Park Hotel, Calcutta

Name: The Park Kolkata

Situated on Park Street (hmm... the name of the street and the hotel are made for each other! - and this one streetcan still be called the "Elite" Business District of Central Kolkata!) and right near the crossing with Chowrangee. The Park boasts of a proximity to some of the most historical and traditional names of the Classical Kolkata such as Asiatic Society, Jawaharlal Neheru Meuseum, Birla Planetorium and others, and the hotel nearest to most of the nightclubs is Kolkata... Alongwith The Oberoi Grand, the most centrally located 5-star deluxe hotel in Calcutta.

In particular, if you are staying in Kolkata in Christmas time, this hotel has to be The Choice. Don't look for another option - you can see the best of Kolkata Christmas Celebrations right on Park Street. In a way, no hotel in Kolkata can be more downtown - in a way, The Park can be literally taken to be the center of Kolkata - North to South, East to West.

Rating: 5-star Deluxe.

Location: On Park Street. 1-minute drive from Park Street Metro Rail station and Park Street-Chowongee Flyover / Jawaharlal Neheru road.

Rooms: 150 luxury rooms plus 24 deluxe rooms / suites. Rooms type details are:

• Deluxe room - single occupancy
• Deluxe room - double occupancy
• Luxury room - single occupancy
• Luxury room - double occupancy
• Luxury Premium room - single occupancy
• Luxury Premium room - double occupancy
• The Residence suite - single occupancy
• The Residence suite - double occupancy
• Presidential suite

Reach by air: 20 km from Netaji Subhash International Airport (both domestic and international terminals).

Reach by rail - 5 km from Howrah station, 6 km from Sealdah station and 13 km from Kolkata (Chitpore) station.

Facilities: State of the art. Business center. 24 hour meeting rooms. 24 hour travel services. Everything that you may need in real life including FAX, TV, telephone, internet center and so on. Doctors on call. Multilingual staff.

Restaurants: A number of delicious restaurants cater to the guests.
Zen - Thai menu. Thai Chef. You can guess the outcome. Black-and-white decor to top it off.
Saffron - Pan-Indian restaurant. Combines Indian culinary traditional culture with its modern culture. Food from different parts of India.
Tantra - Club with 2 bars and endless cigars. A great place to hang out.
Someplace Else - You go here to see the best city (Calcutta) bands live!
Roxy - Cocktail bar with a wide variety of wines.
Aqua - Along a blue pool, this is one experience one shouldn't miss. One evening here should be a must if you are staying at The Park.
The Atrium Cafe - the 24x7 place for food. One may want to try the garden tea and coffee here.

Overall, a very central hotel with great value.

Sonar Bangla Sheraton (ITC) Hotel

Name: Sonar Bangla Sheraton Hotel

One of the finest hotels in Calcutta. Being one of the youngest luxury hotels in Kolkata, it boasts of spanking modern facilities and features. The local people refer to it as 7-star, showing respect to the class of service it provides. ITC Sonar Bangla Sheraton is designed to reflect the cultural, structural and architectural values of old and modern Kolkata.


Rating - 5-star Deluxe.

Location: On Eastern Metropolitan Bypass (popularly called EM Bypass). Near Park Circus Connector's meeting point with EM Bypass.

Rooms: 239 rooms including 8 suits.

• Suits: 8
• ITC One Rooms: 21 (includes private FAX)
  
• Seraton Tower Rooms: 84 (overlooks greenery and water - has separate lounge)
  
• Executive Club Rooms: 126 (for business travelers)
  

Reach by air: Distance from Netaji Subhash International Airport (domestic and international terminals) is around 17 km.

Reach by rail: 13 km from Howrah station. 10 km from Sealdah station. 14 km from Kolkata (Chitpore) station.

Facilities: 24 Hour Room Service, Laundry and Dry Cleaning Service, Doctor on Call, Personalised Vaults, Mini-bars, Business Centre with Secretarial Services, Travel Desk, Shopping Arcade, Pastry Shop, Tata Avaya Telephone Exchange with DID Facility and Voice Mail, Internet Connectivity From Rooms, CNN, BBC, Star TV and a host of other Channels, Chip & Putt Golf Course, Sonar Spa having the best of International Treatments, Beauty Parlour, Barber Shop, Swimming Pool, Tennis Courts, Jogging Track. (Acknowledgement goes to Sillicon-India.com).

Restaurants:
Peshawari: Serving the acclaimed cuisine from the rugged North West Frontier. This restaurant is set amidst a charming ambience, where you tie on checked aprons and are encouraged to eat with your fingers!
Dum Pukht: A celebration of the rich diversity of traditional Indian cuisines and the 200-year-old culinary tradition of cooking food in sealed 'deghs'. This Indian fine dine restaurant with a show kitchen serves a mix of Awadhi, Luckhnawi and traditional Indian cuisines.
Eden Pavilion: It is an international restaurant with buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The a la carte menu features highlights of Dakshin(South Indian specialty cuisine) and Maroush(Lebanese specialty cuisine).
West View Bar & Grill: An exclusive bar with an interactive grill - the restaurant features the finest selection of single malts & cognacs.
Dublin: It is a distinctively Irish Pub with a dance floor.
Health Spa Cafe. (Acknowledgement goes to IndiaProfile.com).

Oberoi Grand Hotel

Name: Hotel Oberoi Grand.

If you are looking for glory of past, look no further. This one is one of the oldest golds in the Indian Hotel Industry - since the time when a high-end hotel was a work of applied art.

Rating - 5-star Deluxe.

Location: Chowrangee (Jawaharlal Neheru Road), near Esplanade. Can be literally called the Center of Calcutta (Kolkata) and is also bang in the middle of "Commercial Kolkata".

Rooms: 213 rooms and suits including 41 delux rooms (all having view to swimming pools).

• Classic Rooms
• Deluxe Rooms
• Premier Rooms
• Classic Suites
• Deluxe Suites
• Luxury Suites

Reach by air: 21 km from Netaji Subhash International Airport (both domestic and international terminals).

Reach by rail - 5 km from Howrah station, 7 km from Sealdah station and 12 km from Kolkata (Chitpore) station.

Also, well-connected to other state-capitals and metros via road.

Facilities: State of the art. Fully equiped Business Center. Ballroom capable of holding 800 people - a Grand one. 3 meeting rooms. Board room. Satellite teleconferencing. Dedicated FAX machines in Deluze rooms. Restaurants. Spa (look for "Banyan Tree" once you are there are you are in for a nice surprise). In a nutshell, virtually everything that one may practically need.

Restaurants: La Terrasse - a French-style restaurant with an international buffet that remains open for long hours. Baan Thai - arguably the best Thai Restaurant in entire India. Chowranghee Bar And Tea Lounge for the liquid part of life. 24x7 in-house dining.

Overall, a Grand taste of Calcutta (Kolkata) for the visitor with deep pockets. Arguably the best Heritage stay in Kolkata.

Hotel Taj Bengal (Calcutta)

Name: Hotel Taj Bengal

Rating: 5-star delux.

Location: Alipore, Kolkata (Calcutta)

Rooms: 229 rooms including 13 suites. All centrally air-conditioned.

Reach by air: Almost 26 km from Netaji Subhash International Airport, Kolkata (from both International and Domestic terminals of the airport).

Reach by rail: Any train that goes to Howrah/Sealdah/Kolkata railway station. It is 14 km from Howrah, 15 km from Sealdah and 18 km from Kolkata (Chitpore) railway station.

Facilities: State of the art facilities. Business center. Conference facilities. Banquet facilities. Restaurants.

Restaurants: Sonargaon - an in-house restaurant - offers authentic Bengali and other Indian cuisine. Berbecue - a poolside restaurant - also offers splendid Indian berbecue, added with Continental berbecue specialities. Chambers Restaurant serves mouth-watering French items. Chinoiserei is the place to head for if one prefers to have Chinese. The Hub offers food round the clock. The Junction is a bar with an aura of the old golden days. And the mammoth Atrium Lobby, with its lighting, garden, evening high-tea and coffee, is a class in itself.

Overall, Taj Bengal is a hotel that one should definitely look for if he has a deep pocket and wants to gain quality from his expenditure. Internet bookings as well as bookings over the counter are entertained in Taj Bengal, Kolkata (Calcutta).

Star-ratings of Calcutta Hotels

Calcutta has hotels to suit every pocket - right from the top Business Honcho till the "economically challenged" class. If you know your budget, you can find your hotel rather easily.

In this post I list the more well-known hotels along with their ratings. The names appearing in the brackets within quotes are the popular local names for the corresponding hotels.

5-star:
(1) Sonar Bangla Sheraton Hotel (super-deluxe - the local common people often call it 7-star)
(2) Hyatt Regency Hotel ("Hyatt")
(3) The Park Hotel ("Park")
(4) MBD Airport Hotel ("Ashok")
(5) Hotel Hindustan International ("HHI")
(6) Oberoi Grand Hotel ("Grand")
(7) Hotel Taj Bengal ("Taj")

4-star:
(1) Hotel Peerless Inn
(2) The Kenilworth Hotel

3-star:
(1) Great Eastern Hotel (arguably the hotel with the richest history ranging from the British periods)
(2) Hotel Rutt Deen
(3) Lytton Hotel
(4) Palm Village Resort
(5) Landmark Hotel
(6) Hotel Victerrace

Other hotels:
(1) Park Palace Hotel
(2) Fairlawn Hotel
(3) Samilton Hotel
(4) Hotel Camac Plaza
(5) Astoria Hotel
(6) Circular Hotel
(7) Hotel Jagannath
(8) Kunga Hotel
(9) VIP International Hotel
(10) YMCA

Statement of Purpose

Calcutta, alias Kolkata, was the Capital of India till 1912, and it still retains (unofficially) the position of Cultural Capital of India. Calcutta is one of the largest metropolitan cities in the world with a population around 15 millions. It is the main point of entry to East India with its international and domestic air, rail and bus connections.

If you are visiting Calcutta from inside or outside India, I would strongly recommend you go through this site. Else, there is always a chance to play into the hands of touts and get lesser hotels for extravagant rates (and foreign tourists must particularly keep this in mind - they are really far worse off compared to Indians who understand India better - sadly this phenomenon is a typical Indian one).

The purpose of this blog are the following:
(a) List the hotels in Calcutta
(b) List the star ratings of Calcutta hotels
(c) Give directions of the hotels from the entry-points to the city
(d) Provide links to other blogs talking about points of interest of Calcutta and other related topics - and the readers would be strongly encouraged to visit them (I myself plan to make some more such blog pages , naming them as per convenience)
(e) Provide space for readers to share their experiences (what can beat the power of community?)

Welcome to Calcutta - Stay Logged On!