The first thing that hits you about Delhi is the noise, followed swiftly by the explosion of colours and smells that engulf you at every turn. The Indian capital truly is a riot for the senses.
Arriving in this sprawling city, our taxi weaves across traffic-rammed roads where cars, tuk-tuks, rickshaws, motorcycles, buses, pedestrians and the odd cow jostle for space while horns blare. As our driver tells us: “To drive in Delhi, you need two things. Good brakes and good luck.”
To stay in Delhi, you also need a good hotel where you can regroup before venturing once more into the chaotic whirl of life outside. Fortunately, The Park New Delhi offers just such a haven, and far more besides.
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The Park New Delhi is centrally located in Connaught Place, the city’s cultural and consumer hub, and overlooks the 18th century observatory Jantar Mantar.
New Delhi Railway Station is a five-minute drive away, while the Mughal-era walled district of Old Delhi, to the northeast, is about 20 minutes by car or using the excellent Delhi Metro.
The hotel
The Park New Delhi is owned and run by India’s so-called first lady of boutique hotels Priya Paul. After inheriting three hotels from her father at the age of 24, Paul has expanded The Park chain to eight properties across India, including the recently opened Baga River Goa. Two more are due to open by the end of year, which also marks the group’s 50th anniversary.
That’s impressive by any standards, and my admiration grows after arriving at The Park New Delhi, a gently curving, minimalistic white building spanning ten storeys. Paul’s passion for contemporary art and design is evident in the hotel’s decor, which, following a total refurbishment in 2010, is inspired by the five holy elements of earth, water, fire, air and space.
The lobby sets the tone: an airy white space with a white-glass outer wall and curved sculptural sofas, rugs and lighting in hot pink, a celebratory colour in India.
Branching off to the right, the hotel’s Fire restaurant is lit up by muted shades of red and yellow, with limestone flooring, long-stemmed light fixtures and leather furnishings. On the other side of the lobby, sister restaurant Mist is a calming white space accented by blue tones and water-inspired design features.
Upstairs, The Park New Delhi’s 220 guestrooms feature dark-timbered floors and contrasting pastel accents, with all the mod cons expected of a five-star establishment, and en-suite marble bathrooms.
Admittedly, there are a few signs of wear and tear, but that is more than compensated for by the wonderfully welcoming staff (try reaching your room without at least one greeting of “namaste” from a smiling hotel employee).
The chain’s “anything but ordinary” slogan is already more than justified, then, but there’s more. For starters, you could enjoy some time out at the in-house Aura spa, offering a range of beauty and well-being treatments including a signature massage that will unknot the tightest of muscles.
Workout fans should also appreciate Aura’s well-equipped gym, where you can build up a sweat before cooling off with a few laps in the hotel’s outdoor pool.
A bit of exercise may seem like a particularly good idea given the many culinary delights on offer here...
Wining and dining
Like most Indian people, Delhiites love food and entertaining, so guests eat well, often and a lot. Like, A LOT.
In a city famed for its food, you’ll find few menus offering a more inspiring selection of dishes than that at The Park New Delhi’s Fire. Curated by enthusiastic executive chef Abhishek Basu, the award-winning organic restaurant serves seasonal menus of dishes based on traditional recipes from across India, with highlights including the signature tawa chicken.
My dining companions and I were especially impressed by a perfectly spiced daal in the style of those served at dhabas, or roadside eateries, and a salad of rocket and curry leaves with caramelised walnuts and “Father Michael’s burrata cheese” – a creamy, buffalo milk variety delivered fresh from a cheese-making monastery in Bangalore.
More than 80% of the ingredients used at Fire are organic, and all are sourced from eco-friendly suppliers, some of whom have stalls at a farmers’ market held in the hotel courtyard every Sunday.
In the true spirit of recycling, Basu and his team also grow their own produce on the terraces, in brightly painted bathtubs left over from a former refurb. How many other hotels give guests the chance to watch their dinner grow?
Fire is a tough act to follow, but the hotel’s Mist restaurant holds its own. Serving Asian, Italian and Mediterranean cuisine all day, Mist offers a more low-key atmosphere and an unmissable breakfast buffet, as well as a stickily sinful selection of confectionery and cakes.
Mist 24-hour restaurant
There is more temptation of the liquid variety to be be found at Agni, the hotel bar, where a resident DJ entertains guests as they sip cocktails created by expert mixologists. The good times continue out at the Aqua poolside bar, which also serves Mediterranean and barbecue dishes to help soak up the damage.
If you’re feeling up to it, you can wake the following day to a Champagne breakfast in bed, one of the many options on The Park New Delhi’s in-room dining menu.
Later risers – and indeed, everyone else – should enjoy The Park Picnic experience, with a choice of menus broadly divided into Indian, Asian and Italian themes, as well as a children’s option. Inspired by childhood memories, each picnic is delivered to your room in colourful tiffin carriers on decorated trolleys, to enjoy in bed, the bath, or wherever else you fancy. If only all packed lunches were this decadent.
What to do in Delhi
Tempting as it may be to lounge around at the hotel, the city outside offers an inexhaustible (if exhausting) supply of sights and experiences.
With a population of around 19 million, Delhi has been called a melting pot of cultures, ethnicities and religions. New meets old in a historic city devoted to modern technology, and fabulous wealth exists alongside abject poverty.
Few spots on any tourist trail can be as inspiring as the nearby Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, a marble Sikh temple with golden domes and an enormous courtyard where, in a bid to combat that poverty, volunteers serve free food to around 10,000 people every day, irrespective of caste, creed and religion. Our guide tells us about two European tourists who, having lost their passports, recently stayed there for a month.
Just a short walk away is Hanuman Mandir, which is one of India’s oldest temples dedicated to Hindu god Hanuman. Worshippers of fashion should also check out the bangle market behind the temple, with rows of stalls selling a rainbow array of traditional bracelets.
The late-night Janpath Market, across the road from The Park New Delhi, is another must for shopping fans, who can buy clothes, accessories and knickknacks for prices that will seem obscenely cheap to Westerners.
Spice seller in Old Delhi (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)
The shopping opportunities continue in Old Delhi, with long rows of ramshackle shops devoted to single types of product, from shoes to spectacles. Foodies should also head to Khari Baoli street, where Asia’s largest spice market presents a sinus-searing blast of smells that leaves vendors and visitors alike sneezing.
Old Delhi’s narrow, winding streets have far more to offer than just shopping, though. Every turn reveals a fresh layer of history, dating back to the city’s foundation in the 17th century, when it went by the name Shahjahanabad.
Down one inauspicious-looking lane we stumble across the heritage site Mirza Ghalib ki Haveli, a small house with an arched brick entrance that was once home to the 18th century Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib. Often referred to as India’s Shakespeare, Ghalib is still revered among Delhiites, who no doubt agree with his famous verse: “The world is the body, Delhi is its soul.”
Take a tour on a rickshaw to see more of the district’s soul-lifting sights, including the ancient Chandni Chowk (Moonlight Square) bazaar, the vast Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque), and the truly enormous Red Fort, former hub of the Mughal Empire.
Jama Masjid (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
Of course, no Delhi excursion is complete without lots of lovely food. Locals stop for snacks at Natraj, a street food outlet with a diner-style cafe upstairs that is acclaimed for its aloo tikka fried patties and its dahi bhalla – a dish of lentil dumplings with yoghurt and chutneys that tastes better than it sounds.
Whatever and wherever else you eat, make time for a meal at Old Delhi institute Karim’s, a family-run restaurant that has been serving up its celebrated kebabs and meaty curries since 1913. Superb food aside – and it really is – it’s worth a visit simply to watch the frenetic scenes in the open-sided kitchen: waiters rush in and out as cooks stir huge pots of stews and grill sizzling kebabs while a two-man tag team press and flip dough to make fluffy roti bread.
It’s a delicious way to end the day before heading back to The Park New Delhi, to digest the sights and sounds of the city at your leisure.
Price and booking
Rooms from £95 per night, based on two sharing a Deluxe Double Room on a b&b basis, excluding tax. For more information, see theparkhotels.com.
The Park New Delhi, 15 Parliament Street, Delhi 110001, India
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Kari Wilkin is The Week Digital’s global managing editor. She joined the UK site as production editor in 2017, after moving across from The Week magazine. Her career as a journalist began as a sub-editor at newspapers including The Sun, Metro, the Daily Star and News of the World, followed by stints at Elle and Asda Magazine. She also helped to launch the UK edition of Women’s Health magazine, as chief sub-editor with a sideline in writing; has penned travel and lifestyle articles for titles including The Telegraph and The Sun; and is a contributor on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast.
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