The Elgin Fairlawn Kolkata

“A gem of a hotel in wonderful Calcutta”

Such a gem of a hotel in wonderful Calcutta ! Full of old antiques, photos and vintage charm- an absolutely brilliant place to stay away from all the madness of this incredible city . Lovely to sit on the balcony with a cold beer,

“Old World Charm -- A Real Delight!”

We loved our stay at the Elgin Fairlawn Hotel because in addition to its excellent location, the management maintained the beautiful colonial heritage aesthetic throughout the hotel, which is very hard to find these days. It's purely a matter of taste, but I found the aging paint on the walls to be… more

We loved our stay at the Elgin Fairlawn Hotel because in addition to its excellent location, the management maintained the beautiful colonial heritage aesthetic throughout the hotel, which is very hard to find these days. It's purely a matter of taste, but I found the aging paint on the walls to be authentic and charming and I appreciated that the owners consciously made the choice to keep most of the decor authentic to the period, and how it was when Violet owned the hotel back in the day. (I first saw The Fairlawn in 2005 and it was a delight -- everything was painted 1930s green!) We stayed in two different rooms on the ground floor, which was a less than ideal situation. The first night was spent in the back room without any windows. Not good. The rest of our stay was just off the dining room with lovely windows and good light and we were much happier. The only serious complaint was that when we wanted to nap or retire early we heard the dining room loudspeaker playing music right outside our bedroom door because the speaker was literally hung above our door. The music selection was nice, but the real problem (so easy to fix!) was that the hotel was using a free streaming service which meant that every ten minutes we had to hear commercials piped through the hotel. A small monthly fee to pay for the subscription would stop that unwelcome commercial interlude, which was a true invasion into the serenity of the moment. Also, if the volume could be turned down after 8pm, that would be ideal as well. The breakfast was ample, the staff -- especially Dabashish at the front desk -- was lovely, and we enjoyed hanging out on the upstairs terrace. In all, we would happily return to the Fairlawn and encourage you to stay there as well. Just try to get a room upstairs if you can.

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“Nice old gem, but could be better”

Heritage building with old English charm. That’s the reason I chose it. Handy location, the room & bathroom was very large. Luckily we had easy access to the large balcony as well. But the hotel needs a lot of repairs, painting & full makeover. Food was great, restaurant staff were nice, but some … more

Heritage building with old English charm. That’s the reason I chose it. Handy location, the room & bathroom was very large. Luckily we had easy access to the large balcony as well. But the hotel needs a lot of repairs, painting & full makeover. Food was great, restaurant staff were nice, but some restaurant hands lacked common training of bringing food to the room without or proper cutleries. We had to ask for it. The reception staff were very friendly,polite and helpful.

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