The Manor - New Delhi

I didn’t stay at the hotel, but what I saw and walked through was fantastic. It’s a hidden gem in South West Delhi near NFC, with the property maintained like a heritage site. The structure is beautiful, and the manicured lawns, hedges, and garden lights look great. At night it has the feel of a quaint New York club. There are three restaurants behind it, like small, cute cafes with bakery items, plus a Japanese restaurant. Prices are a tad high, and your wallet can easily take an unrepairable hit, but the ambience and the place are enjoyable. Well done to the Management!

I wanted to like The Manor Hotel, since it’s a beautiful property with a lot of potential. My usual hotel was fully booked, so I booked here instead. The owner himself is genuinely lovely, but the managing staff and internal communication left a lot to be desired. The website wouldn’t let me finish a reservation, so the hotel kindly arranged it directly by email and included a half-day late check-out. But their direct rate was higher than the price on their own website, and they couldn’t honour the online price. I’d also asked for a taxi pickup in that same email thread, but it was missed and nobody followed up. I became ill with food poisoning after breakfast at the hotel. My early check-out the next day was because my plans had changed, but I raised the illness with the owner to ask whether they could refund the unused night. He was very kind and initially agreed. Afterwards, though, the hotel offered only a half-day refund, which felt inconsistent in the circumstances. I’d hesitate to eat breakfast there again after this. With stronger management, more consistent pricing, and better follow-through on guest requests, the hotel could be excellent.

The place itself is fine, but it’s tucked a little too far inside Friends Colony. It can be hard to get an Ola, Uber, or Rapido from there. We couldn’t find one when we needed to go to the airport, so we tried an auto instead. We had to walk half a kilometre to find one, and then to reach a metro station at least for getting to the airport.

The breakfast was exactly the same each day, with very little variety, and the service didn’t meet our expectations. The room was noisy, mainly due to the nearby railway track, and soundproof doors might have reduced the disturbance. Brown water came out of the taps, which raised concerns for us about water safety. On our last day there was no water supply. When we asked, we were simply told it was “under maintenance,” which didn’t feel like enough of an explanation for guests.