A few days ago, I was headed to Bengaluru for a work trip. For staying in Whitefield, I looked at all the Marriott options, and turned out that I’d already stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton and Aloft Whitefield over the years, so it was time to try out something full service in the area. The Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield hotel, which had only been inaugurated last year, and was infact, the 100th Marriott hotel in India, made the cut if I had to be around in Whitefield. I stayed for three nights, and here is a review of the Sheraton Whitefield Bangalore.

I was supposed to arrive in Bangalore at about 8 PM, however due to a delay on my flight of about 45 minutes, I only landed at about 8:45 PM, and I was out of the airport by about 9 PM. Lucky for me, I’d a hotel car waiting on me, since anything from Bangalore Airport to Whitefield is about 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes. As soon as I got out of the airport, I did not even have to look for a placard with my name on it, as the Hotel’s airport associate managed to catch me.

He lead me to the car, and while we were waiting for the car, he enquired if I’d like to pre-order some dinner which could be served in my room when I reached the hotel. I told him I had dinner on the plane, so nothing to worry about. However, he said he would still have a fruit basket waiting for me when I’d arrive. He then handed me over to the chauffeur of the car.

Once I boarded the car, the hotel staff brought me a tray full of a cold juice bottle, some wet wipes and a map of the city. There was also a paper bag, inside which were some banana chips to snack upon, on this long ride. All of this was presented in a tray, and I requested them to place it on the seat next to me.

I was informed it would be at least 1:15 hours to get me to the hotel, and the chauffeur also informed me that I could connect with the wifi hotspot if I’d like to be connected.

After about 75 minutes of driving, I pulled over into the hotel. It was pretty late, and I had an early morning, so the hotel was kind enough to have everything ready for me.

Just as I walked in, I was met by the front office manager. The vast lobby of the hotel had a massive chandelier, and along the side was their bar, Chimes.

I was offered a welcome drink, which was a non-alcoholic cooler, which I brought along with myself to the room.

I was advised that we could finish the check-in in the room, so I was sent along on my way with one of the front office associates, who walked me to the room. I was staying in a Pool View Sheraton Club Room on the 7th Floor. As I was travelling alone and it was late, I did not check if they had a Suite open or not. The hotel was being set up for a huge event over the course of my stay, so the Pool area was already taken over by the Party preparations.

Check-in was quick, and the associate captured my identity document on his tablet. I was also handed out the Platinum Amenity card. I could pick one food and one beverage item, or take 1000 bonus points. Eventually, I did not have time to take on any of the items they wanted to offer, so I did just take the 1000 points in the end on my way out of the hotel.

My first thoughts about the room, it was well appointed and, this being a Sheraton Grand, was more roomy and spacious, and lit up as compared to some of the older Sheratons I’ve been to. Here is a first look at the room.

The bed had enough pillows left behind, as per my instructions for firm pillows. And there was some impressive art on the headboard, which as I would discover later, is from a local artist.

Both sides of the bed had plug points and USB charging ports.

On one side, overlooking the pool, was a small couch along with an ottoman.

The working desk was integrated into the wall unit, which sort of made it a bit difficult to watch television while working. However, when I needed to work, I’d just head off to the Club.

It looked like one of the standard sized rooms on this floor. I was put on floor seven, like I mentioned ahead, while the Club was on floor 6.

The bathroom was also well appointed. The integrated shower chamber had a tub and a rain shower/hand shower.  It was separated from the living area by a glass wall.

Toilet amenities were from le grand bain, which are very mild. Not to say I was a fan of the earlier Shine amenities, but this was missable as well for me.

Waiting on arrival for me was a host of amenities to welcome me. There was a signature amenity from the hotel, which were some of the most popular sweets from Karnataka. Tonight’s draw was Mysore Pak and the Dharwad Peda. There was also some turmeric milk waiting, in a very smart flask, which I did not try out.

But that was not all. The fruit basket I was promised was around too. 

And there was a half bottle of GH Mumm champagne waiting on me as well. The last I remember having a Marriott waiting with some alcohol for my arrival in India was at Le Meridien Kochi, which was exactly a year ago.

I had an early day away the next morning, so I did not partake in breakfast, but I wanted to get some work done in the evening, so I headed to the Sheraton Club lounge. Access to floors is keycard controlled, so I could not access the 6th Floor, so, I had to head to the lobby to get my keycard coded again for the lounge access at the reception.

The Sheraton Club easily is one of the bigger clubs I’ve seen from the Marriott stable in India.

At the entrance of the lounge, there is a large reception, perhaps for Club check-in/check-out. Here, the first time around, I was asked about my room number, and then I did not have to tell them the number again for the next three days.

There was also a nice artefact as soon as you walk in.

Here is a look at the spacious Sheraton Club Bengaluru Whitefield. On one side, it overlooked the pool, and I would usually go and make a corner seat there my perch.

There was a small business centre tucked as you enter, which had two computers and a printer for the odd printout such as a boarding pass, or some such stuff.

There was also a large 6-seater board room, which I did not take a picture of. It was available for members to use, and I indeed blocked it off one evening for a video conference I was a part of, since my own room was getting a lot of sound from the Pool Party which was being organised below.

This particular Sheraton Club had an impressive bar, and was clearly built for scale. 10 people could sit at the bar itself. I don’t recall having seen a bar inside a hotel lounge recently.

Through the day, there were packaged juices, soft beverages, cold-pressed juices and coffee available for consumption, along with some light snacks.

The Sheraton Club lounge also had a massive spread in the morning and evening for those who had access to the Sheraton Club. The evening spread was laid out at about 5 PM, and cocktail hours started at about the same time, where wine, spirits and cocktails were offered to members.

Here is a look at the massive evening spread, which I caught one of the evenings. I thought it was a lot of food, and I just sampled some of the stuff there.

There were warm snacks, such as Jalapeno Cheese Poppers, Onion Pakoras, Tandoori Gobhi, Chicken drumsticks and other stuff.

There were also some nice Lamb Cruquettes and Pyaz Kachori, which I tried and was swooned by. 

On offer were salads and fruits as well.

There were chips and dips, and a whole lot of cold cuts as well.

There were countless breads as well.

The Cheese counter was elaborate, to say the least.

And it was very hard to resist the desserts.

At the prime hour of 7 PM, the lounge was never very crowded over the 2 days I visited it. Since I was going to dine in one of the restaurants in the evening, I was trying to keep off the carbs here to my best capability.

In the evening, I hopped into the Chime Bar around the lobby, which had a whole lot of infused gin on offer.

Dinner was at InAzia, which is the Pan Asian restaurant for the hotel. I tried a few things including their dumplings and some of their entrees, and most stuff went very well with my palate, except for a chicken dish which was burning hot!

The next morning, I had some time before getting into work mode, so I decided to head down to the Feast all-day restaurant for breakfast. At about 7 in the morning, the restaurant was not very full. Again, not my first hotel buffet breakfast, but I was scratching my head about what to eat, with so many things out there.

There was a big salad station.

Given that Bangalore has a lot of traffic from Asia, especially Japan, there was a big Asian counter, including Miso Soup, noodles, and the works.

Cold cuts of all sorts were there on offer.

Yoghurt and Muesli.

Sat next to Butter Milk.

And fresh juices.

With Whole Fruit and sliced fruit next to it. 

Alongside, a tonne of options for Indian breakfast, including the usual such as Poha, Vadas, Idli, Sambar and the works. There was also Poori & Bhaji.

There was an Indian dessert counter for breakfast. I don’t know anyone who eats Gajar ka Halwa for breakfast, but I did.

The Cheese and Bread were elaborate as well.

Here is a look at the waffles and pancake that I did not partake in.

There was also an egg station as well as a live Parantha and a Dosa counter. I mostly ordered a Parantha and tried some of the other stuff such as Poha and Idli. The restaurant also managed to get me a good Masala Chai to wake me up.

The last day, since I had to depart by 8 am or so for an 1130 am flight, I hopped over to the club lounge at about 7 am for breakfast. Here are the breakfast options at the Club Lounge.

Again, there were live counters as well, at least for eggs. Although I was in a rush this morning, I did want to try out their Eggs Benedict. Unfortunately, the Eggs Benedict here neither looked too great to eat, nor did they taste very well. I also could not figure why were the slices of meat so big and fried. Perhaps trying it out in the main restaurant would have gotten me a different result?

While I was on a tight time crunch on this trip and hence could not check into the gym for a workout, I snapped some pictures. The Pool and the Gym area are co-located, and the Gymasium had a good mix of equipment. You can access the Gym area with your hotel keycard 24 hours a day.

The hotel has over 360 rooms, and has the largest meetings and convention space in Bangalore as well.

Bottomline

I had a flawless stay at the Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield. The hotel has some great staff, who are always ready to help, and the rooms are well-appointed. Not just that, the hotel also has an ideal location for those who want to stay in Whitefield, with a mall adjacent and a massive office complex as well. The restaurants I tried were all good, such as Chime, Feast and InAzia. No wonder the hotel almost always is going at about US$ 180- US$ 200 (INR 10,000 upwards).

Have you stayed at the Sheraton Whitefield Bangalore? What has been your experience with the hotel?

(Check out the Marriott India 20% discount through May 24, 2019 for stays through September)

Pros

+ Location is central
+ Spacious Well Appointed Rooms
+ Great helpful staff

Cons

- Distance from the airport (true for most of Bangalore)

Rating