With the CoVid-19 striking the usual way of life, Diwali celebrations this year are expected to be muted, and not just that, I also expect them to be more likely at home than outside home. My plans to travel home on Diwali were just nixed, and that got me into a new reaction mode, where I had to research a lot of options to see how could I make Diwali happen at my Mumbai home, for the first time in many many years. If, like me, you are still on the fence for some Diwali gift hampers’ options, here are some I found out, and I’ll just let you in on all my research in the form of a listicle.
Table of Contents
Diwali Gift Hampers 2020
Accor Hampers
Various Accor properties have launched exclusive gift hampers. Sofitel Mumbai BKC, Pullman and Novotel New Delhi Aerocity, Novotel Pune, Novotel Ahmedabad and Novotel & ibis Bengaluru Outer Ring Road are the properties which have curated special gift hampers which includes home-made delicacies, goodies and essentials for Diwali at various price points. You just need to call the hotel to get it over or get it customized. Depending on the city, hampers start from INR 700 to INR 1000 or so and go all the way up to INR 5000.
ITC Hotels Diwali Festival Curations
ITC Hotels has some fabulous hampers at various price points available across the country, starting at INR 2200++. At last count 12 hotels are offering hampers, which include sweet treats and also ITC Fabelle chocolates and ITC coffees, amongst other options. These options are available in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Agra, Chennai, Goa, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Jaipur.
The minimum order size to get a free home delivery is INR 4,000 ex-taxes. For a value under INR 4,000, an INR 500 surcharge applies for a 15 km radius. For a radius between 15-30 km, an INR 500 surcharge additional applies in both cases.
Diwali With Marriott
Marriott’s gifting service is priced at a modest INR 2500 plus taxes per hamper. This artisanal hamper is available across 30+ cities, and 90+ Marriott International hotels in India and you earn Marriott Bonvoy points on these purchases.
Marriott’s Diwali hampers have traditional favourites with the Chef’s twists to the conventional artisanal Indian sweets. The hamper serves unique flavour combinations and has sweets such as Coco Tango, Rosette, Gurh Mewa, The Golden Date, Nut Island and Silver Pistachio. Out of the six products, three products are made for pure guilt-free consumption, these sweets are made with either sustainable sugar (Silver Pistachio) or jaggery (Gur Mewa) or derive their sweetness from dates (The Golden Date).
Hyatt Festive Hampers
Hyatt hotels have transformed their erstwhile restaurant booking website Hyattrestaurants.com which was used to book in-restaurant dining and now has lined up all the information for hampers out there. Andaz Delhi, Grand Hyatt Mumbai, Hyatt Regency Mumbai, Grand Hyatt Kochi etc. are all offering hampers for INR 2000++ till November 16, 2020.
The folks at The Oberoi hotels across the country have come up with various gift hampers which don’t stop at mithai, but you can throw in hand-rolled cigars and other stuff as well. This makes pricing on request, but if you are looking for an uber-luxury experience, this is your thing.
As for me, I am supporting a few small businesses this year, and I headed to Bombay Sweet Shop, a new sister enterprise by my favourite restaurant The Bombay Canteen for my sweet fix, and Le15 Patisserie for everything else.
Diwali Dining Hampers 2020
Taj Hotels’ QMin
Taj Hotels launched the QMin app and website at the peak of the lockdown, foreseeing a lack of return to in-restaurant dining in the coming months. QMin lets you order food from a Taj restaurant in your city subject to radius restrictions. Taj has curated The Grand Diwali Soiree all through Diwali 2020 week (November 7 – 15, 2020), which also allows you to indulge with a performance by the renowned Shillong Chamber Choir. 10% of your order value is donated to the Taj Public Service Welfare Trust. You can order your meals from a fixed price menu priced at INR 2500++ for two people and INR 5000++ for four people in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Pune. There are quite a few variants available in most cities, from Indian Vegetarian to Chinese and many other permutations and combinations.
Not just that, when you order via the App or on the phone line, you can also get a 25% discount if you are a Taj Inner Circle Member or hold select cards from DBS, Citibank, American Express, RBL Bank, Rupay, HSBC, HDFC Bank, and other banks.
ITC Hotels & Welcomhotels Gourmet Couch
ITC Hotels had launched the Gourmet Couch delivery service from their ITC and Welcomhotel brands across the country and at last count 24 hotels were delivering, including the legendary ITC Maurya’s Dal Bukhara and so on. ITC Hotels has created two menu options, one is the a-la-carte option, and the Celebrations menu where you need to order for at least ten people. Check it out at the Gourmet Couch website. If you are in the vicinity of the hotel, you can also order via Swiggy or Zomato, and in many cases via EazyDiner.
The minimum order size to get a free home delivery is INR 4,000 ex-taxes. For a value under INR 4,000, an INR 500 surcharge applies for a 15 km radius. For a radius between 15-30 km, an INR 500 surcharge additional applies in both cases.
Marriott on Wheels
Marriott Hotels had launched Marriott on Wheels delivery service from 60 restaurants across 20 cities across the country, including favourites such as JW Marriott Juhu’s Lotus Cafe and the Market at Ritz Carlton Bengaluru, and so on. In each case, you can either order via a Whatsapp to the restaurant (link on the individual website), or you can order via Swiggy or Zomato, and in many cases via EazyDiner.
The delivery radius differs and is anywhere between 3-10 km, or the entire city, depending on the city. Not just that, you earn Marriott Bonvoy points as well, ex-taxes at the rate of 10 points/INR 72 spent, when you order directly. The minimum spends to earn points is INR 750 ex gratuities etc. Remember, you get a 10% discount when you pay on an HDFC Bank Card.
Hyatt Dining at Home
Hyatt hotels have transformed their erstwhile restaurant booking website Hyattrestaurants.com which was used to book in-restaurant dining and now made it about delivery to your home. You can book a meal from any Hyatt hotel across India and send it across or get it at your home for festive dining. Not just that, you also get 3X the usual Hyatt points on dining in or at the restaurants these days, till January 4, 2020.
EazyDiner Delivery
EazyDiner has tied up with various top-notch restaurants across the country, standalone and hotel-housed as well, and is helping them generate orders for delivery services. Your food typically does not arrive on a bike but in a car and is packed much better than that you receive via another food ordering service. Not just that, you also get 10X points on Amex and discounts with Visa and Citibank. Try it out. If you are new to EazyDiner, use code AJAYA5635 on registration to get yourselves 500 EazyDiner points as well on signup/first meal.
Like I mentioned earlier, I am supporting a few small businesses this year, and I headed to a Mumbai-based venture called Little Food Co. for their Diwali hamper, which is suitable for two people on my Diwali day.
Those are some of the better options I could find for those wanting to send gifts across the country while staying home. I am sure there are more. The beauty of ordering these online is, you don’t have to make the trip yourselves to get it delivered. And the meal delivery options, I’ve tried some out, and they work like a charm.
Where are you ordering in from this Diwali?
Diwali Gift Hampers Diwali Gift Hampers Diwali Gift Hampers
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@Stuart Falk
http://buykrishnasweets.com/
Any recommendations for Dawali gourmet treats that I can buy online for delivery to friends in Madurai?