While Dehradun has no shortage of stay options, there are only a handful of chain hotels in the city. Think about chain hotels and the choices are narrowed down to three: Marriott, Lemon Tree and Ramada.

On our recent trip in December 2020 to Mussoorie, Ajay and I spent a night in the valley and stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton in Dehradun. We built in the stop for three reasons. First, flying from Mumbai into Dehradun in December, we anticipated the possibility of a flight delay and did not want to drive to Mussoorie after sundown. Secondly, with ever-changing entry rules imposed by individual states, we felt it was better to stay a night in Dehradun just in case there was any hiccup. Third, having spent a significant part of my childhood in a boarding school in the valley the city has a special place in my heart; and then, of course, we always build in a trip to Ellora’s to pick up some bakes for old-times sake.

Uttarakhand government’s CoVid-19 guidelines say that everyone arriving on a flight from Delhi must either bring in a CoVid-19 negative certificate or undergo a test on arrival. However, it does not clarify that the rule is also applicable for passengers transiting via Delhi Airport and arriving at Dehradun Airport on a flight connection via Delhi. Coming on Vistara’s Mumbai-Delhi-Dehradun connection, we were not allowed to leave the airport until we presented a test report. Since we did not have one that complied with the Uttarakhand government’s timelines, we were subject to a test on arrival. At the airport itself, local authorities have organised a facility for a free antigen test on arrival. From form filling to testing and getting a result, we were cleared to exit the airport in 30 minutes.

The Four Points by Sheraton hotel is an hour’s drive from the Dehradun airport and is located up on Rajpur Road, on the way to Mussoorie.

We arrived at the hotel in the evening around 5 pm. After temperature checks, we headed to the lobby. With mobile check-in already done, check-in formalities were a breeze, and we were ushered to our room on the second floor.

The Four Points by Sheraton is a business hotel spread across five floors with 59 rooms and six suites. Owing to Ajay’s Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status, we were upgraded to an Executive Suite. Our room, 218, was located at the end of the corridor of the second floor.

The executive suite turned out to be a spacious room with a queen-size bed. A letter detailing everything that can be accessed via scanning the QR code was placed on the work desk. Owing to the pandemic the hotel has done away with paper menus, however writing pads and pens were placed on the bedside table. This was very unlike our stay experience at the Hilton Shillim, which had no trace to paper in the rooms.

There was a couch by the side of the work desk and a coffee table with two chairs on the opposite side of the room. The coffee table had a plate of fruits and another plate with some cookies placed as a welcome amenity. At check-in, the front office also offered to send us a pot of tea in the room, which we declined since I wanted to step out of the hotel and get a hot cuppa.

The highlight of the suite for me was the bathroom. It was huge compared to the room size and had a fancy Jacuzzi fitted. I was happy with the rain shower, and thankfully the hot water knob worked seamlessly, and I set the right water temperature in a few seconds. Adjusting water temperatures and complicated shower systems is my usual grievance with hotels, especially when staying in the winter season and fortunately this hotel fared well.

The room was comfortable and cosy with a beautiful view of the valley and the mountains from the window. There are no balconies in any of the rooms.

To avoid crowds, we went up for breakfast early the next morning. Daily breakfast buffet is served at the all-day dining restaurant, Best Brew, which also has a terrace seating. It was beautiful to sip chai, bask in the morning sun and soak in the view from the top.

The buffet spread was quite reasonable and had a variety of Indian and Western selection such as idli, paranthas, poha, eggs to order, sausages, grilled vegetables, hash browns, etc. Apart from the hot selection, there was a bakery section and various cereals to choose from. Breakfast at the hotel is priced at INR 650 plus taxes which I felt was reasonable for the spread. Since the hotel put us up in the Suite, they comped our breakfast.

Since we had to drive up to Mussoorie, we checked out of the hotel at afternoon and did not use Ajay’s elite benefit of late check-out. The Four Points by Sheraton in Dehradun is a category two hotel where standard redemption is available at 12,500 Marriott Bonvoy points per night. A room night here is usually priced at under INR 5,000 per night when booked at least a week out. Since prices were low, we chose to go with a cash booking rather than using points for this stay.

Overall it was a comfortable one-night stay for us in Dehradun. From the number of people we saw at breakfast I figured that the hotel was busy. While there were many boards with safety precautions that this Marriott hotel follows, there was little evidence of this in practice during our stay. One such example was that the cutlery was laid out open during breakfast, and anyone could pick up and touch. So, as usual, we carried our safety precautions with us, such as disinfectant wipes and disinfectant spray, which we liberally used to wipe down the surfaces on arrival and wherever needed. The hotel could have done another thing to give out a safety kit to all guests on check-in, such as masks and sanitiser, which seems to be the norm at the moment at most hotels.

One positive of staying at the Four Points Dehradun hotel is that it is located right next to a mall, and for those who wouldn’t like to eat at the hotel’s restaurant there are plenty of dining options within walking distance. A fair warning though, the mall next door was overcrowded and a 5 minutes visit made me feel like there was no CoVid-19 in Dehradun.

Have you stayed at the Four Points Dehradun Hotel? What has been your experience here?

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