The most challenging thing about the first sole Kempinski property, here in the capital, is its location. Nothing much for miles by way of sightseeing or built heritage. Not one of the ‘posh’ South Delhi addresses with a market full of shops and restaurants round the corner; the nearest mall is a rather long walk and too short a drive for an auto. The failure of plans for a Greater Noida airport to take off leaves it almost two hours’ drive from Indira Gandhi International.
However, the best thing about Kempinski Ambience is its location. Nothing remotely in the same league for miles around in East Delhi, be it eateries or spa (members get special offers) or event venue or accommodation. The metro is due to be extended almost to its gates, which should make travel from the Delhi airport pretty convenient for all but the most luggage-laden traveller. Connectivity is great still, from Shahdara station, as well as the Anand Vihar ISBT bus terminus for those heading into the hills for a holiday. And it is poised to take advantage of the new airport that will now (hopefully) land somewhere in the vicinity of Mathura or Agra, becoming a gateway to the capital from the opposite direction. Meanwhile, a location overlooking a lovely public park that they are taking over upkeep of, at the crux of several quiet residential neighbourhoods, lets the visitor see the ‘real-life’ Delhi its history has spawned, with not much pollution and distraction from busy commercial zones.
Is it worth the trek?
For corporate events and personal celebrations, absolutely.
The largest ballroom… with backstage prep rooms just across the corridor for technical support and behind-the-scenes activity and ceiling lights that can change colour to match your bridal scheme or your corporate logo is a big draw, pun intended. So are the fiery stone mashaals, fountains and integrated façade and portico lights that take the headache out of the raunak and jashn for a big little family celebration. The conjoined twin towers separate senior management and executives neatly, avoiding the embarrassment of meeting the boss in a swimsuit or seeing your secretary get drunk, with easy access to common restaurant areas, separate check-in lobbies and heated outdoor pools.
A central courtyard bridging the two parts can be used for meets and eats, weather permitting — indeed, we predict Frangipane will be positively charming in winter… and save fine-dining guests from the boisterous kids’ birthday party, while the young ’uns can enjoy running around in a safe space.
But what of the solitary leisure traveller, or a small family on a getaway? Does it really make sense to choose so far-flung a temporary address? Despite our own misgivings, having been there and done that, we are now happy to report that the answer is in the affirmative.
One excellent reason, to my mind, is that it limits your frenetic ticking off from a list of seeing-doing-eating… and invites you to relax and recharge — surely the whole point of a holiday?
You really shouldn’t lack for anything once you settle in. Each tower has its own heated outdoor pool, the hair salon is by Dar, with a bridal chamber built in, and the spa is equipped for treatments from three continents at least, the highlight being the stone hammam table (advance notice required for use!).
In the room, the pillow menu is comprehensive, with a cotton ogival pillow that resists tumbling, an ecological ‘100% pure soy oil’ one, a body pillow that lists nursing in bed as one of its uses, supportive buckwheat pillows that sound like sand pouring through your fingers at the beach and the usual memory foam contour pillow. Your default sleep accessory is apparently the oversized Big Cozy. We liked the Madhubani-inspired bath robe and are happy to hear it is available for guests to purchase.
Room service, in our experience, was uniformly excellent, with dishes being served from the warmer in courses at a properly laid table. This was true even for breakfast, though I chose to serve myself and eat in random order, a little savoury, a little sweet, and split the massive spread into two brekkies, hobbit-style. Yes, the European option was very generous, with breads and pastries (croissant, danish, a couple of muffins), granola (‘muesli’ on the menu), eggs and sausages, cold cuts, fresh juice, coffee… We had to postpone lunch to do it justice.
Lunch is served at Café Knosh, both buffet and a la carte. I can’t imagine who goes for the a la carte or why, given that at Sunday brunch there was biryani, kebabs, assorted starters from marinated mushrooms to prawn cocktails, a chaat station, a mezze counter, a live grill, much Mediterranean, fresh juices and pizzas, and a dessert ‘counter’ that started deceptively small and spilled halfway down the corridor on both sides! Execution does not rise to the level of the speciality restaurants, true, but it is a very family-friendly space and there were certainly a few items that widened our eyes — the arbi-akhrot shammi for one, and the cinnamon-pickled vegetables for the shawarma. The baked fish with beet would have been an interesting pick had it not been for too free a hand with the salt.
The two speciality restaurants are dinner only and take turns for a weekly holiday (Monday/Tuesday). The Asian restaurant Mei Kun, over in the Hotel Tower, concentrates on Southeast Asia. The décor is modern Asian. A chef’s table at one end for kaiseki-style dining, a smaller and a larger private dining chamber at the other end. In the middle, tables are inlaid with mother-of-pearl, with bespoke and beautifully tactile pottery plates. The dominant theme is black and red, the ‘usual’; but the deep lacquer red is offset by burnished wood floors and perforated screens, warm grey stone and a splash of lime in the upholstery. On the menu, no ‘date pancake’, no ‘Manchurian’ is in evidence. Singapore need not worry about losing its claim on the chilli crab and the nasi goreng could use more wok hei, the pork chops are passable and the seafood laksa could be better, but it’s all still quite, quite good overall — so good that I am able to quibble! Especially the Thai pomelo salad (yam som o), lotus root fritters and the tender, creamy (and salty) mutton rendang: excellent! The Thai lime and basil drink that turned up unasked was a joy.
Mei Kun’s desi Club Tower twin, Dilli 32 — the pin code here — could be called a curry restaurant, in the same way that an elephant can be called a humble beast of burden. It should not require a band-baja celebration in India, but (sadly) it does: every curry on the Awadhi-predominant but innovative menu tastes distinctly different, with no evidence of common gravy bases. The décor is spicy — stainless-steel star anise and cloves flow across the back wall, then a wall of mixed whole spices (the real kind), then a bank of chillies and finally an installation of several shades of mustard oil! A rose water-scented, petal-flourished welcome readies your hands to dip in, finger first. It is hard to go wrong on this menu even if you point blindfolded, but standouts included the palak ashrafi with paan, khoya, apricot and chilgoza; a Rampuri seekh as melt-in-the-mouth as the excellent galawati; a stuffed mushroom (dohara khumb) that overtakes both meaty excellences; a revelation of a nihari; subtle silver-laced (varq) mutton korma; a dum aloo Bhojpuri as good as a zafrani guchhi; dum ka murgh with poppy seeds and saffron; a delicate and noble shahi tukda; an innovative mirch halwa just for kicks and nostalgic homemade banta soda.
All in all, the kind of tastefulness and substance that would do the heritage of Old Delhi proud, yet which has such paucity across the capital landscape. You can always go sightseeing to Old Delhi, but it seems to make sense to come further afield to the Kempinski for ambience as well as alimentary satisfaction.
The information
Where: 1 Central Business District, Shahdara, Delhi; nearest metro station: Shahdara; 26km from airport
Accommodation: 480 rooms: 180 in Club Tower, 300 in Hotel Tower; 355 deluxe rooms, 100 club rooms, 24 suites and 1 presidential suite (Club Tower, 12th floor)
Tariff: Rs 14,000 onwards (deluxe rooms), Rs 16,500 onwards (club rooms), Rs 22,000 onwards (suites), from Rs 1,00,000 (presidential suite), with seasonal fluctuations; taxes extra, breakfast included
Contact: 011-49088888; kempinski.com