THE OBEROI in Bengaluru - Hotel Review with Photos

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Updated: March 16, 2022

Essentials
• Location: On MG Road, just steps from the Trinity metro station.
• Hotel website: oberoihotels.com
• Hotel phone: +91 (0)88 2558 5858
• Check prices for Oberoi

Review of The Oberoi Hotel in Bengaluru, India.

Located within the city center, The Oberoi is a surprising oasis with lush gardens and a huge pool.

The Oberoi – Majestic, sumptuous, and downtown, yet with truly exceptional gardens.

The amazing Oberoi has an almost retro 1960’s design, although it is certainly as modern and luxurious as others in this India-based chain. What sets this award-winning hotel so far apart from rivals in Bengaluru, and even others across India, are the extraordinary gardens. Packed with lawns, trees, fish-filled ponds, and flowers, they are far nicer than even botanical gardens in most Indian cities, and also feature a waterfall and jogging track. The rooms, and especially the suites, are extremely elegant, and the amenities are excellent, particularly the tropical-style pool surrounded by frangipani trees and sunbeds. Yet remarkably, all this luxury, space, and greenery is in the midst of downtown – right next to a metro station and around the corner from a fabulous mall.

The Oberoi – The Location

Address: 37-9 M.G. (Mahatma Gandhi) Road, in the inner city. The main building is 100m back from the road, while most rooms are even more distant.
Nearest Metro: Trinity metro station is just steps from the hotel.
Area: Affluent business and shopping district along the eastern end of M.G. Road. Decent cafés and a metro station within a 5-minute walk. A large mall is just around the corner.
How to Get There: From the airport (35 km), take a metered taxi or arrange a pick-up with Uber or Ola (see below). Just as quick, and far cheaper, are the comfortable blue express buses (24 hours) that stop along M.G. Road. About 7km from the Bengaluru City (Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna) railway terminal and adjoining Majestic (Kempegowda) bus station.
Handy to: 1MG-Lido Mall.

The Oberoi – The Basics

Guests: Mostly tourists rather than business people and government officials.
Views: Most rooms face inwards, away from the main road, and overlook the extraordinary gardens within the hotel. Some rooms do face the front but are 100m+ from the main road.
Private Pools/Jacuzzis: Not expected or provided at this historic inner-city hotel.
How to Book: Booking.com will have the best rates.
Phone: +91 (0)88 2558 5858
Email: generalmanager.bengaluru@oberoihotels.com
Website: oberoihotels.com

The Oberoi – Amenities

Pool: Large and inviting. With plenty of shade and brightly-colored sunbeds and umbrellas, it exudes a lovely tropical-resort feel.
Spa: Very spacious and luxurious, it offers more treatments than just about anywhere else in the city. Yoga classes also available.
Fitness Center: Huge and superbly equipped.
Other Facilities: Express laundry. Travel desk. Money-exchange. Business center.

The Oberoi – Food and Drink

Restaurants & Bars: Lapis – All-day restaurant serving Indian and international cuisine. • Wabi Sabi – Elegant setting and Asian menu. • Rim Naam – Lovely garden setting with tables under a pavilion and facing a pond. Award-winning Thai food and live traditional music. • The Polo Club – Adorable colonial-style bar/lounge/café serving western favorites like salads, sandwiches, and burgers.
Breakfast: Not included but available for an extra charge.
Room Service: Available 24/7.

The Oberoi – Rooms

Room Types: Deluxe Rooms • Luxury Rooms • Premier Rooms • Executive Suites • Deluxe Suites • Presidential Suites • List of all Rooms
Smoking Rooms: Smoking is allowed in some rooms and suites.
Best Room: Three times larger than the standard rooms, the Presidential Suites face almost private gardens from an extended terrace. Separate living/dining areas, pantries, and gorgeous marble bathrooms.
For Families: The management is keen for families, so ask about extra single beds and connecting rooms.

The Oberoi – Local Transport

Walking: The hotel faces M.G. Road, which is very noisy and polluted, but walking along it is inevitable because it has plenty of facilities.
Public Transport: The Namma (Bengaluru) Metro has limited services but does go to the main bus and train stations. The nearest station – Trinity – is virtually outside the hotel.
Taxis & Auto-rickshaws: Very few taxis along the main road, so one is best arranged through reception. Otherwise, Uber and Ola are very common. For most trips around the city, auto-rickshaws are good enough, but drivers won’t use meters, so bargain hard.

The Oberoi – What’s Nearby?

Best Nearby Restaurants & Bars

Pizza Hut – This familiar outlet (and a Starbucks) are just across the road from the hotel gates. (Use the metro underpass.)
Chianti Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar +91 (0)80 4375 5274 – Also in the same building as Pizza Hut, it offers an extended menu of food and wine in an authentic setting. (250m).
Taj MG Road – Adjacent to the Oberoi, this refurbished hotel offers: The Trinity Square (excellent meals and extensive buffets), Memories of China (authentic and popular), and ICE (trendy bar for cocktails and snacks).
Mamma Mexicana – One of several restaurants on the top floor of the 1MG-Lido Mall (see below). Long menu, fun décor, and well-priced. (400m).

Nearby Shops

This section of M.G. Road seems overrun by banks (none of which change money), but there are a few handicraft stores. The finest shopping is at 1MG-Lido Mall, just around the corner and north up from the junction with the flyover. It offers a games arcade, several great eateries (including familiar fast-food outlets), and a wonderful Foodhall outlet selling fresh and imported produce. The mall is open from 10 am to 10 pm on weekdays and 9 am to 10 pm weekends. (400m).

The Oberoi – The Hotel

The hotel has a retro design but modern interior.

The exterior of the opulent Oberoi hotel has an almost retro 1960’s design, but is certainly more modern inside.

The friendly doorman at the lobby leaves a lasting impression.

The charm and tradition starts with the doorman at the lobby.

Parts of the hotel sport a colonial-style design.

In contrast to the exterior design, parts of the hotel – e.g. the corridors around the gardens – are colonial-style.

The spacious hotel lobby is very opulent.

The lobby area is even more lavish and spacious than expected.

The lobby tables offers views of the extraordinary hotel gardens.

Tables at the lobby provide immediate glimpses of the extraordinary gardens within the hotel.

The hotel grounds are immaculate and vast.

In the middle of a prime business and shopping district, the hotel grounds are as spacious, and certainly better maintained, than most botanical gardens in Indian cities.

There is even an artificial waterfall in the gardens.

The hotel gardens even feature a (man-made) waterfall.

The hotel features tracks for walking and jogging.

Tracks for walking and jogging within the hotel grounds are reminiscent of a national park in Europe.

Rim Naam at The Oberoi overlooks a pond.

One of the hotel restaurants, Rim Naam, overlooks a pond packed with goldfish.

The Orchid Room offers outdoor seating by the gardens.

Tables at The Orchid Room in The Oberoi extend to the gardens outside.

The Polo Club at The Oberoi is a great place to enjoy a drink.

Patrons at The Polo Club can enjoy a drink on one of the plush leather seats.

Le Jardin restaurant has a refined setting.

The Le Jardin restaurant, also within the Oberoi, offers a refined setting. (Under renovation in 2019.)

Le Jardin restaurant is renowned for its lunchtime buffets.

Le Jardin is renowned across the city for its lunchtime buffets. (Under renovation in 2019.)

The large, sparkling blue pool offers plenty of natural shade.

The sparkling blue and immaculately clean pool is substantial and surrounded by shady trees.

The tropical island-style pool features colorful chairs and umbrellas.

With abundant shade and colorful chairs and umbrellas, the pool at The Oberoi is the sort often found at tropical island resorts.

Most rooms face inwards, away from the main road, and overlook the amazing gardens.

There is a Pizza Hut and a Starbucks just across the road.

Just across the road from the hotel gates is a building with a Pizza Hut and Starbucks.

Chianti Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar is located in the same building as Pizza Hut.

In the same building as the Pizza Hut is the elegant Chianti Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar.

The Trinity Square restaurant at the Taj MG Road hotel close by is very classy.

Just around the corner from The Oberoi is the Taj MG Road hotel. It offers several more dining options, including the classy Trinity Square restaurant.

Memories of China restaurant at the Taj MG Road hotel is equally elegant.

Also at the Taj MG Road hotel is the equally sophisticated Memories of China restaurant.

The 1MG-Lido Mall is just around the corner from the hotel.

Another attraction of staying at The Oberoi is the fabulous 1MG-Lido mall, just around the corner.

Mamma Mexicana is a great bistro at the mall.

One of several tempting bistros on the top floor of the 1MG-Lido Mall is Mamma Mexicana.

The mall also features a large Foodhall outlet.

Also within the mall is the extensive Foodhall.

Another reason to visit the mall, just around the corner from The Oberoi, is the games arcade.

The shady M.G. Road near the hotel is lined with banks.

The eastern end of M.G. Road in front of the hotel is lined with banks, but shady sidewalks make walking pleasant.

M.G. Road feature a few interesting shops too.

Among the banks along this end of M.G. Road are a few shops of interest to tourists.

M.G. Road is one of several busy roads in the city center.

M.G. Road is one of many very busy, noisy, and polluted roads in the inner city.

The Trinity metro station is just outside the hotel entrance.

Conveniently, the Trinity metro station is virtually outside the hotel gates.

Auto-rickshaws, Uber, and Ola are the most convenient means of transport.

With a dearth of taxis and limited metro service, the main way to get around the city is by auto-rickshaw. Or use Uber/Ola. Check rates and availability: The Oberoi

The Oberoi Hotel in Bengaluru, India

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