Hotel Review: The LaLit New Delhi
The LaLit New Delhi is a luxury hotel in the city center of the Indian capital. While the hotel looks quite nice on pictures, I was quite disappointed when arriving at the property. Even though there are some good things to say about the property, I’d still recommend staying anywhere else. Check out why I wouldn’t come back in our extensive hotel review of The LaLit New Delhi!
Located somewhere in the center of New Delhi, yet not really close to many restaurants or shops, The LaLit New Delhi comes with a rather unattractive exterior.
- Classification: Five Stars
- Room Category: Premier Room
- Month of Stay: February
Checking in, I asked for a room on a high floor, far away from the elevator.
The exterior of The LaLit New Delhi is not exactly impressive
It might have been a communication issue, but getting a room on the lowest floor right next to the elevator definitely wasn’t satisfying. However, the check-in process was relatively friendly.
Premier Room at The LaLit New Delhi
What really shocked me was the condition of the room we were assigned. While cleaned in theory, there was a lot of dust and dirt at quite obvious spots.
The bad cleaning at The LaLit New Delhi is one major problem
However, the cleaning was just one negative aspect of the room at The LaLit New Delhi. Even though the design looks quite modern, the rooms are extremely run down, which you can see at every little detail.
A horrible view on an abandoned construction site was the perfect addition. After I complained at reception, we were assigned a Premier Room (“upgrade”), which was pretty much the same, but came with a better view.
The rooms per se are looking quite fine
The condition of the room was still bad, but the room was at least properly cleaned. Generally, I found the combination of a modern design with traditional elements quite nice.
Furthermore, layout and size of the room were not bad either. The beds were comfortable, the working desk decent
Yet, I found it strange that there was no proper office chair, so working was relatively uncomfortable.
Bathroom of the Premier Room
While the first room came with a shower and a bathtub, the second one just had a walk-in shower. This one was quite nice and came with a good water pressure.
Other than that there was a toilet and a sink. Once again, the design was absolutely fine, but the condition of the finishes was so bad that I wouldn’t even expect it in a three-star hotel.
Nothing you’d expect in a luxury hotel
That’s definitely something The LaLit New Delhi needs to work on. On a side note, there is the option to order “fresh seasons fruit” free of charge.
I took advantage to give a try and was served… two apples.
Pool & Gym at The LaLit New Delhi
The LaLit New Delhi offers its guests free access to its outdoor pool and the gym. Both are relatively nice, but sadly also open to the public.
The pool is one of the highlights of The LaLit New Delhi
This means that the pool is quite crowded during the day with most loungers taken. Also, the gym was extremely packed when I was working out in the evening.
While this might sound relatively negative, the gym is still very well equipped with modern machines and lots of free weights. The pool comes with a good temperature and is big enough for lap swimming. That said, you’ll surely enjoy the facilities at The LaLit New Delhi if these are not crowded.
Breakfast at The LaLit New Delhi
We had breakfast included in our rate at The LaLit New Delhi, but had an extremely early departure, so were not able to take advantage of the buffet. Instead the hotel offered us boxes to take away.
The box to take away looked quite nice
Well, at least in theory. In the morning, nobody cared, so I just took two boxes, which were unattended in the restaurant area. The options in the box were relatively decent and consisted of two cheese sandwiches, a croissant, a muffin, an apple, juice, water and muesli with milk.
The breakfast box was quite well stocked
Compared to other breakfast boxes I got at hotels, I found the one offered by The LaLit New Delhi superior in terms of choice and also quality.
Bottom line The LaLit New Delhi
This hotel review might sound quite negative. While I don’t think that you would “hate” The LaLit New Delhi when staying there, I’m still sure you’d expect better. Especially in India, where most hotels like The Oberoi Mumbai, The Oberoi Bengaluru or JW Marriott Delhi Aerocity were phenomenal both in terms of the hard and the soft product, I just expected way more.
The only thing I really found amazing about The LaLit New Delhi was the pool
The service at The LaLit New Delhi was average at best, the rooms are in deep need of renovation and the cleaning staff definitely needs to be retrained. If these issues are fixed, The LaLit might be a decent option for staying in New Delhi. For now, I’d recommend opting for a different property.
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