Gurgaon, 32 kilometres southwest of New Delhi and easily accessible from Indira Gandhi International Airport, is the most prosperous city in India (based on ownership of consumer durables). If you’re visiting for work, put these three business hotels on your agenda.
Oberoi Hotels already had the Delhi area’s most sleek and calm hotel, the Trident, but in 2011 it opened The Oberoi, Gurgaon next door. Architects RSP and the in-house design team — overseen by CEO Prithvi Raj Singh “Biki” Oberoi — have produced a masterpiece. Its entrance is flanked by five-metre fire torches, one of which was designed by Gucci. Beyond is a football field-sized decorative pool embraced by a croissant-shaped forest that winds up from ground level to the hotel’s fifth-floor lobby. The inner face of the croissant’s right side is a 1,000 sq m living wall covered with greenery. The 202 rooms and suites, starting from 58 sq m, have four-metre ceilings.
The best rooms are the two 115 sq m Deluxe Suites with 20-metre private pools cantilevered high above the ground. If you’ve got some downtime, there’s plenty to entertain. There’s a 55-metre pool, a gym and spa (both open 24 hours), a bay-to-plate seafood restaurant, an air-conditioned cigar lounge and and all-day restaurant, with five cooking stations, which protrudes on boardwalks into the decorative pool. If you need additional excitement, in-house shopping includes Cartier, Jimmy Choo, and Ermenegildo Zegna, and there is an art gallery, too. You can also walk a few yards to The Trident for a change of scenery, or perhaps some Italian food. The Oberoi’s general manager is David Mathews.
On the fringe of the Gurgaon CBD you’ll find The Leela Ambience Gurgaon Hotel & Residences. This 322-room hotel, run by Michel Koopman, has many regular guests, including those who prefer its 90 short-let serviced apartments. These aficionados like the friendly service, a big spa, gym and pool, and the well thought-out meeting facilities. Some also appreciate having mega-mall Ambience a few yards away.
If you prefer to conduct your meetings out of the boardroom, sixth-floor Italian restaurant Zanotta allows you to do Brunello tasting while watching the traffic along South Asia’s widest tollgate, the 32-lane Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. If your meeting has gone well, treat three colleagues to Zanotta’s four-person, 36-course tasting menu — the set price includes wine pairings. For all-day dining, visit the Spin-designed Spectra, offering Austrian and Asian cuisines, and there is also an Indian restaurant, Diya, located on the lobby level.
Vivanta by Taj - Gurgaon NCR is the baby of this trio. It opened last March, next to the big Fortis Memorial Research Institute. The 208 rooms start from 31 sq m; favourites are Premium Indulgence rooms, which face out over the outdoor pool on the second-floor terrace. The ground-floor lobby is a cocktail of glass and chrome, and sometimes live music — as general manager Ajit Pavithran says, there is deliberate lifestyle at all times. This is a hotel for the 35- to 45-year-old corporates who do not want a simple room and board, but rather a Bee’s Knees cocktail in Tease bar, street food in Latitude, a 24/7 gym and — a rarity in India — ergonomic desk chairs.