Lemon Tree Hotel – Pune
Recently I have been to Pune on an Official visit and was recommended to stay in Lemon Tree hotel in Hinjewadi. I was really impressed with my stay of 5 days in that Hotel. It is right on the side of main road in Hinjewadi Phase 1 exactly opposite to Infosys.
On the first look itself, I felt that they had constructed the hotel in a limited space. Its obvious that getting sprawling land in such prime location is not feasible in reality. So in the limited location they constructed 7 floors. They have two different plans of rooms. The first one costs around 4k without taxes and the higher end room called Studio costs 4.5k with out taxes. On the first day I was given the lower end room as all the Studio rooms were occupied. I was impressed with that room itself but on getting Studio the next day I liked it more than the previous one. The main difference being the space, which is large for the Studio and can easily accommodate a small family.
The Hotel Service was one of the biggest highlights. Right from justifying the name ‘Lemon Tree’ to exit process their service has been splendid. We had to checkin in late night at around 00:15 AM but still they provided all necessary details and made us feel comfortable. They indeed gave us an option for dinner even at that time.
The room maintenance was splendid. It looked like there’s a check list for them on what items should be present where. Whenever you disturb some of them and leave the room for your work and return in the evening you would find everything placed back to right positions. There are many proprietary Lemon Tree items like Shaving Kit, Shaving lotion, Note pads, Pencils, Bathroom slippers.
The tub bath that I enjoyed for four days in Studio room was memorable. I guess it is recycled water so didn’t feel guilty of wasting waster. The temparature of water and the room are defaulted to the ideal conditions.
It is Wi-Fi enabled and in order to get Internet access, we need to get an account there and for over 2 hrs its free per day and we can buy some packages to get access for more hours.
There’s a television set in each room with all identical channels programmed in order. There’s a DVD player given and a list of
famous English and Hindi movie titles whose DVDs can be ordered. One can order up to 2 DVDs per day. I did watch ‘Infernal Affairs – 2’ and ‘The Recruit’.
In the Studio package, Breakfast and Dinner were complimentary. By this they meant either Lunch/Dinner. For this they have buffet and we can use it as complimentary. On Sunday alone, there’s no Buffet arranged and so we are given an option of ordering up to Rs 500/- as complimentary. But the charges for items in the Menu are quite costly ranging from 300 to 600.
But there are many many variety items incorporated. We did try some of them and we have to mention that they were tasting excellent. The care taken in preparing can be easily understood. Buffet also covered wide variety of dishes and is satisfactory. There are lot of nutritious items placed in the menu. Fresh juices and fruits are well picked for every day at Breakfast time. The Menu has been carefully designed to bring in variety for each consecutive day. It caters not only Indians from different parts of the Country but also for International Travelers.
The perfume with Lemon fragrance refreshes you. When we inquired about what they do to get that we came to know that they indeed burn some Grass in some oil, to get such effect.
On the flip side, its way too far from airport, around 30 Kms from it. But at any time you can get the cab service from them. The Cab charges usually on a local taxi are at around 600 to 700 but Lemon Tree service with an Indica vehicle costs around 900 to 1000. If you opt for an Innova the charges are more.
We went out to Pune city on one day and took an Auto instead of Cab. Auto wallah charged us 300 bucks for it and there’s an auto stand right infront of Lemon Tree.
The only other big hotel near by to Hinjewadi is Marriott which is a world renowned one. If you are thinking of luxury and feel like Marriott is way too expensive then Lemon Tree should be certainly a very good option. Even for International Travelers its a very good place to stay. We have seen many of them staying all the days we’ve been there. It looked like they have been there for months. There’s a small pool and bar beside the Cafeteria.
Lemon Tree has Hotels in other locations in India too. One that caught my immediate attention is in Alleppey, Kerala. Would like to prefer this when ever I visit Kerala.
Bottom line : Go for it