It was my second time in Kolkata and my second time in Oberoi..it is an oasis in the caótic and vivid city…the breakfast is a-mazing but what it is just perfect is the staff: in restaurants, reception, pool…so nice people. I will stay here in my next tríp yo Kolkata for sure!

Centrally located next to New Market and Park Street
Excellent service - can’t beat that
An oasis off the noisy market right outside

We visited this property for an extensive 2 week stay during our visit to kolkata this month.We had visited and stayed here many times over the past few years and were quite familiar with the property.This stay was after a long gap of 10 months and we were looking forward to it.I had mailed the current general manager Ms Natasha in advance, requesting for any upgrade if available and if they can add laundry to my package.To our delight,she replied back swiftly and upgraded us to the classic suite,and also made laundry a part of our package.This made the long stay much much more convenient for us.

As a Oberoi one platinum member,we had airport transfers included in our booking,and we were picked up from the Kolkata airport by Oberoi car and a nice chauffer named Niraj drived us to the hotel.He was a nice and helpful person.Though we arrived at 11 pm,many staffs and the duty manager was waiting to welcome us at the entrance and we were warmly welcomed with drinks and cold towels and escorted directly to our suite to complete the check in formalities.

The suite was nice and spacious,with a living area,a large dining table in the middle,and a large king bed.There was two balconies in the room as well.However there was no partition between the living and bed area so it looked more like a large room.The washroom however disappointed us.It was the same small washroom with no separate shower area(you will have to stand in the bathtub and use the shower)and very little space inside the washroom.It felt kind of congested.This was a bit sad as their front office manager Mr Aditya had confirmed the presence of a separate shower cubicle in the suite well in advance to us so this miscommunication was not expected.However,the room itself was airy and spacious and lot of sunlight came from both the balconies so we were happy with the room.Also the room had wooden floors(unlike the carpeted rooms which smell in the monsoon season)and was much more favourable for us.

Housekeeping--The hk head Mr Vipul Gupta was in constant touch with us throughout our stay and anything I needed I just had to WhatsApp him and he got it done by his team very swiftly.There were 2 instances however,where hk arrived a bit late but it was resolved pretty quickly by Mr Vipul from the next day.He was always available and assisted us thouroughtly.He even took care to fix our luggage trolleys chain from a outside vendor(airline broke it) and didn't even charge us a dime for that.Special thanks to him for his time and patience.

F and B Service-We ordered some meals form in room dining and also had 2 dinners at the restaurant.Out of which,one was hosted by the general manager.The food quality is well maintained and all items we ate had good taste and prices were also quite reasonable when compared to other 5 star hotels.The servers in the restaurant(363)were nice and attentive and special thanks to their F and B manager Shashank for taking care of us so well in the restaurant.The in room dining was also decent in the property.They arrived pretty quickly after every request and brought fresh and tasty food items.

Breakfast-Breakfast was not included in our booking,but my platinum membership gave us access to free breakfast.Since we never like the idea to get up within 10,dress up and move downstairs for food,Ms Natasha arranged for some breakfast items like cut fruits,tea etc to be delivered to our room everyday since we didn't take breakfast.This gesture of her is throughly appreciated.

Laundry service-As we extensively used their laundry service,we found it very accurate and precise.The linens were handled and delivered with utmost care and neatly folded and ironed and cardboards are put inside it to keep it in shape.Plus,no colour fading,as seen in other 5 star hotel laundry service.Cudos to the oberoi team for that.

Hotel Car and Chauffer-- They have 4 Innova cars which are owned by the hotel and driven by professional well groomed chauffers.We took the hotel car almost everyday while exploring kolkata and Ms Natasha also gave us a special discounted rate.All the care are neat and clean,very well maintained and the chauffers and soft spoken and very very polite.Few names worth mentioning are Niraj, Rakesh and Hemant Sharma.

Hemant Sharma took us for most number of times and he was our favourite chauffer.Though a bit elderly,he had very good knowledge about all the roads and nook and corners of the city and did a fantastic job of assisting us in venturing the city.

The overall management of the hotel including the gm,was in constant touch with us throughout our stay and we interacted with her in multiple occasions.Though she is herself new in the city,she assisted us in every way she could.From the suite upgrade to the laundry, from the discounted car charge to hosting us for dinner,she gave her 100% to us for making this stay as seamless as possible.There were some hiccups and issues in the middle of the stay,but Ms Natasha addressed and solved them pretty quickly as soon as we discussed it with her and we are much grateful to her for that.

The Backbone of the property (The Employees)-- Since it's an Oberoi,the service and hospitality from the employees is expected to be at a whole new level and in this instance they didn't disappoint.All the staffs from front office,f and b to hk were all polite,helpful and eager to assist a guest.Always greets a guest everytime they pass by you.The hk staffs who serviced our room were the most well groomed and mannered personalls we had seen in any 5 star property.Oberoi grand is Grand due to these people.A big thumbs up to them for that.

Mr Aditya Chandra--He was the front office manager of the hotel(newly joined as we didn't see him last time). Though initially we had problems communicating with him and making him understand our requests and queries,and the initial goof up with the shower area,inspite of that there was something in him which made us admire his efforts..

He was always available for us.Whenever we called him,be it day or night he picked it up immediately and was eager to assist.Never said no to our any requests.Was always happy and smiling and had a positive vibe.Even at 21st July,when the big rally of TMC was going on,he took huge risk to open the hotel main gate and receive our swiggy food for lunch.We himself went to collect some of our online orders and parcels from Amazon.These little gestures mean a lot to us and we are much thankful to him for that.

Overall it was a nice cosy stay experience at grand this time and we hope to return in future if time and budget both permits.

Now for the perspective of future travellers here are some points to remember and consider while booking grand for your next stay..

1.Rooms-- They have 3 categories.Deluxe,Luxury and Premier.Out of which Premier ones are the best as you get balconies and their best view ie the swimming pool view.If you come during monsoon,ask them for non carpeted rooms as the carpet ones give a musty smell which can be quite uncomfortable.

Carpeted ones are also fine but during summer and winter not during monsoon.
However,the property intends to remove carpets from all rooms during the next renovation.

Another Highlight is the shower area.All rooms have similar washroom(quite a small one with no shower area as stated above).So if you need a bigger one or with many family members you need to go for their executive suite,deluxe suite or luxury suite.They are priced at a high rate but have separate shower areas.

2.Pricepoint in which the rooms are Offered-- This aspect makes the property sheer value for money.Kolkata being a cheap city,5 star rooms are sold below 10k price point and rooms start at Grand from 6k during off season and goes upto 14k during peak season.This rates are very very low when you consider 5 star pricing.The fact that they are offering 5 star service at 6k is amazing and makes it very lucrative.To put this in perspective,at other Oberoi city hotels,Eg Oberoi delhi,Mumbai etc rooms rates start well over 15k even during off season.

3.Hospitality-The property belonging to the legendary luxury hotel chain,the oberois,you will get utmost care and comfort and service even if it's your first stay in an Oberoi or you are a platinum guest like me.While service and care are obvious in any 5 star hotels,in Kolkata the situation is a bit different which sets it apart from others.

As the city is losing business and is becoming less relevant when compared to other metropolis in India,companies and brands have started to shift their attention from this city.Ie when it comes to 5 star hotels in Kolkata,you might get many options but when it comes to decent ones ie ones which gives you decent service,there is only a handful in the city.By decent service I mean the basic service of getting water and towels delivered to your room upon a phone call has become a luxury in many 5 stars in the city and basic services are missing there.Fortunately,Grand stands apart from this scenario and this was the sole reason we also choose to stay in it in the first place.

4.Hotel Cars-They charge the lowest in the industry.Atleast in this property.950 rs for 10 km.So when in the property,do take advantage of the cars and plan nice city trips.

Last but not the least,a crucial factor which is a must for this property for it to function swiftly in the upcoming days--

Renovation - It's a heritage property spanning more than 120 years.No major renovations have taken place during this period.The rooms have become too much dated with old carpets and with small washrooms certainly doesn't give the feel of a modern 5 star hotel.Plus the furnitures are also unchanged and are of the by gone era.Old sofas, bristish period furnitures and lamps and four poster beds are present in the rooms and suites and don't exactly match the current period.Plus the aged carpets etc also goof up the experience pretty much.

They say renovation is on their pipeline and post this, everything will be fine and brand new.While we appreciate this,as a well wisher of the brand what we think would be helpful would be to close the property for a few years and to rebuild it from scratch and give it a new look of a brand new city hotel.Oberoi group had done this with Oberoi Delhi.The property was closed for 2 years and reopened in 2018 and is performing fabulously since then.Doing something similar would be good for the property.Otherwise,carrying out renovations in a phased manner while keeping the original structure intact won't be of much use in our opinion.

While it's good to admire and value heritage structure and properties,it is also important to periodically modify them,and make changes so that it functions in a more efficient manner.Multiple 5 stars in India like taj mahal palace mumbai,Oberoi delhi etc have done this and Grand needs to walk in the same route to keep the Oberoi magic alive in the city.While the warm and attentive service makes up a bit for all this,but the quality of rooms and the luxury (up to date)offered also has to match with the current market segment.Hope the Grand regains No 1 position in the city post the renovation.

Thanks for hosting us and letting us have a wonderful stay experience.Until next time....