Grand Continent Secunderabad A Sarovar Portico

This was the worst of the three events I’ve hosted at this hotel, because of the current management and the decorator. 3 May 2026, dinner. Management was very insistent that we use their in-house decorator, Moin. They said there’d be an extra charge if we brought someone from outside, and kept saying, “agar idar udar keela laga diye to hume paise lagana padega”. Manish from management gave me Moin’s number. Moin was expensive and arrogant from the start. We chose a design like the one from our event exactly two years earlier. He quoted more than double what I’d paid then. We negotiated to an amount, taking inflation and rising costs into account, and paid an advance. On the day, he made the backdrop 6 feet shorter and tried to cover our maroon and gold decor with bright pink cloth, 3ft on each side of the stage. It looked very bad. I spotted it before the event and made him remove it. Manish said the pink cloth and some green and white balloons added to my decor were leftovers from the afternoon program. I had those balloons taken out too, since the bright green looked bad and flashy against the maroon and gold. There was nothing I could do about the backdrop being 6ft short. That isn’t a small difference, the whole look of the stage was compromised. The staff told us the lift to the 6th floor event space wasn’t working. They had us and all our guests take the lift to the 5th floor, then use the stairs to reach the 6th. This was a huge event and we had guests aged 80 and over. One guest who had just turned 90 left after hearing about the lift. Another guest used a walker. Officers also attended. Staff said we could use the service lift only for people in need, but nobody was there to guide those guests to it. The AC seemed fine when I checked the decor with 10 people in the room. But with more than 100 people in the hall, it simply wasn’t working. I felt the stuffy air as we entered and went from the door to the stage. The heat at the stage was on another level, and even waterproof makeup didn’t last 15 minutes. The AC in the room they gave us to freshen up and change also didn’t work, even after a technician came and “repaired” it twice. I told staff three times myself and sent word from the stage through others many times to get it fixed. Nothing was done. Several guests said there was only one person managing valet parking, so they waited a long time. Some had to circle around clock tower because traffic was building up near the entrance, and a few had to park their own cars in the cellar. When we arrived early that evening, nobody was there to help with our car. Luckily there was a free spot, so we parked in front of the entrance. Nobody helped with our luggage from the car to the room either. More details on audio, mikes, stage sofa, food, and service are in the photos section due to the word limit. They asked us to pay in full for the number of plates we’d chosen two days before the event, and sadly we did. After such a horrible experience, they stayed around us in the lobby and then by our car asking for a tip. Why weren’t they there helping us in the hall when we needed it? If they had been, they would have been tipped generously. Extremely bad staff and in-house decorator. Avoid hosting an event here. An event comes once in a lifetime, and experiences this bad leave you feeling awful and spoil your reputation with your guests. Pics: blue decor, expected size vs maroon, delivered.

The location is a bit far from Hyderabad’s main attractions, and traffic in the surrounding area can be heavy. Still, the hotel itself was truly impressive. The rooms were spacious, tidy, and hygienic, with very comfortable beds. All the food was delicious, and everything was kept in good order and thoughtfully arranged.

The stay was pleasant, but reception staff need to understand customers better. My room card lock deactivated every day, so I had to go to the desk each time to get it activated again. Nobody told me this would happen, even though I passed the reception every day. The staff took time to reactivate it and weren’t apologetic, wasting my time. When I asked why it kept happening, they didn’t give a good answer.

The conference hall, sound system, and meeting arrangements were handled well, and the hotel staff were readily available and supportive. The food was below average: the sandwich was just slices of bread, though it tasted good, the coffee was pathetic, and lunch was okay.