For our overnight stay in New Delhi, we had a very short one day stay prior to our travels home. Instead of going for a higher end property, we ended up at the ITC Maurya for a quick stay in New Delhi. While it was not as exotic as The Leela Palace, it was more than reasonable at a far lower price point.

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Hotel Review: The ITC Maurya, A Luxury Collection Hotel, New Delhi, India

“An older classic property with compact rooms that has been serving the New Delhi Embassy District for forty years, that is anchored by Bukhara; one of the more famous Indian restaurants in Delhi”

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Booking and Getting There:

We had such an excellent stay with The Leela Palace on our last pass through New Delhi, it was a shame not to be staying there again. In reality, we had a twelve hour layover after our Air India Jaipur – New Delhi flight, so we opted for something a bit more main stream. On our way in, I happened to see a new JW Marriott very close to the airport and we probably would have stayed there had we known it was so new. Instead, we went with an old Starwood standby: the ITC Muraya, situated in the embassy district.

We ended up on a Global Navigator rate which included breakfast for two at 8000 Indian Rupees per night ($109 USD), which was a very reasonable price for a hotel in a major urban centre. There are a lot of hotels to chose from in New Delhi so make sure your research carefully.

We had a very chatty hotel driver from a company that appeared to be contracted on behalf of the hotel. The driver had a plain uniform on that was quite shabby. Of course, he had to throw in the suggestion that he needed tips to feed his family- it was a bit of a contrast from our Leela arrival experience.

Arriving to The ITC Maurya Hotel:

The ITC Maurya, A Luxury Collection Hotel.

Sardar Patel Marg, Akhaura Block, Diplomatic Enclave, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, Delhi 110021, India

We arrived to a very chaotic driveway area of the ITC Muraya. There were about 20 people standing around blocking the entrance way. We unloaded our bags from the van and they headed over to get security screened by X ray. We passed through a scanner and found the front desk. The difference between the Leela and the ITC Muraya was immediately apparent. There was no express check in here. First off, it was a bit of a wait to find an actual staff member to man the front desk and check us in despite 50-60 people wandering around in the lobby. This was followed by a further 10 minute ordeal to process all the paper work, take photocopies of the passports, then have the staff member complete the forms, then sign the forms. We were both Starwood Preferred Guest members with credit cards and electronic profiles in the mainframe somewhere but it didn’t seem to make much difference. Thankfully, we had no where to be but I can’t imagine what happens where there is actually a line up to check in- it must take forever. Some photos from much later in the night.

One of the nicest features of this hotel is the lobby art feature. It’s unusual and has a certain look to it but I found it to be quite engaging. Usually most hotel lobbies are forgettable and tend to look the same after a while. The artwork featured vignettes of different personalities.

The art placard encouraged you to look for yourself. I think I eventually found myself in the mosaic (with the camera), or any other Flyer Talking Trip Reporter or travel blogger.

The Room: An Executive Club King

We led ourselves up to Room #1441 on the Club Floor entitled the “Grand Presidential Floor”. The hotel was built approximately 40 years ago and advertises itself as the “favorite for heads of state for over 40 years”. This statement, translated into reality, means that the rooms are quite small by today’s standards.

We arrived to a compact room but nothing that wasn’t unbearable for a brief 12 hour stay. It must have been the Grand Presidential Floor of small countries with small people. The room was even smaller once there were two suitacases and two rollies parked about the floor and stand. I had a good chuckle of the parkway square wood flooring; it reminded me of my grandfather’s house in the seventies. 

The bathroom was a standard variety with a corresponding small footprint typical of hotels built forty years ago.

Executive Lounge:

We had lounge access as a result of booking an Executive Room Level. Drinks were not included in our rate, but were on 50% offer off between 6-8 PM. I’m sorry to report that the lounge was a pretty dismal place. It was a shabby beige room, with some depressing meager snacks that looked like leftovers from a party that you arrived about three hours too late to. The lone staff member that drew the short straw was totally overworked, serving 12 people at 6 different tables all by himself. Our order from the reception bar (prepared elsewhere in the hotel by the looks of it) would take 20 minutes to arrive. There was no aura of exclusivity here as there were some customers who had taken their sandals off and were picking at their exposed bare toes with their fingers while they sipped their whiskies…

Restaurant Bukhara:

We packed up at the Executive Lounge fairly quickly and went downstairs to an excellent dinner at Bukhara. Bukhara is well known amongst Indian restaurants and it featured robust North West Indian cuisine. It’s one of the many restaurants inside the ITC Muraya hotel. We turned up at about 6:30 PM without a reservation and were able to get seated after about at twenty minute wait. 

However, once we got seated inside, it wasn’t so bad with North American tourist pricing at entrees around 1,900 Indian Rupees or $25 USD per dish.

We were well taken care of by Parveen who provided us with sample Dahl, Pehwara Kebabs, and Tandorii Aloo. No gas fires here, only tandori ovens and charcol grills in this kitchen. The dhal was especially famous – Parveen indicated that they had sold over 2.5 million dishes in the past 15 years. Most the cooking was done in an open kitchen visible to restaurant diners.

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The food here was the best of the trip. The Burkaha bar has had famous visitors, including the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the entire Bill, Hiliary and Chelsea Clinton family several times over.

The food flavours were sensational; spices unique to India along with freshness that could easily be approached. The naan bread was equally fantastic – a taste like unlike any other.

We also had the opportunity by staff to take some silly souvenir photographs with the bibs that were provided, that made for great memories of our travels and stay.

Overall, Bukhara was an excellent meal experience. It’s highly recommended if you happen to find yourself here in New Delhi for any reason. The meal experience was complimented by excellent service as well.

The Bottom Line: Our stay experience with ITC Maurya, a Luxury Collection Hotel

Our stay at the ITC Muraya was okay. It wasn’t a spectacular stay by any means. I’ve had nicer and more personable stays at anonymous Westin hotels throughout North America. The ITC Muraya fills the void when you’re on a fixed budget and you want a reasonable, but dated, property that offers all the fixings; a pool, a lounge and several international restaurants to choose from. Be forewarned, couples or families may find the rooms somewhat compact for their liking. The ITC Maurya wasn’t anywhere near in the same league as The Leela Palace but it was reasonable to have experienced both on this particular trip. The highlight was the excellent meal at Bukhara, which I wouldn’t miss if I ever stayed at this property again. My next stay will probably be back at The Leela Palace or somewhere new.

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If you’ve stayed at ITC Maurya, did you visit Bukhara for terrific Indian food?

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