[kavindra]

We are looking for a hotel for spending the night on our 11 PM arrival into Delhi. Since we plan to take a train in the early afternoon the next day, I decided to go for Paharganj and booked Hotel Prince Polonia (Rs. 1200) recommended by Kullukid. Also e-mailed Hotel Bright on account of LP description, but got no reply from them.  Now I need two small pieces of advice:

• The hotel is asking Rs. 550 for airport pickup. I think that's a rather large markup, so am inclined to decline it. That said, I am not up-to-date on the latest taxi fares from airport to this area. Is their number roughly in range?
  
• The map for the hotel on the website seems inadequate to help the taxi driver late at night in finding the place. Any advice or past experience that might be helpful? I am also hoping KK might reply as he seemed to have used this hotel multiple times.
  
• Finally, are there other hotel options we should be looking at?

Thank you very much.

[kullukid]

Hi Kav, it's located just off Paharganj, but at the far end away from the rail station. If you tell the taxi driver to enter Paharganj from the Ramakrishna Mission end then take 1st left just after The Metropolis hotel & restaurant (one of the best rooftop restaurants in Paharganj) then 1st right at the Imperial cinema Polonia is about 100yards on the left.

Obviously if you take a airport collection they will know where they are going, however RS550 is a bit steep they were charging Rs400 a yr a go, try emailing them back & say you were told it should be RS400 & considering you are booking the room as well can they reduce the taxi. If you take a prepaid cab from the correct booth in the airport it should be around RS220, but be careful the dodgy booth is next to it & people arriving on night flights tend to get a tour through the backstreets of Delhi & end up at some dodgy hotel which isn't the one they asked to be taken to.

Another option in that area would be the Metropolis, but they charge around RS2000 & i don't think the rooms are as nice or as quiet. When are you going? KK

[priya]

Kavindra - I arrived in Delhi late evening with no idea where I was going.  After speaking to the guesthouse/hotel reservation counter at the airport I was allocated a taxi who proceeded to tell me the guesthouse had closed down....on the way to the guesthouse. When I suggested another guesthouse, that one was full. (I guess I used the dodgy booth at the airport) I eventually ended up at Paying Master Guesthouse.....after a lot of insistence and hassling.  If it hadn't been so late, and being on my own, I would've put up more of a fight.
I could have saved myself a lot of angst if I'd organized my accommodation beforehand, as well as an airport pickup.  As KK has mentioned, arriving on a late night flight isn't fun, and you're open to all sorts of scams.  If I'd known then what I know now.........

(OT....I saw parts of Kolkata that I doubt even the locals know about..another late night arrival...three hours, if I remember correctly, for the driver to get me to my hotel. Now that was an experience I wont forget - ever - but I survived and would do it again, given half the chance )

[kavindra]

Thanks a lot for your quick responses.

Priya - I can simply imagine the hassle you went through. A couple of times I have myself experienced this type of situation - and that's why I asked for further advice on directions. In my two experiences, the taxi driver was not trying to scam us as much as he was genuinely lost with not many options to ask for directions late at night. And - your normal street dweller is not well informed about hotel locations during the day, let alone past midnight.

KK - Thanks a lot for the directions. Unfortunately I am not familiar with Paharganj, so it might still be some adventure. However, I am hoping that with your direction and the RK Mission as the landmark, we ought to be get in the neighborhood. Is it reasonable to assume that the left you refer to at RKM is from the Panchkuian road approaching RKM? The Metropolis hotel landmark would help a great deal as well.

Btw, we are arriving on Dec 11th. We first head to Hardwar  to see my parents and then on to Kumaun for a large part of of our trip.

Thanks again.