Hotel ReviewsReviews

Vivanta New Delhi, Dwarka – Review

After flying business class on the Air India Boeing 747 that was in service between Kolkata and Delhi at the time, I decided to make a quick stop in Delhi. I stayed at Vivanta for a night and here is my review of the experience at the property.

Table of Contents

About Vivanta New Delhi, Dwarka

Marketing itself as “the” luxury five-star business hotel (although I would argue), this property is located in Dwarka – a 15 minute drive from the Indira Gandhi International Airport – and has a total of 250 rooms and suites.

The happening localities in Delhi like Khan Market and Connaught Place are 23 kilometres away from here, so if you are looking to explore the nation’s capital, this might not be the place to stay. Having said that, the location is convenient if you need to be near the airport.

Booking Vivanta New Delhi, Dwarka

I booked this hotel a few days before my stay, after confirming with them they weren’t exclusively housing Covid guests, which was the trend among a lot of hotels at the time.

I booked myself a non-smoking superior room (their base category room), for one night and paid a total of INR 3,786 (USD 51), including breakfast and free wifi. I also received an INR 1,500 (USD 20) food and beverage credit with my booking.

Check-in at Vivanta New Delhi, Dwarka

I arrived at the hotel just before midnight on September 21, 2020 and as expected there was no queue for check in, and social distancing measures were being observed.

Upon enquiring about my food and beverage credit, I was informed that it did not include alcoholic beverages. Even though I was only interested in trying out some of their mocktails, that comment made me curious as the booking didn’t mention any such detail.

Vivanta New Delhi, Dwarka superior room review

I was in room 423, a city facing room, and my first impression was pretty good. Unfortunately, I soon discovered that first impressions can be deceiving (a bit like what I faced on Vistara’s Boeing 737 business class).

This room, although pretty big for base category (33 square metres), wasn’t exactly in the best shape. Here are a few reasons why:

There were stains on the sofa
There were stains on the headrest behind the bed as well
Towels and napkins were of cheap quality for a five-star hotel (as Vivanta claims to be)
The bathroom amenities didn’t feel very good either

I felt pretty disgusted after seeing those stains on the sofa and the bed, and didn’t feel like spending much time on either. This left me with the table, which was pretty big, however, the chair felt like an office chair and it wasn’t the most comfortable ones either.

The mattress and the pillows were pretty comfortable, and I slept well, though the switch board on the bed-side had clearly seen better days.

The wardrobe was spacious enough, and there were extra pillows provided in the closet along with bathrobes, a locker and a weighing machine, though I didn’t feel the need to use any of them.

The minibar in my room was empty, which was in accordance with the Covid rules in place at the time.

The bathroom was spacious as well, though the rain shower felt like it needed a bit of cleaning and maintenance, as the water was flowing in other directions more than it did on me.

Since I checked in late and I was only staying here for a night, I didn’t up using the TV, the room service or experience the turn down service.

I however did get to try the food and beverage experience at Vivanta New Delhi, Dwarka…

Dining at Vivanta New Delhi, Dwarka

There are two restaurants, two bars and a coffee shop at this property. Creo is the all-day dining multi cuisine option, along with Indus Express, which serves ‘North West frontier’ cuisine.

Tipple, one of the two bars, is located on the lobby level, whereas the Celsius Pool Bar is by the pool, also at lobby level. The coffee shop is called Caramel and is located on lobby level as well, opposite Creo.

Since I was going to be spending less than a day at this property, I headed straight to Tipple after checking in to the hotel.

The bar was completely empty and some really poor choice of music was playing. I was welcomed with a notice that the bar is closing in 15 minutes (midnight), and a waiter invited me to take a seat at any table I liked.e

I ordered myself a litchi mocktail but, while I waited, I was accompanied by a bunch of mosquitoes. I didn’t feel like staying at the bar any longer, let alone eat or drink anything, so I cancelled my order and headed to the room.

After a poor experience at the bar and a disgusted feeling from the room, I needed a good breakfast experience to pick up my spirits.

Breakfast is served at Creo between 6.30am and 10.30am, and I arrived just in time. I was asked to wait in Caramel – the coffee shop – as there was a queue.

After waiting for around 10 minutes, I was shown to a table. The buffet spread was quite big, with live counters for paratha, dosa, waffles and egg.

The last meal I had taken before this breakfast was on the Air India Boeing 747 business class on my way from Kolkata to Delhi, and so I had plenty of room for breakfast this morning.

After ordering a choco-chip pancake, which was presented very nicely, I helped myself to basil and lime-infused water, a can of pineapple juice, and a couple of pastries. While I was at it, I asked for the chef’s suggestion and ordered a combination of potato, cauliflower, and onion paratha (don’t judge me, I was very hungry!).

The drinks were not at all good, as they were completely bland. At this point, I felt like trying the mixed fruit juice, and it was tasteless too. Therefore I chose to get a banana smoothie which was at least better than the other two drinks.

Although the pancakes were presented beautifully, there were a lot of choco chips in them. The paratha on the other hand was nice, however, I expected it to be served with sweet yogurt, but it was served with plain yogurt.

The breakfast experience overall was pretty average, the staff was also not very attentive and I noticed a couple of senior staff members chatting and having a laugh during peak breakfast hours.

I headed back to the room and around an hour before checking out I decided to try out the coffee shop, Caramel. I asked for a cappuccino and, while I waited, the lady at the counter headed to Creo to prepare a drink for another customer.

As she was the only one serving, I figured this will take quite some time and I didn’t have that luxury, so I decided to inform the staff members standing outside the cafe to cancel my order as I headed to the room.

One of them was a room service manager, Ram, who insisted that they will have the coffee delivered to my room and it will be on the house, or I could wait for two more minutes and he will have the drink prepared. I chose to do the latter.

The coffee was prepared immediately, and I wasn’t charged for it. I really appreciated this response. Another thing that stood out was that the manager had the authority to take a call immediately, which isn’t very common across hotels in India.

Other amenities

There is a spa, salon, and an outdoor swimming pool in the hotel. However, I was informed that these facilities are in a different wing, where they are accommodating Covid guests for isolation, and hence I couldn’t check it out.

Apart from that, they have large event spaces and ample parking space as well. There are a few shopping outlets in the hotel as well, though they were shut during my time there.

Summing up

While I did not have very high expectations of this property, I did at least expect them to maintain basic hygiene and cleanliness – though this was lacking, as I experienced mosquitoes at the bar and stains in the room.

Apart from the concern shown at the coffee shop, I felt that the service here was lacking as well and the staff was laid back in their approach.

There are many other properties offering rooms at a similar price range and I would like to choose a different property next time I want to find accommodation near Delhi airport.

Have you stayed at Vivanta New Delhi, Dwarka? What are your thoughts about it?