Indira Gandhi International Airport now features a transit hotel, Eaton within the airport premises. Travellers taking flights to India can easily access the hotel and rejuvenate themselves for their other leg of journey.
Indira Gandhi International Airport has opened up its doors to UK-based Eaton Smart Hotel to follow the worldwide trend of transit hotels within airports. Delhi is yet another addition to the chain of transit hotels in some popular cities like Dubai, London, Singapore and Amsterdam.
Eaton has just begun its operations at Terminal 3 of the Delhi airport. This 93-room property is managed by the Langham Hospitality group and has been developed by Wadhwa Developers.
Raju Shahani, Executive Consultant (development and operations), India and Sri Lanka, Langham Hospitality was quoted as saying, “Being inside an airport terminal gives us little architectural control over the property from the outside. But we have tried to make it as close to what Eaton Smart internationally is.”
Delhi is one of the most popular gateways for travellers taking flights to India either on business tours or buying cheap flights for leisurely holiday breaks. This new airport hotel will perhaps be highly rewarding for those seeking a small stay before boarding their flights for some further travel.
Hotel Features
The hotel features ‘aqua pods’, or shower facilities which may be help the travellers in refreshing themselves for the journey ahead. These are charged at Rs 500 an hour. Even travellers who do not have much stopover time can check in the hotel as the tariffs of the Eaton Smart are based on the number of hours a person stays there. The basic slab starts from five hours and goes up to three hours with an hourly extension.
The hotel is sure to provide convenient accommodation option for business travellers as well as budget travellers taking cheap flights to India who do not want to stay far away from the airport.
Given the fact that Eaton Smart is the first airport hotel in the country, the hotel has to undergo many security and bureaucratic issues.
“Getting a customer to the hotel sometimes becomes very difficult. We are working very closely with the airports authority. It is not used to having a hotel in an airport,” Shahani said.
Shahani also expressed that like many other countries around the world the trend of transit hotels in airports would soon catch up in India. The trend would gain momentum by the fact that global hotel brands, including MGM, Marriott, Hyatt, Intercontinental and Conrad, are looking forward to begin operations in the 43-acre Delhi International Airport Limited hospitality district near the Delhi airport.
