Review: City Centre Inn Hotel in the suburbs of Delhi’s Bhogal

Last Updated on October 9, 2008 by Christine Kaaloa

city center inn hotel bhogal delhi
A spacious room with AC and two beds. Not digging the wool blankets though. You don’t know what can fester in wool and it’s unlikely the blankets get washed on a regular basis.

(Note: This hotel has been recently renovated in 2011).

Guesthouses and mid-range budget tourist hotels in India are pretty consistent throughout. Despite the price hikes, you never feel like you’re getting much more for your money.  The shift in quality is always subtle.

In Delhi, budget hotels run around $6-20 USD/night and if the sheets or towels don’t look dirty, then you’ll get charged for toilet paper or the pillows will tempt smells of someone’s head. By my third night in Delhi, the waft of urine in the surrounding alleys of noisy Paharghanj got to me. I checked out the government hotels in Connaught Place, but the ones I saw looked either, shady and occupied by too many local men or stifling, like a prison cell without a window. Upon an Indian friend’s recommendation, I took a taxi the suburbs of Delhi and stayed at a hotel, which charged $30 USD/night.

Upgrade?

Yes and no.

Decent.
Situated in South Delhi in a quiet district called Bhogal, the City Center Inn Hotel is a 3-star government hotel. It was larger than the budget hotels in Paharganj, popular with Indian travelers and it had restaurant next to the lobby. It wasn’t a new-looking hotel (at the time, although I heard it was recently renovated in 2011) nor was it in a convenient location, but the woman who ran it, I was told, was fair and good and it was in the suburbs.
My room was spacious, had a A.C., a color TV (which seems like the standard anywhere in India) and an outdoor balcony looking onto a neighborhood street. Located in back of the hotel is an old neighborhood marketplace, which you can sift through. What quiet travelers may not like is that there were many Indian tourist families here, when I was staying, which can get a little noisy.  But being solo, background noise makes me feel less alone so I’m fine with it. Also the hotel’s site isn’t convenient to sightseeing or jumping on the metro.
Still, at $30/night City Centre Inn Hotel is decent and seemingly safe. But for the price and convenience of location, I would go back to my budget Cozy Inn Hotel and accept Paharganj’s wafts of urine.
city center inn hotel
An outdoor balcony to my room

Table of Contents: Review: City Centre Inn Hotel in the suburbs of Delhi’s Bhogal

With hotels, it’s the little touches that count, don’t you agree?

city center inn hotel bhogal delhi
My complimentary soap and shampoo

The bathrooms in this hotel are spacious; they have western toilets and hot water.

Of course I’ll never get used to the handicapped-like shower stall accompanies all Indian and Nepalese bathrooms. And I still haven’t  figured what the  large plastic tub and dipping cup are for when you have a shower.

Sometimes, it’s just all part of the adventure another country!

 

bathroom cup
bathroom wash cup

Information:

750, 751 Mathura Road, New Delhi 110014, India
Email: [email protected]
Ph: 011-24372344

Location: Near Hotel Rajdoot  (Distance from other sites: 15 Km. from Airport, 3Km. from Pragti Maidan, 5 Km. from Connaught Place, 6 Km. from New Delhi Rly. Station, 1 Km. from Nizamuddin rly. Station, 5 Km. from Nehru Place)

Location map here.

 

   My Travel Survival Cheat Sheet

 

download checklist 25 travel tips for solo travelers

Download my 25 Solo Travel Mistakes to AVOID Checklist

And Get my Travel Survival Blog Updates

Related Posts

Delhi, Hotels, India tips & stays, Reviews