Grandeur has always been a part of the Indian culture and my thoughts were reaffirmed by our luxurious stay at the ITC Grand Bharat. Modelled on ITC Hotels Responsible Luxury ethos, it offers you luxury in boldness, be it the Royal welcome or the ornately decorated suite or the luxurious Kaya Kalp Spa.
Let’s talk about the welcome first. The resort itself is spread over 300 acres and also includes the Country Club and Golf Course. It takes its inspiration from the Royal lineage of the Aravallis, quite evident in the welcome by the group of four liveried footmen followed by a Teeka ceremony. The check-in process happens in the opulent Peacock Bar, more of which I’ll be telling later on.
The ITC Grand Bharat has 59 suites along with five bungalow styled houses, all named after a kingdom of India(incidentally also the name of the hotels under ITC’s banners). These include the Maratha, Maurya, Chola and others. These duplex stories have been ornately decorated with items specific to the kingdom, as the Chola with it’s dominance of dark maroon teak work suggests. The suites, on the other hand, are no less, decorated with local artisanship and intricate work that can be seen all around, be it on the walls or on the ceiling. The suites also have a semi-private pool just outside your suite.
Let’s move to food now. With ITC’s superb culinary skills on the line, the food here is quite superb. Why so? Well, a lot of thought has gone into procuring ingredients that can be found locally, almost within a kilometer. Our lunch at Aravalli Pavilion on one day featured a Bajra ka Kheechda served along with a Lamb Curry. On another day, it was a pizza made with Himalayan Cheese. Aravalli Pavilion also doubles up for the breakfast spread and has a couple of specials including the deconstructed Eggs Benedict you must try out. There are two other places to eat: the India Room which brings flavours from Europe while the place by the pool offers the quintessential Mughlai food, including the Dal Bukhaara. The Peacock Bar, which I had mentioned earlier offers an interesting array of cocktails, especially the Cocktail story that traces cocktails from 2000 BC to the present day.
We also decided to dip in for a session at the Kaya Kalp Spa, ITC’s signature spa brand. Done up in a typical ornate style, the spa offers relaxation and rejuvenation right from the moment you step in. The Kaya Kalp’s signature therapy is a lovely mixture of essential oils and a massage that works out all the knots that you might have present from your travel. The spa also offers a long list of Ayurvedic treatments along with a Hamam that you must try out.
One of my favourite reasons to head to the ITC Grand Bharat is my recent passion: Golf. The Country Club and Golf Course is a 27 hole course set against the foothills of the Aravallis and offers a perfect destination for a golf holiday. There is an extensive pro-shop along with caddies that can speak fluent English along with Korean and Japanese. Although most of the course is quite forgiving to amateurs, some holes are littered with sand obstacles and can easily make your score go awry.
The resort also offers quite a few activities for you and your family, including outdoor sports and a nature walk that takes you around the property showcasing the beautiful birds of the Aravallis.
