TRIDENT in Agra - Hotel Review with Photos

India › Agra Hotels › Trident Review
Updated: March 16, 2022

Essentials
• Location: On Fatehabad Road, close to Taj East Gate Road.
• Hotel website: tridenthotels.com
• Hotel phone: +91 (0)562 223 5000
• Check prices for Trident

The Trident has a delightful tropical island-style pool.

Trident – Modern yet traditional, charming, and offers rare family-friendly activities.

The Trident features an unusual but likable design: only two levels and in a quadrangle, with half the rooms facing inwards to the tropical-style pool and landscaped gardens, or outwards to the immaculate lawns. The amenities and overall décor are modern, but the design and layout are delightfully old-fashioned. Rooms are quiet, spacious, and comfortable – certainly better than a motel – but not quite as luxurious as a resort. It caters well for families, too, which is a rarity, with a modest kids club, as well as a playground, cricket pitch, and gardens. And it is within walking distance to a mall (with a McDonald’s), and a little more than two kilometers from the Taj Mahal.

Trident – The Location

Address: Faces Fatehabad Road, a major thoroughfare in downtown. Almost at the junction with Taj East Gate Road (also called VIP Road), which leads to the Taj. The hotel is set back 100m+ from the road.
Area: Walkable to facilities such as a mall, but most shops and restaurants are more for locals than tourists. The streets in the area are rather busy and not that pleasant for walking.
How to Get There: About 2.5 km from the Taj Mahal; 7.5 km from the Agra Cantonment Railway Station, which has most services to/from Delhi and Jaipur; and 14 km from the new airport. All are accessible by taxi or auto-rickshaw.

Trident – The Basics

Guests: Most guests seem to be tourists, but there are not many families despite the facilities for the younger ones.
Kids Club: The Trident Kids Club is very modest and offers some limited activities (e.g. cooking and painting) within a bright but undersized room. Featuring a splash area in the pool and a tiny playground, the hotel is still considerably better for families than most.
Views: Rooms offer ‘pool views’ (i.e. they face inwards and overlook the pool and gardens) or ‘garden views’ (i.e. they overlook the lawns – not the gardens – on the outside). The latter can be less quiet because of traffic noise.
Private Pools/Jacuzzis: Not really expected, or provided, at a hotel like this in Agra.
How to Book: Booking.com will have the best rates.
Phone: +91 (0)562 223 5000
Email: reservations@tridenthotels.com
Website: tridenthotels.com

Trident – Amenities

Pool: Lovely and sparkling blue, with a layout and facilities reminiscent of a tropical island resort. Splash area for toddlers.
Spa: The Trident Spa provides old-fashioned treatments and highly-trained staff. Organic products and garden views add to the appeal.
Fitness Center: Open 24 hours, it’s surprisingly modern and well-equipped.
For Families: Puppet shows. Playground. Badminton Court. Cricket pitch. Child-minding. Ping pong.
Other Facilities: Business Center. Yoga Classes. Travel desk. Laundry. Money-changer. Shopping arcade.

Trident – Food and Drink

Restaurant & Bar: More imaginative than the names suggest. The Restaurant – Bright indoor setting or inviting terrace alongside the pool and gardens. Open all day for mouth-watering Indian food and world-class pizzas. • The Bar – Relaxed and cheerful place for a chat and cocktail. Open until after midnight.
Breakfast: Included in all rates, which is not that common among rivals.
Room Service: Available from about 6 am to midnight.

Trident – Rooms

Room Types: Deluxe Garden View Rooms • Deluxe Pool View Rooms • Suites • List of all Rooms
Smoking Rooms: Some smoking rooms are available, on request.
Best Room: Far more spacious, the Suites feature separate and large living/dining areas; renovated marble bathrooms; and plenty of windows facing the lawns.
For Families: The Suites – and most rooms – can easily fit in 2 extra single beds. Some rooms also have connecting doors and 2 double beds.

Trident – Local Transport

Walking & Cycling: Backstreets around the hotel are flat and comparatively quiet, although very dusty, especially the main road. Nowhere to rent bicycles in the immediate area, but some travel agencies and cafés do so along Taj East Gate Road, near the Oberoi hotel, 2km away.
Public Transport: Nothing of any use to tourists.
Taxis & Auto-rickshaws: Taxis (unmetered) are hard to find because they’re rarely needed in this area. If required, arrange through the hotel reception, or book an Ola cab. Plenty of auto-rickshaws and a few cycle-rickshaws can be found along the street outside.

Trident – What’s Nearby?

Best Nearby Restaurants & Bars

Culinary Junction by Udupi – Odd location, above a car showroom across the intersection from the hotel. South Indian vegetarian cuisine in a surprisingly posh setting.
Golden Street Restaurant – Street-side courtyard and swanky interior. Around the corner and about 300m up Taj East Gate Road.
McDonald’s – In the TDI Mall, about 350m away. No beef or pork products.
The Chocolate Room – Desperately trying to compete against McDonald’s next door. Quaint cafe offering tasty pasta, burgers, wraps, and other western food.
Courtyard by Marriott – This swish hotel offers MoMo Café (buffet lunch and contemporary cuisine all day), ANISE (regal decor, modern Indian food, and live performances, but dinner only), and MoMo 2 Go (deli/patisserie for tasty coffee and homemade cakes). About 600m south down the intersection.

Nearby Shops

The low-key and Indian-style TDI Mall is about 350m west along the road. Bit forlorn with many empty shops, but a few decent places to spend some Rupees.

Nearby Attractions

The Taj Mahal is certainly Agra’s, and possibly India’s, number one attraction. About 12 minutes (around the corner and 2.5 km northwest up Taj East Gate Road) by auto-rickshaw. Separate entries for men and women. Open from sunrise to sunset, but closed on Fridays.
Agra Fort – The grand Red Fort (Lal Qila) symbolizes power and resilience. Partly occupied by the Indian Army, tourists can still see multiple mosques, palaces, and other structures inside this vast monument located close to the city center. Open from 6 am to 6 pm on all days. (5 km).
Itimad-ud-Daula – Popularly thought of as the first draft of the Taj Mahal, and often known as “Baby Taj”. The tomb is the first marble structure built by the Mughals and features intricate lattice work. Open from sunrise to sunset. (9 km).
Soor Sarovar Bird Sanctuary – A haven for several species of birds and a must-visit for wildlife photographers. Apart from birds, it also houses pythons and Wildlife SOS, the largest bear rescue center in India, as well as the only elephant hospital in the country. (25 km).
Fatehpur Sikri – This majestic red sandstone fort is known for the Buland Darwaza, Jama Masjid, Tomb of Salim Chishti, Diwan-i-Aam, Diwani-i-Khas, and several other monuments on-site. Built in the 16th-century by Emperor Akbar to celebrate the birth of his son, Jahangir, in Sikri. Open daily from 6 am to 6 pm. Tickets can be bought online from various travel portals or at the fort entrance. (40 km).

Trident – The Hotel

The Trident is located at a busy junction in downtown Agra.

The Trident Agra is almost at a junction in downtown, with a mall and a few restaurants within walking distance.

The modern hotel features a traditional design.

The hotel is modern but features a traditional design.

The vast hotel gardens sport a very nice design.

The hotel gardens are expansive and attractively designed.

The buildings are scattered around large, shady lawns.

Around the outside of the buildings housing the rooms are more shady lawns.

The hotel also boasts a full-size cricket pitch.

Remarkably, there is even a full-size cricket pitch at the back of the hotel.

The vast hotel even boasts large vegetable gardens.

There is so much space all over, including some substantial vegetable gardens.

The hotel offers plenty of facilities for families.

Unlike other hotels, the Trident provides facilities for families, including a badminton court.

The modest playground is better than what rivals offers in the city.

Adjoining the badminton court is a small playground. This is certainly modest compared to those at resorts across Southeast Asia, but larger than almost anything else offered in Agra.