurai, which is a huge and quite interesting temple complex.

Day 19 <i>Drive to Kanchipuran for temples and silk weaving center?? Drive back to Chennai and fly to Delhi to connect to home.</i> If you decide to include the southeast on your itin, consider whether you can depart from Chennai for home. You can get to Singapore and Hong Kong easily from Chennai, from where you could connect to a non-stop to various parts of the US. This would save you backtracking to Delhi. Or consider using Thai Airways flights via Bangkok, and flying first into Varanasi and then out of Delhi. This would save some backtracking. It is not really necessary to go in and out of Delhi on both legs of the international flight.

Bear in mind that virtually all international flights from Chennai (and many other India cities) depart after midnight, so you may actually want to have a hotel room for your last “night” as otherwise you will be sitting around in a restaurant or something waiting to go out to the airport. You generally cannot even get into any airport terminal until 3 hours before your flight (you have to show a ticket and passport to get access to the terminal to begin with), so you won’t be able to wait at the airport for very long.

Cicerone,
This is a wonderful analysis of our itinerary. We will digest it carefully and make many changes.
Re hotels: We really don't have many points except for a few at Marriot. You suggest Oberoi and Taj which I understand are pretty pricey. If we are spending the evening eating and walking around the area, we would be more inclined to spend more than if we are basically just sleeping there. Of course, we want a hotel that is safe, clean and in a logical section of town for where we are going.
Also we will get the suggested book and look at the websites. We will redo the itinerary and repost it. Thanks again for the input.

There is a lot of good advice here, so here is my two cents worth. January nights in North India are cold, be sure to have a warm jacket. Days are quite nice (not too different from inland empire SoCal.) In Delhi I recommend the Amber Hotel. A bit out of the way, but very nice and not as pricey as most Delhi hotels. Nice view of the Lotus Temple from their rooftop garden. It is just off the Agra Highway so an easy start to visit the Taj Mahal.

I definitely recommend at least a week in South India. Say a couple of days in Mysore (plan half a day to visit Somnathpur). If you miss Tibetan culture in the north, add an extra day to visit Bylakuppe. Then the rest of time in Kerala. (Kochi, backwater tours, etc., well documented here.)

Very easy to fly from Delhi to Bangalore (don't stay in the city, head straight out to Mysore). Kingfisher and Jet Airways are both excellent, you will get better coach class service from them than anything in the US. It is about 2.5-3 hr trek (depending on traffic) from BLR airport to Mysore. You will have to return to BLR to fly to Kochi, as I don't believe there are any commercial aviation flights from Mysore.

Nearly all of Cicerone's hotel recs are of great places, but wayyy beyond the budgeted $100/night. Of course they are great, but prices will be much over your budget RInca. That is the challenge ofr travel agents: once given a set budget, trying to fit in what the client wants but within the $ limit.

Garybear, great suggestions. I was in Byelukuppe too. And from there you are so near the Coorg hills and coffee plantations, it'd be a shame to miss that area. (We stayed at Orange County Coorg, which, although loved by most, I would not recommend)

That is the wonderful "problem"with India--soooo much to see, so little time!!

Cicerone: " Hotel Sea Breeze This choice of hotel has me worried about your agent. It is pretty basic yet still pricey. I wonder if your agent is getting a commsion from the Sea Breeze. Take a look at the Radisson. "

Pricey? Sea Breeeze? A good site for comparing tariffs is Nivalink, and Sea Breeze doesnt look pricey compared to other options by the beach.

Cicerone, you recommedn the Radisson, but the cost of rooms is thre times as much as the Sea Breeze. Even Ideal Beach resort is twice as much. I love your suggestions, but who wouldnt? They are nearly all expensive high end places. The challenge is to find decent hotels that are less than $100/night--or average that way. Why do you recommend hotels that are clearly and obviously out of the OP's stated budget?
Is there is a possiblity the agent is trying to work within the given budget for hotel rooms? Why assume the choices are only commission-driven? ! The challenge is arranging a great trip for someone on a limited budget. Marriotts, Taj, Oberoi, etc --or even the Neemrana Hotels--will be well above the requested budget.

Re; Sawday's India recs: Some are good places, others are questionable. I used two of his recs :One was great (and expensive) another a big ripoff . I sent feedback, which was not posted or taken into account--the same old (and i do mean old) description is still on the site, and i owdner if they even read feedback, althogh they ask for it. I also wonder why places are photographed, but "no longer" on his list. Speaking of commissions, I think hotels have to request a visit from Sawdays' people. Is there a fee being paid to be listed? THe same wording is in reviews for yrs. So i take his India recs with a BIG grain of salt, and would recommend that anyone considering them --or anyone or any place, for that matter--also check other reviews (tripdvisor, hoidayiq, indiamike, etc)

I used a lot of Sawday's suggestions and they were fine, although I must confess to following travelaw's footsteps pretty closely.

Good advice, Cali--it's also important to check out the hotels independently of the agent's recommendations. With us Ajay recommended several hotels for each stop and included a link for their website so that we could both see the accomodations AND the rates. Generally he got better rates than were listed on any of the sites, and that's what I would expect from an agent. I also did somewhat obsessive research on trip adviser/Sawdays/EyeWitness/Rough Guides about hotels and routes, etc. I definitely recommend checking out the hotels on Trip Adviser and making sure to see when the stay is dated; for some weird reason, many of the TA posters refer to stays a few years back which certainly gave me pause.

Garybear, you're the FIRST poster I've seen who's mentioned AND stayed at the Amber in Delhi; we very seriously considered it--it gets terrific reviews on Trip Advisor, but as we're only going to be in Delhi a day and a half decided we wanted to be v. central--and to splurge and go for the Imperial--kind of opposite poles!!

CaliNurse - I did go on to Coorg, staying at the new Windflower Spa Coorg. Coorg is very scenic, a good place to chill out for a couple of days. In the recent trend of abandoning the British names, Coorg is now called Kodagu. The main town is Madikeri. An interesting place to visit is the Durbare Elephant camp, where one of local indigineous tribes is still allowed by the Government to capture wild elephants and train them.

520 - I found the Amber from Trip Advisor as I was looking to stay closer to South Delhi. It is a gem and I will probably always stay there in the future. I also stayed at the Imperial once (that was a business trip and my company was picking up the tab). It is a wonderful place in its own right. Even if you are not staying there, the public is welcome to come in to the bars or restaurants (very good but very pricey) and wander around to look at their fabulous collection of prints and antiques. It is one of a kind.

Gary Bear, Thanks for reinforcing our choice of The Imperial this first visit--and not making me feel tormented about the Amber, but confirming my instincts. I don't know if we'll get to Delhi again--but will keep the Amber as the most likely choice...and will refer it to friends.