When we arrived in Hyderabad, the hotel driver was already waiting for us in arrivals with a sign board. Our luggage was out in less than 10 minutes, and the driver helped us roll our luggage to the hotel car, which was parked across the street. Transportation to and from the hotel was included with our stay because my parents had upgraded to the suite, which included club access, airport transport, and buffet breakfast.
The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace is located about half an hour from the Hyderabad Airport, just off the outer ring road. You usually don’t encounter too much traffic coming in this way because most of the route is driven in the outskirts of the city. We find this especially nice when coming off a long haul flight because it can take forever to reach hotels in other areas of the city (traffic in India = ugh).
Westin Mindspace – Hyderabad
Building 1 K.
Raheja I.T. Park, Inovies St, HUDA Techno Enclave,
Madhapur, Hyderabad, Telangana 500081, India
SPG Category 3: 7000 points/night
The hotel is located within an IT park full of western (mostly American) companies so the area was quite lively even at 8pm with many people coming in to man the night shift. The hotel however wasn’t too busy and as soon as we pulled up the doors were open and our bags were off loaded while we were escorted to the check in counter. The hotel has an atrium style arrangement, which I usually find to be old in style, but this one was designed in modern and clean style. Specifically, looking up at the ceiling reminded me of an Atari video game and something out of Star Trek.
The rest of the lobby was decked out for the holidays:
Check in was a quick process except for the part where they had to get copies of all our passports, OCI cards, and visas. My dad was thanked for his platinum status and we were automatically given both welcome amenity choices: the 500 Starpoints and the full buffet breakfast for both rooms (an extremely generous perk at this hotel). The hotel also offers club lounge access to Platinum members, which includes breakfast, drinks, snacks, and evening canapés. Both rooms ended up being upgraded to Executive suites on this stay because of Platinum status so recognition is just outstanding.
The Executive Suite:
The suite featured a rather large powder room or half bath to the left of the entrance, which also had an enormous platform for keeping things.
Farther in was the living room, and a fully stocked desk facing some lounge chairs and television. The desk most impressively included a laser printer, paper clips, and other office supplies, which certainly made working easy. They should really think about getting a scanner in there as well (just a suggestion). Sitting on the desk was a welcome amenity:
Off the living room is a bedroom with a king size bed and a chaise lounge chair.
Attached to the bedroom was a large bathroom featuring a massive soaking tub, double vanity, and a large walk in shower. The toiletries offered were the larger that average bottle versions of the White Tea Aloe soaps.
It goes without saying that the rooms were in immaculate condition and they certainly seemed to be a step above cookie cutter Westin properties I’ve seen elsewhere.
Club King Room:
On a previous visit to the hotel, my parents stayed in a Club King Room, which was also quite spacious.
I should note that one of the other outstanding features of this hotel is the continual replenishment of bottled water in all the rooms. The hotel leaves enough bottled water for guests to brush, and drink for more than an entire day.
The Gym
The hotel has two gyms, one located on the club floor and a larger one located below the lobby. I always used the gym located on the club floor because it was always empty. I suppose the hotel isn’t too elite heavy around Christmas because neither the gym or the lounge were seeing much traffic.
The views from the gym and the 15th floor were fantastic. Well as good as they get in Hyderabad, which sees tons of dust and smog.
The Breakfast
Breakfast is served everyday from around 6am to 10:30am at the hotel restaurant: Seasonal Tastes, located next to the lobby.
The Westin Hyderabad features one of the most extensive breakfast spreads known to man. Any item you can think of is available in the buffet including dessert for breakfast. Again Indian hotels knock breakfast spreads right out of the park with tons of Eastern, Indian, and Western options. There were also live stations for dosas, eggs, omelettes, waffles, and more. The pictures speak for themselves:
The buffet pretty much encourages overeating because food is just fantastic. I am a lover of dosas (an Indian crepe), and let’s just say I had a few too many.
Overall, the food is fantastic and service has been excellent these past two stays. It’s no wonder I had to hit the gym so often during this stay 🙂
The Executive Lounge:
The executive lounge is located on the 15th floor, right across from the smaller gym I mentioned earlier. I usually went up there after an evening workout for a soda can or made to order lime soda. I love how the lounge is open all the time in case you want to get a drink because sometimes I had to work late nights and I need a good Diet Coke supply to keep me awake.
The space is quite large and features couches, conference tables, and dining tables.
The lounge serves breakfast from 6:30-10 in the morning, and evening snacks (pretty much a light dinner) from 6:30pm-8pm. Here are the evening snacks on offer:
The lounge also features some fantastic views of the city at night:
Check Out:
It was sad to leave the hotel to come back home, but I guess its time to take it easy on those massive breakfasts I suppose. Express checkout is pretty much like how it is at any hotel and the hotel car was ready to take us to the airport. I kind of wished however that I was getting a ride in one of these things:
Summary
The Westin Hyderabad Mindspace is one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed in to be honest. The breakfast, rooms, amenities, location, and service are all top notch. The hotel isn’t far from most of the shopping, restaurants, and most importantly the airport. Platinum recognition at this hotel is absolutely outstanding and the executive lounge on the 15th floor is perhaps the best I’ve seen for a Westin hotel anywhere in the world. Needless to say that I will be returning to this hotel in the future because it has pretty much been my home away from home for the past couple of years. I should correct myself and say that my stays at this hotel are consistently the best. Over the years, they’ve even adopted some of the over the top service procedures as the Taj Palace hotels in Rajasthan.
What is your favorite Westin? Have you stayed at the Westin Mindspace?
TRIP INDEX
Introduction: Incredible India
Focal Point: Incredible India in 8 Pictures
AMEX Centurion Lounge – DFW
Lufthansa Business Class Lounge DFW
Lufthansa A330 Business DFW-Frankfurt
Lufthansa Business Lounge Gate B21
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Frankfurt
Lufthansa A380 Business Frankfurt – Delhi
Holiday Inn – New Delhi Int’l Airport
Air India Economy Delhi – Udaipur
Taj Lake Palace – Udaipur
Focal Point: Lake Pichola
Hyatt Regency New Delhi
Air India Business Class Lounge – Intl Departures T3
Plaza Premium Lounge – Intl Departures T3
Air India 777 Business Class Delhi – Hyderabad
Westin Mindspace – Hyderabad
Focal Point: Golconda Fort
Focal Point: Raitu Bazaar
Plaza Premium Lounge – Hyderabad Intl Airport
British Airways Club World Hyderabad-London
No. 1 Lounge London-Heathrow T3
BA Galleries Lounge Heathrow – Terminal 3
AA 777W Business Class London – DFW
The Westin is fine, and if the Executive Lounge or location is important to you, then it’s the way to go, but honestly, I think the Park Hyatt is better. It’s a smaller hotel (so gives a more familiar feel) and definitely a touch more elegant. Globalist suites are huge. The breakfast buffet isn’t as extensive as the Westin, but the quality is excellent (much better than Westin IMHO). I also think the PH has the best tasting western breads & pastries I have ever had in India.
Hi Jason, yes I very much enjoyed that hotel as well. Though I thought the Indian food was better at the Westin, the Western food (croissants etc) were better at the Park Hyatt. Our rooms weren’t that great though and the suite’s bathroom smelled a bit peculiar while we were there. I would like to try this property out again, but I’m no longer a Hyatt Diamond and SPG’s breakfast policy is a similar to Hyatt’s in India.