When I got the opportunity of visiting Agra, I was really excited- FINALLY the much needed road trip (wohoo). At an average speed of 190 km/hr, we reached Agra in 2 hours 45 mins. (If a traffic cop is reading this article, please ignore the below visual :p) The drive was quiet smooth and fun. With fabulous scenery and a really well maintained road, this is definitely one of the best highways for a road trip.

Radisson Blu Agra property is at a distance of 15-20 minutes from the main highway, so we didn’t waste a lot of time in the city traffic (it was a Sunday, so quiet honestly we didn’t even get that much traffic). Radisson neighbors a lot of 5 star properties, so the road was quiet smooth.

After our 2.5 hour journey, we were greeted by the Radisson Blu Agra staff in the sweetest way possible. “Chandan Tikka” was applied on our forehead, a pink stole on our shoulders and some refreshers for the parched throat.

Fun fact– Have you ever thought why “Tikka/Tilak” is applied at all? Well Tikka/Tilak is applied on the forehead between the eyebrows. This spot (also known as Aajna Chakra) is considered to be the point of memory and thinking, when tikka/tilak is applied, it stimulates the spot. The chandan or bhasma has cooling properties and the spot between the eyebrows, which is known to generate heat during stress and tension, cools down on the tikka application. It is also known to prevent energy loss. After the welcome, we were taken to our rooms.

About the Room

I was staying at a business class room and it was quiet lovely. At INR 7,500/night it was actually a steal (comparing Delhi prices for the same room). My room was divided into 2 sections, one was the main bedroom while the other was a lounging and dining area. There was a small powder room also attached with the dining room, so I had two washrooms in my room!

The room was quiet lovely and spacious. There was a lovely assortment of cheese & crackers laid out accompanied with chocolate truffles. The best bit of the room was the bed. The bed had a beautiful “Towel Origami” of Taj Mahal and it looked absolutely spectacular (small small things that actually makes a HUGE difference).

 

About the Property

4.5 acres of land and just a km walk away from Taj Mahal, Radisson Blu Agra is an apt choice for anyone visiting Agra. They house a fitness center equipped with a spa and outdoor pool (house music pepping up the swim). 3 specialty restaurants, a tea lounge and a sports bar- gives ample amount of dining and boozing opportunities to people from all backgrounds.

What I loved about the property was everything is quiet easily accessible. You don’t have to walk a lot from one section to the other. The property is really well planned. There is a new wing under construction which will have more rooms. The uniqueness about this wing is, it would have “Taj Mahal” view, pull the curtains and you can enjoy the beauty of Taj from your room.

There are fun activities in all the nook and corners of the hotel. You’ll find a palmist in one corner and a puppeteer on the other. The palmist was quiet accurate with my readings, so I was quiet surprised. I don’t know about the future but whatever he spoke about my past & nature was quiet accurate (goosebumps :p).

 

My stay at Radisson Blu Agra

After a short tour of the property, we were escorted to the “Latitude”- 24×7 coffee shop. There was a scrumptious buffet laid for lunch which I could see diners enjoying but Chef Mihir (head chef at Radisson Blu Agra) decided to surprise us with a beautiful 5 course meal. For a detailed review on what all I had, read here.

After our beautiful meal, we decided to relax a little at the pool side. We changed into our swimming trunks and decided to take a dip. The speakers were blaring house and pop music. It was soo much of fun- music, cold beer and the pool- SIMPLY DIVINE. Since it was a Sunday, a lot of localites were also there. The crowd was young and I befriended a few of them. Apparently Colorbar i.e. Radisson’s Deck bar is quiet a popular place to chill at in Agra, so me and my friend decided to chill at Colorbar in the evening.

After our swim, I was really famished, so I decided to go for early snacking & drinking at Colorbar. We tried quiet unusual drinks like Petha Mojito, so instead of brown sugar, there was Petha with muddled mint leaves (a classic drink but with an Agra twist) – COLORBAR you absolutely nailed this drink- A MUST MUST MUST TRY DRINK!! For a detailed review on what all I had, read here.

Then we decided to visit the  Noor-E-Taj show which is an inhouse show on Taj. We were taken in a room where there was a mock Taj Mahal and a big projector. We were told interesting stories such as “The mystery of the Black Taj” and “Were the hands of Taj Mahal workers actually chopped off or not?” To view the answer, click here. We even saw the inlay work live-in-action from the 9^th generation of Taj Mahal artisans. This was quiet a fun activity and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was quiet informative and I recommend this to everyone, as a matter of fact my favorite activity from the whole trip.

After the Noor-e-Taj, we decided to dine at Dawaat-e-Nawaab. The menu rotates weekly to provide fresh, unique dining options, and the restaurant has separate vegetarian and non-vegetarian kitchens for preparing and serving food, a first for Agra. For a detailed review on what all I had, read here.

With tummy full, I decided to head back to my room and decided to call it a night. Next day, I woke up with a “wakeup” call from the reception, it was time for SPA. I headed to the SPA where my friend also joined in. To know more about my SPA experience at the ALIVE spa, click here.

After the refreshing SPA I headed back to my room and when I entered, there was breakfast for two waiting at dining area. I immediately called up my friend and asked him to join in, to my happy surprise there was bedai (bedmi) poori with lassi waiting for us. I really wanted to go and relish Agra street food but due to time shortage, I could not go. I remember telling the management about the same (previous night), this was such a lovely gesture from their end. They got Agra’s famous street food, specially prepped in their kitchen for me, really really realllly sweet of them.

All good things come to an end and so did my trip. I was thanking the staff for the beautiful hospitality and bidding them goodbyes, as a farewell gift they got me famous Paan shaped pethas from Panchi. I was sooo touched by this gesture. Radisson Blu Agra, you made my stay so beautiful and comfortable, absolutely in love with your hospitality and the warmth I got from the entire team. Keep up the fabulous job, would be definitely coming back soon to sip some more of fabulous cocktails from Colorbar and to enjoy a “Taj Mahal” view room!