I recently had a 3 night stay here and found the hotel rather nice. However, at $400 a night, it's definitely not a great value. The thing I found with India is that you either pay $40 and stay in a cesspit, or you plump for a hotel at upwards of $400 and get something nice but not nearly as outstanding as what you'd expect for the price. That aside, the staff (especially the the doormen) were so pleasant, welcoming and helpful. The hotel kind of had a faded imperial glory vibe to it, which gave it lots of charm and character. I found the beds way too hard, but the room was good overall and the breakfast buffet was enjoyable also. One problem (which I encountered a lot in Asia!) is that there was no ATM in the hotel. I would probably stay here again, just because of the warm and welcoming staff.

I booked this hotel via a travel agent and pre-paid for a club room. I also pre-paid for transport to the hotel from the airport and back. The first problem was that the transport never arrived at the airport and when I called the hotel they informed me that they had not received details of my flight arrival. I found out later that this was not true. I have been to India a few times before which was fortunate as if this had been my first visit as a solo female traveller it would have been quite daunting to make my way to the hotel at 11pm on my own. When I arrived I was allocated a room that I discovered the following day was not a club room. I got onto the travel agent who contacted the hotel and were informed that I had definitely been allocated a club room. Again, not true. I was moved into a club room (right next to the lift, very noisy). Considering this was supposed to be 5 star luxury hotel it failed on several counts. I have stayed in several luxury 5 star hotels in India and this was well short of the mark. The air conditioning was freezing (even if turned up to 30C), the television had a terrible picture and none of the channels matched with the channel guide, the shower had a random spray and the hairdryer was broken. The staff were rude and unhelpful which was probably the worst thing. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone who wanted true 5 star luxury - stay at the ITC Sheraton, the Taj or the Oberoi. There is also now a nice looking Crowne Plaza in Gurgaon which is handy for the business district in New Delhi and near the airport. This hotel should reduce it's exorbitant prices and call itself a 4 star hotel, which is what it is.

I was able to get a good rate for this hotel via Expedia (at a big discount from the rack rate and the rate I was quoted by a travel agency), and it proved to be a very nice choice. The check-in process went quite smoothly and quickly. My room was spotlessly clean and very comfortable, and it overlooked the swimming pool.

The staff was very courteous and efficient, and I enjoyed the breakfast in the cafe.

There are a few things, though, that prevent me from giving this hotel an "excellent" rating.

First, there was no room service menu in the room. Now this turned out not to be a huge issue for me as I decided to go out for my meals, but the menu should have been there.

Second, when I checked out the hotel didn't have enough rupees to give me change. By the time I stayed at the Metropolitan I had encountered the change issue numerous times, but I expect an establishment of this caliber to absorb the 2 or 3 rupee difference rather than shortchange me. When I protested that they were cheating me, they did absorb the difference, but I don't think I should have had to argue the point.

Third, and most seriously, during my stay there was construction work being done on the pool. This didn't bother me in and of itself as I had no plans to take a dip during my stay. However, the construction was going on as late as 11:30 at night. To the hotel's credit, when I called at 11:30 and complained, the noise stopped within 10 minutes. But again, this should not have been necessary. And besides that, they started up again before 8 the next morning.

Overall, though, my stay was pleasant, and I would stay here again.

One tip: Metropolitan is the new name of the hotel. It was formerly called the Nikko, and that is the name taxi and tuk-tuk drivers are familiar with.

We stayed at the Metropolitan Hotel New Delhi on two occasions in November 2007. The first was an overnight prior to flying to Kathmandu for a few days. I was part of a group of friends and altogether we had 7 rooms. My first night's room was fine and my only criticism was the incredibly long time it took to check in and check out. Others in our group asked to be moved that night due to a hotel wedding that was still going strong at 11PM but my room was quiet. Another reported problems with their room where the toilet flush button fell off the wall and where the "closet" in the bathroom was clearly under construction with only a primer coat of paint and looked awful. When we returned some four days later I got assigned that room! The walls were freshly painted and smelled. There was no art on the walls and the room was clearly in the process of a remodel but was being rented anyway. The closet was still incomplete and the toilet flush button fell off the wall the first time I pushed it. I attempted to use the room safe and found it on a bottom shelf of a cabinet freely movable, i.e. not hooked up to anything, not anchored and with no directions. I assumed it was not working and when I reported all of these problems someone came to the room and showed me how to use the safe--but not how to keep someone from simply carrying it out of the room. Someone fixed the toilet flush button that should have been fixed when reported by the earlier occupant. No one would explain why the closet was incomplete or why the room was being rented while in the process of a remodel. On checkout the process was again very lengthy. I reported having consumed one item from the snack bar two days prior to departure and they had me wait while someone went to the room to inventory the bar, something that should have been done the previous day. My biggest problem with the hotel was that despite their apparent desire to be helpful I had the impression that there was a cultural gap and they had no concept of why I was unhappy since they brushed aside each and every complaint as insignificant although they did eventually fix most problems.