Radisson has a large portfolio of over 100 operating hotels in India. Not all hotels are good, which is understandable. However, a hotel like Radisson Blu Ahmedabad is a stark contrast to what the Radisson brand stands for. You may have had an idea having read the title how this review is going to turn out to be. Radisson Blu Ahmedabad is one of the worst “five-star” hotels I have stayed at in my life, not just for one reason but plenty of them. Let’s get into the review.
Radisson Blu Ahmedbadad – Booking
I am a Radisson Rewards member. It’s not the greatest loyalty program out there, but I find it to be quite rewarding at times, given just how easy it is to climb your way up to the highest tier – VIP. At the time of booking my stay at Radisson Blu Ahmedabad, I was at the “Premium” level of the loyalty program. This gave me a pretty significant discount (around 30%) on the base rate. The final rate was INR 4264 ($51 approximately). Now, for a “five-star” hotel (as the hotel likes to market itself), I know this is a very reasonable rate, at least for hotel prices in Ahmedabad. But I don’t think this hotel represents a good value either.
I have a habit of always checking the guest rating of a hotel on Booking.com, and anything below 8 is a no-go for me, unless it is a very good deal or the location is very convenient. Radisson had a rating of 8.2, not that great but it did not deter me from making a booking. Originally, we had booked a stay for two nights, but seeing the state of the hotel made me cut-short my stay to one night.
Location and Check-in Experience
Radisson Blu Ahmedabad enjoys a convenient location in the Ambavadi area of the city. The hotel is located on CG road, one of the busiest and most happening spots in the city. The city airport is a 20-minute drive away while attractions like Kankaria Lake and Gandhi Ashram are nearby.
We arrived at the hotel around 1800 hours on the day of check-in. The check-in agent was just “doing her job”. She neither had a smile on her face nor was she welcoming. I mentioned to her that I am a Radisson Rewards Premium member and requested her to upgrade to the next category. She nodded and gave us the keys to our rooms (we had booked two rooms) after completing all the formalities.
The lobby has a check-in area on one side and a bakery shop called “The Cake Place” on another. The centre-piece is an indoor waterfall.
There are four elevators to take you to the upper floors. I think I took two different elevators on different occasions. I am not kidding but the elevators felt like they were kept to transport to someplace else. They felt shabby and the lighting was also not proper. Plus, I always feared I would get stuck in one of them, seeing the condition of them.
The Rooms
I would say the hotel’s interior overall is well-maintained. Although the hotel opened in 2012, the interior takes you back to 1990s. The rooms is where the main problem lies. Now, in my opinion, if a hotel has average rooms but the facilities are good along with the staff, I consider that hotel to be average. However, when a hotel has below-average rooms with a dated interior and some of the staff have a “couldn’t care less” attitude, there’s a serious problem. Radisson Blu Ahmedabad falls in the latter category.
I had booked two Superior rooms. Although I had requested for upgrading both the rooms while checking-in, they weren’t. I knew that they had some empty Business Class rooms (the next category) but I did not mind that the rooms weren’t upgraded.
The Superior rooms are a normal 31 square meters (334 square feet) in size. The first room we went in had a very weird smell, almost like the smell you generally get in hospitals. If that was not all, the room was not at all in a good condition. The bathroom was large enough, but all the amenities had certainly seen better days. The sink was small and the water faucet’s handles were unlike anything I have seen before. They were dirty and felt like they hadn’t been cleaned since months. The privacy curtain’s condition was not good either. I will let these pictures speak for themselves.
The glass on which the sink was present had water marks everywhere. The shower and the WC were the only “good” things in the bathroom. The toiletries were the usual Radisson Blu-branded ones.
In the second room, the sink was not on glass but on a proper marble piece, which was in a good condition.
Both the rooms’ beds were average and nothing great. There was a working desk with a single power outlet. Adjacent to the working desk was a chair with an ottoman.
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The minibar was as usual empty. There were two glass water bottles (kudos for that!) along with an electric kettle and the usual tea and coffee sachets.
Since we had gotten two differently-styled rooms, I went back to the reception to ask for a better room. The same agent who checked us in was present. I told her we were given two very-different rooms and asked her when this hotel opened, seeing the state of the rooms. She replied “2012”. She said that all other rooms are occupied, and that only one other room is available in this category but on a different floor. I told her that wasn’t a problem as long as the room’s condition was nice. She added that the rooms on the first two floors were getting renovated at the time.
I went to checkout the new room, only to realize that it was an exact replica of the earlier room, with the only difference being that it was on a different floor. At this point of time, we all were tired and agreed to stay in the rooms which were offered.
We then went for dinner at a nearby restaurant and decided to cut-short our stay for a total of one night only. Again, the same agent was present and we told her about the state of rooms and that we did not expect this from a Radisson Blu. She asked whether she could transfer us to a different room the next day. We declined the offer, thinking there was no point of staying there anymore. She made changes to our reservation and told that we would only have to pay for one night.
Radisson Blu Ahmedabad – Dining
There are two restaurants and a lobby cafe present at this hotel. One of the restaurants is called “Timpani”, which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner whereas the other is named “The Great Kabab Factory”, a specialty restaurant serving Indian and Mughlai cuisine.
Breakfast is served daily at Timpani. The breakfast experience also was average. While it had all the usuals ranging from cereals to hot dishes and desserts, the food itself was not that good. Plus, the restaurant kind of felt like it was a “big hall” rather than a restaurant. In addition to the buffet, Dosa (a South Indian dish) and eggs could be ordered from the live station.
Radisson Blu Ahmedabad – Facilities
Facilities at the hotel include an outdoor swimming pool, a fitness centre, a spa and various event spaces. I tried to visit the swimming pool but the door leading to it was locked. If the pool was not operational, the hotel hadn’t communicated the same prior to our stay or even while checking in. I will attach the standard pictures of the facilities so that you know what to expect.
The Wi-Fi at the hotel was very slow. I did a speedtest and the download speed came out to be 1.06 MBPS and upload speed turned out to be 1.89 MBPS.
Service
In my opinion, the service at any hotel can make or break an experience. A 4-star hotel with good service will still be important to me rather than a 5-star hotel with a lackluster service. Radisson Blu Ahmedabad falls under the latter.
I seriously am not able to gather my thoughts as to how this hotel branded as a Radisson Blu and not a standard Radisson or any other lower category brand. The check-in agent was not at all warm and welcoming. As aforementioned, I told her at the time of check-in that since I am a Premium member, it would be great if she could upgrade us to the next category as it is subject to availability. She nodded but did nothing.
The next morning, while checking-out, a different staff member was present. She was warm and inviting. She noticed that we had cut-short our stay and asked us why. We told her that we were not satisfied with the rooms, to which she asked whether we would like to continue our stay. She offered us a upgrade to Business Class rooms, to which we politely declined.
These two interactions with different agents is what I feel the service across the board at this hotel is like.
Thoughts and IH score
Radisson Blu Ahmedabad is clearly a business hotel, focused on maximizing turnovers and the majority of the guests were business people too. However, it does not mean that you provide a greater importance to quantity over quality.
The rooms, the service, the amenities, the breakfast, all of them were poor. In December 2022, we stayed at Radisson Blu Dharamshala (review coming soon) and that hotel made me believe that international hospitality chains can also provide the same great experience that the likes of Leela and Oberoi provide. I did not have high expectations for the Radisson Blu in Ahmedabad. I know that urban hotels focused on turnover and resort properties such as the one in Dharamshala target different guests and they position themselves differently. However, when you are operating under a brand such as Radisson Blu, you can’t compromise on quality everywhere and try to cut costs in whatever way possible.
The Radisson Blu in Ahmedabad is currently under renovation. However, I don’t know if it’s a partial renovation or a full one. I think that this hotel should take a step back, evaluate the business and try to position themselves in a way where they can deliver some value to the guests while also not dropping the standards of Radisson Blu.
If you are planning to stay at Radisson Blu Ahmedabad, I recommend you not to book your stay at this property, at least until the renovations are over.
- Location: 16/20
- Accommodations: 08/20
- Food: 12/20
- Facilities: 10/20
- Service: 10/20
Overall: 56 out of 100
Featured image by Ishan Haria
All the other images by Ishan Haria unless mentioned otherwise
Have you stayed at Radisson Blu Ahmedabad? If yes, how was your experience? Let me know in the comments section below.
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