| Satisfaction: |   | | Reviews: 10 | Photos: 13 | | Fatehabad Road Taj Nagari Scheme |
 | Agra Trident Agra Reviews | 1 - 10 of 10 |  |
 |
|
 |
 | Trident Agra: Peace & quiet in noisy Agra
Tip Rating:   Satisfaction: |  |
 |
|
 |
When we first booked our stay at the Trident, it was called the Trident Hilton, and was (duh) a Hilton property. A few weeks after I made our reservations via hotels.com (we got a great price that way), it changed hands to the prestigious Oberoi group. It appears that Oberoi has bought Hilton out on their Indian Trident properties as part of a move to increase Oberoi's first-class (versus super deluxe luxury) hotel footprint. The Tridents are an excellent way to do this.
Speaking for a minute about prices, two things. As I say, I booked through hotels.com, and got a great deal. We paid slightly over $100 per night per room for very nice rooms. Now, my understanding is that Oberoi is now pricing these rooms for more like $160 per night - which is still a good deal for so nice of a hotel so close to the Taj Mahal area. I just wanted to clear up any pricing changes from my tip. Bottom line, you'd have to spend twice as much money in Agra to find a "better" hotel. And to tell you the truth, spending such money would really just get you "more expensive" and a little fancier. This is the place you want to stay.
The Trident itself is an oasis of peace, quiet and excellent service. It's so clean and well-maintained that it literally shines, and since so much of the hotel's public space is glass, that is a never-ending job. They're constantly cleaning glass at the Trident.
As for the peace and quiet issue, it's amazing... the hotel is literally at the edge of a very busy and noisy street, Fatehabad Road. (which is also called Taj Road) And yet, as soon as you go pass through the walls into the Trident's grounds, everything is quiet and relaxing. The decor is modern minimalist, done in hues of gold and black. There are many uses of quality marble throughout, in keeping (I guess with Agra's long history of marble work). The rooms themselves are ulta modern... excellent hot water, quality and comfortable beds, and well-functioning air conditioning. And, if you need anything and call the desk, they'll simply say "don't worry sir, we are sending a boy" and BAM - there he is in about two minutes. They'll have a heart attack if you even try to carry your own suitcases or even open a public door for yourself. These guys are all about service. You will enjoy your stay here.
One thing, during my communications directly with the hotel, I had occasion to correspond with and later meet the hotel's general manager, Mr. Vishal Barti. He was most helpful and attentive. If you choose to book with and stay at the Trident, please take a moment to say hello to Vishal. Please tell him that Peter Chamlis from Tallahassee, Florida sent you, and that I said hello. He's a very nice man. BTW, his email address is vishal.bharti@tridenthotels.com. And his other contact information is Tel: +91 562 2235000 | Facsimile : +91 562 2331812.
The Trident is an excellent value in Agra. The rooms are, even at the new Oberoi pricing scheme, incredibly comfortable. If you can, get a pool view room, which look out onto the rock garden/waterfall grounds. Very peaceful.
Speaking of pools, they have a very nice one at the Trident. There always seemed to be a bunch of Germans using it. I stopped by a few times and practiced my German with them.
There is also a business center where you can use the internet terminals for something like 200 Rs/hour. (This is maybe $4) I understand that they also have wireless throughout the hotel, but I didn't have my laptop and therefore didn't use it. I don't know if it's free or not.
There is a good restaurant. The food is well-prepared and very enjoyable... and the service. Top notch, and yet very friendly. This is a place where they wait on your hand and foot, and yet you don't mind. :) We had breakfast buffet there each day, and we enjoyed sampling some of the Indian breakfast items. They also have American and continental style items for your AM enjoyment.
There's also a bar, which serves both drinks and light snacks. One afternoon, we had a couple of beers (drinking them outside in a covered walkway near the pool). We decided to have a little snack, and we chose a real winner. It was spicy-batter fried bekti (a local fish) with a wonderful mint chutney dipping sauce. It was a perfect choice, give it a whirl if you're there.
The doorman (see photo) was such a pleasant guy, we enjoyed chatting with him on every occasion that our paths crossed.
|
 | |  |
|
|
|
| Trident Agra: Agra trip and Trident Hilton
| |
|
|
|
We stayed at Trident-Hilton Dec 22-23, '07 during our Agra trip. It is an excellent hotel and definitely exceeded our expectation. Hotel staff, both front desk and restaurant, were outstanding and could not ask for a better service. We were traveling with a teenage daughter and concerned about the hotel in a strange city.
Tajmahal: words can't describe it. You have to see this massive work of art with your own eyes
to see and feel it. There is nothing man-made that I have seen could be compared. My wife thought Grand canyon is the closest comparison. To give an idea, it is ~200 ft x 200 ft X 150 ft monument made with carved or inlaid white marble only. It is so massive and beautiful that it can humble anyone even without the stones that British stole from Tajmahal.
We went to the main entrance at 6 AM. It was absolutely dark with only a few visitors. Once inside Taj, we waited inside the main gate overlooking Tajmahal, saw sunrise and slow illumination of Taj. It was simply a memorable experience even though the day was somewhat cloudy. We took our time to see Tajmahal, the real mosque on the left side and the fake one on the right, the gardens with wild parrots, as well as the display by the tourism department about other Indian antiquities. We also visited the small Taj museum. After 5 1/2 hours inside, we left around 11:30AM. We had three cameras and two of them developed problems. However, we got some great pictures of Taj sunrise with a little 5 MP Fuji digital camera.
Fatehpur sikri, and Agra Fort were equally mesmerizing.
You need to ignore dust dirt, cows etc. in Agra. In that sense, it is no different that much younger cities like London, Philly, NYC with ghettos, and drunks etc.
We rented two rooms through Hilton website expecting a decent quality. The rooms were of average size but fabulous in design and decoration including marble bathrooms. Staff were extremely helpful and courteous even though hotel has a no tips policy. Restaurant was equally outstanding in terms of Indian and Western food. We had almost all of our meals in this restaurant. However, we ordered room service for breakfasts. We checked local restaurants like Zorba the Buddha and did not find appetizing. We had lunch in another local restaurant and got mild sickness. We also went to Espahan in Oberoi and their staff had a serious attitude problem. Trident restaurant was the best for our needs.
The only negative about Trident Hilton was the travel desk and Narinder. The tour guide he provided was worthless and charged more than the entrance fee, tried to hurry us out of Tajmahal. He wanted to spend only two hours and complained about his fees etc. Finally, I asked him to leave us inside Tajmahal for four hours and meet us in the hotel after lunch for Agra Fort trip. He tried to take us to various shops etc. instead of Tajmahal which was very annoying. We did not expect such behavior from a hotel recommended guide. For Tajmahal, guide is not necessary at all. You only need time and imagination that tour guide can not provide. Theme: HotelPrice: US$40-80 » Currency ConverterComparison: more expensive than averagePhone: 91-562-2331818
|
| | |
|
|
|
| Trident Agra: Agra trip and Trident Hilton
| |
|
|
|
We stayed at Trident-Hilton Dec 22-23, '07 during our Agra trip. It is an excellent hotel and definitely exceeded our expectation. Hotel staff, both front desk and restaurant, were outstanding and could not ask for a better service. We were traveling with a teenage daughter and concerned about the hotel in a strange city. It is definitely a five star Hilton. It made our Agra trip very comfortable and memorable.
Tajmahal: words can't describe it. You have to see this massive work of art with your own eyes
to see and feel it. There is nothing man-made that I have seen could be compared. My wife thought Grand canyon is the closest comparison. To give an idea, it is ~200 ft x 200 ft X 150 ft monument made with carved or inlaid white marble only. It is so massive and beautiful that it can humble anyone even without the stones that British stole from Tajmahal.
We went to the main entrance at 6 AM. It was absolutely dark with only a few visitors. Once inside Taj, we waited inside the main gate overlooking Tajmahal, saw sunrise and slow illumination of Taj. It was simply a memorable experience even though the day was somewhat cloudy. We took our time to see Tajmahal, the real mosque on the left side and the fake one on the right, the gardens with wild parrots, as well as the display by the tourism department about other Indian antiquities. We also visited the small Taj museum. After 5 1/2 hours inside, we left around 11:30AM. We had three cameras and two of them developed problems. However, we got some great pictures of Taj sunrise with a little 5 MP Fuji digital camera.
Fatehpur sikri, and Agra Fort were equally mesmerizing.
You need to ignore dust dirt, cows etc. in Agra. In that sense, it is no different that much younger cities like London, Philly, NYC with ghettos, and drunks etc.
We rented two rooms through Hilton website expecting a decent quality. The rooms were of average size but fabulous in design and decoration including marble bathrooms. Staff were extremely helpful and courteous even though hotel has a no tips policy. Restaurant was equally outstanding in terms of Indian and Western food. We had almost all of our meals in this restaurant. However, we ordered room service for breakfasts. We checked local restaurants like Zorba the Buddha and did not find appetizing. We had lunch in another local restaurant and got mild sickness. We also went to Espahan in Oberoi and their staff had a serious attitude problem. Trident restaurant was the best for our needs.
The only negative about Trident Hilton was the travel desk and Narinder. The tour guide he provided was worthless and charged more than the entrance fee, tried to hurry us out of Tajmahal. He wanted to spend only two hours and complained about his fees etc. Finally, I asked him to leave us inside Tajmahal for four hours and meet us in the hotel after lunch for Agra Fort trip. He tried to take us to various shops etc. instead of Tajmahal which was very annoying. We did not expect such behavior from a hotel recommended guide. For Tajmahal, guide is not necessary at all. You only need time and imagination that tour guide can not provide. Theme: HotelPrice: US$40-80 » Currency ConverterComparison: more expensive than averagePhone: 91-562-2331818
|
| | |
|
|
|
| Trident Agra: Agra trip and Trident Hilton
| |
|
|
|
We stayed at Trident-Hilton Dec 22-23, '07 during our Agra trip. It is an excellent hotel and definitely exceeded our expectation. Hotel staff, both front desk and restaurant, were outstanding and could not ask for a better service. We were traveling with a teenage daughter and concerned about the hotel in a strange city. It is definitely a five star Hilton. It made our Agra trip very comfortable and memorable.
Tajmahal: words can't describe it. You have to see this massive work of art with your own eyes to see and feel it. There is nothing man-made that I have seen could be compared. My wife thought Grand canyon is the closest comparison. To give an idea, it is ~200 ft x 200 ft X 150 ft monument made with carved or inlaid white marble only. It is so massive and beautiful that it can humble anyone even without the stones that British stole from Tajmahal.
We went to the main entrance at 6 AM. It was absolutely dark with only a few visitors. Once inside Taj, we waited inside the main gate overlooking Tajmahal, saw sunrise and slow illumination of Taj. It was simply a memorable experience even though the day was somewhat cloudy. We took our time to see Tajmahal, the real mosque on the left side and the fake one on the right, the gardens with wild parrots, as well as the display by the tourism department about other Indian antiquities. We also visited the small Taj museum. After 5 1/2 hours inside, we left around 11:30AM. We had three cameras and two of them developed problems. However, we got some great pictures of Taj sunrise with a little 5 MP Fuji digital camera.
Fatehpur sikri, and Agra Fort were equally mesmerizing.
You need to ignore dust dirt, cows etc. in Agra. In that sense, it is no different that much younger cities like London, Philly, NYC with ghettos, and drunks etc.
We rented two rooms through Hilton website expecting a decent quality. The rooms were of average size but fabulous in design and decoration including marble bathrooms. Staff were extremely helpful and courteous even though hotel has a no tips policy. Restaurant was equally outstanding in terms of Indian and Western food. We had almost all of our meals in this restaurant. However, we ordered room service for breakfasts. We checked local restaurants like Zorba the Buddha and did not find appetizing. We had lunch in another local restaurant and got mild sickness. We also went to Espahan in Oberoi and their staff had a serious attitude problem. Trident restaurant was the best for our needs.
The only negative about Trident Hilton was the travel desk and Narinder. The tour guide he provided was worthless and charged more than the entrance fee, tried to hurry us out of Tajmahal. He wanted to spend only two hours and complained about his fees etc. Finally, I asked him to leave us inside Tajmahal for four hours and meet us in the hotel after lunch for Agra Fort trip. He tried to take us to various shops etc. instead of Tajmahal which was very annoying. We did not expect such behavior from a hotel recommended guide. For Tajmahal, guide is not necessary at all. You only need time and imagination that tour guide can not provide. Theme: HotelPrice: US$40-80 » Currency ConverterComparison: more expensive than averagePhone: 91-562-2331818
|
| | |
 | 1 |  |
|
|
