Haveli Dharampura & Golden Haveli- Unesco Awarded Boutique Heritage Hotel

“Great experience”

It’s a very beautiful building. I loved the short dance performance during dinner. The food is also great. 5 stars for Rajan!

“Solo trip”

We chose this place because we wanted to experience Old Delhi properly, and it delivered. You step out and you’re right in the middle of it all. Step back in and it’s calm again. That balance made the stay really memorable for us!

“Comfy and Welcoming”

We’ve stayed here before and were happy to see the experience was just as good this time. The rooms are consistently comfortable, and the property still feels warm and welcoming. It’s rare to find a place that maintains its charm over time. Woke up early just to watch the city from the terrace. Tha… more

We’ve stayed here before and were happy to see the experience was just as good this time. The rooms are consistently comfortable, and the property still feels warm and welcoming. It’s rare to find a place that maintains its charm over time. Woke up early just to watch the city from the terrace. That alone made the stay worth it.

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“Unique location, not quite a 5* hotel.”

The most unique thing about This Hotel is its location: I would say it is the only one of this category (plenty of backpacker places) in the middle of the maze of alleyways that is Old Delhi. It is a matter of taste, if you like modern and clean streets this is not the place, if you want to be in t… more

The most unique thing about This Hotel is its location: I would say it is the only one of this category (plenty of backpacker places) in the middle of the maze of alleyways that is Old Delhi. It is a matter of taste, if you like modern and clean streets this is not the place, if you want to be in the middle of real life, it is great. It is less difficult to navigate that you imagine at first glance and we never felt it was dangerous in any way. There are scooters, dogs and the occasional cow, in a way it adds to the charm. The building itself is beautiful and nicely restored. It feels like an oasis in the hustle and bustle of the city. Our room was large and comfortable. As is the case with the structure of many havelis you have to choose between privacy and light: you enter your room through large French doors that are the only source of light: curtains open and people can see you, curtains closed, it's dark. Nothing wrong with that, it's a haveli and that's the way it is, in a way part of the charm. The bathroom was quite small, again, it is an old building, but the fittings felt quite basic and the light was not very nice. A 5* hotel requires more attention than that. The restaurant is ok, but it didn't feel that the meal was that special. Breakfast was also ok, but relatively modest compared with other hotels of the same category. Because of the time of the year (hot) the rooftop terrace we were very keen on was not in use, so it was a disappointment. And then we come to the people. Some of them are very nice, some of them just do their jobs, with barely a smile if at all. This is specially noticeable in a place as service orientated as India. And they are not particularly helpful: We went to the reception to get some change for tips, etc. Something simple, change a 500 rupees note for 5*100. No change, he said he had 3 hundred rupees only. Where can we get it? No idea. We got this kind of change in every other hotel where we stayed. I guess that everybody go periodically to their bank branch to get a certain amount of small notes to make their customers life a little bit easier, not very complicated, it is a 5* hotel, after all. Also, the day we were leaving we had to go at 7:00, so we asked about breakfast the day before. They said breakfast starts at 7:00, we'll get a packed breakfast for you. We got the box the (early) evening before, containing (per person): a carton of not very nice juice, a small sandwich, a pastry and a piece of fruit. Obviously, by the time we had it in the morning everything was less then fresh. If breakfast starts at 7:00 it is not very difficult to put it together when they are preparing the buffet and, at least, it will not have been sitting in the room overnight. But it got worse: when we went downstairs at 6:45 everything was ready and there was a couple already happily having their breakfast. Obviously they got different information that they gave us. We were not expecting a cooked breakfast, but some fresh fruit and pastries would have been welcomed, a simple thing. At least we had a coffee. I All in all, I think there is some space to grow into a real 5* hotel. Quirky is fine, average service is not. Still, if we had our time again we would stay there, simply because the location is unique. But be aware of the shortcomings.

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