First & Last Stop, Delhi, India

Trip date: October 2024

My grand adventure on the Palace on Wheels started and ended in Delhi. As it was also a grand expense and a grand distance I was eager to make sure that I used points to fly business! I found a great price on Virgin from JFK connecting thru London for 85k + $1000 on one of the brand new A330neo. I bought a Premium class seat on Alaska Air from SEA to JFK for under $300 and that flight also earned me MVP status. Win win! 

In JFK I headed to the Amex Centurion Lounge where I then located the speakeasy 1850. The small menu of cocktails was created by Jim Meehan and my Southside was very good. Luckily it wasn't too busy when I was there so I was able to get a table, but there isn't a lot of space here so best if you are just 1 or 2.

My suite on Virgin's "Queen of the Skies" was fantastic! There is a privacy door which goes up to about chest-high, an XL lay-flat seat, a cubby with a mirror to stash belongings, a side table, a mattress & PJs (but no slippers?), and a good sized tv w/ bluetooth pairing. There is also a social area at the back of Biz class called "The Loft" which has self service fridges and a long couch. 

Sadly the food was not very good. I had ordered a lamb burger off their pre-flight menu and what arrived was a full size burger bun with a teeny lamb meatball & a similar size piece of haulumi. The flight attendant was visibly embarrassed.  

In Heathrow I had a 3+ hour layover and since my arrival and departure were in the same terminal there was no rushing through all the construction there. I did accidently go thru passport control, so I had to go thru security again, but I got to use the private Clubhouse Lounge elevator which has their own security so it was super fast!

I love the Clubhouse Lounge so it was no problem hanging out for a few hours. I took a shower in one of the private rooms, ordered breakfast in the lounge restaurant, then moved to the bar and drank champagne. 

My Virgin flight from LHR to DEL was an older A350. This also had a privacy door but the entire cabin was pretty worn and really needed an update. The lay-flat bed wasn't as comfy as others but it did have a mattress (but no PJs) and I was able to sleep most of the 8 hour flight. 

At midnight, 30 hours after I left my home in Seattle, I landed in Delhi and was met by a rep with Palace on Wheels. They greeted me with my first of many marigold garlands and not only drove me to the Oberoi Hotel but escorted me inside and made sure I was all checked in. Very nice as it was 1am by this time. 

I had booked the very elegant hotel, on the recommendation of friends who stay there often, thru my Amex Platinum Fine Hotels & Resorts program. This gave me a $200 Amex credit, $100 credit at the hotel, room upgrade, daily breakfast, and 4pm late check-out. 

My upgraded Premier King room was very large, as was the bathroom complete with stand-alone tub and huge double shower. My luggage was placed in the walk-in closet and the bellman pointed out the butler button and told me to ring if I needed anything. Lovely.

I slept for about 5 hours and then went down to the breakfast buffet. Holy cow! There was an amazing spread of just about anything you could want, plus a menu full of made-to-order options. I had no idea what to do with the selection of 8 or 9 chutneys but I tried them all! 

I spent the afternoon by the beautiful pool which was exactly what I needed after such a long trip! After the pool attendant set up my lounge chair he returned holding a tray with a cold washcloth, a bottle of cold water, frozen grapes, sunscreen, and a spritz bottle with refreshing scented water. Really a great touch!

My only option for lunch at the hotel was the Chinese restaurant Baoshuan and it ended up being a very good one. I ordered the thousand layer chicken roll, pork & prawn sui mai with XO sauce & pickles, and then the server brought me out an order of chung fun on the house, because he said its his favorite. Again, amazing service!

After lunch my friend's who I would be vacationing with arrived! We were all very excited!! 

That evening we had drinks at Lair which is billed as a speakeasy but was pretty easy to find since the name is right on the outside of the building! The drinks were interesting and very good, the service so-so. 

We had taken a private car, arranged through the hotel, so he was waiting when we finished. It's probably no surprise that traffic is even crazier than they say in this city of 33+ million and it took us 40 minutes to get to the restaurant! 

Dinner was at Indian Accent, inside the Lodi hotel, and was wonderful! The menu is filled with traditional sounding flavors and dishes but the chefs employ global & contemporary techniques to elevate them. All of our dishes were super tasty and again the service was exceptional! There is also a branch in NYC & in London. 

After dinner it was nice seeing the city buildings and memorials lit up as we headed back to the Oberoi for cocktails at the rooftop lounge. 

The next day, after another round at the awesome breakfast buffet, Rachel and I treated ourselves at the spa. My massage was excellent but what really stood out was the massage oil that my masseuse used! I loved the smell and feel of it and when I asked her about it she said she would bring me a sample to take home. She returned with a small water bottle filled with it! Again, I can't say enough about the service in India! 

I spent a bit more time relaxing by the pool before heading back to my room to finish packing. I had just been waiting on my laundry, which I had given to my butler, and it had been returned in style! 

We all checked out and met at the lobby bar for champagne and snacks before we were picked up by the Palace on Wheels and taken to the train station for our 8-day adventure around Rajasthan. 

As I mentioned in my post about the Palace on Wheels, when we returned to Delhi we did a ½ day tour mainly in Old Delhi. Even after all the forts and palaces we had seen, this was an excellent tour and I'd really encourage folks to not overlook the sights here!

Our first stop was the Red Fort built during the Mughal Empire and completed in April 1648. It was built as the palace fort in Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi) when the 5th Emperor of India, Shah Jahan, decided to move the capital from Agra. This fort was the primary residence of Shah Jahan and subsequent emperors. It was also the residence of the British colonial government during their rule into 1947.

The walled palace had 14 gates, numerous roads, canals, gardens, etc. The entrance at Lahore Gate takes you over a moat that use to be the Yamuna River and is one of only two gates remaining. 

Inside the walls there is a market area with large arched bays, a performance hall for the drummers and musicians of the emperor, and a large public audience hall where the emperor sat on his throne and held court. 

The private quarters and boat house were built next to the then there river, making it quick and easy for the emperor to get away if needed. 

There were private hamamas and a mosque as well as gorgeous buildings just used for recreation.  Gardens and fountains make up much of the center of the fort. 

Some of the buildings look a little more modern as the British destroyed many buildings, including the kitchens and stables, and built barracks during their occupation. In 1947 the Indian Army was able to take back the fort and during the Partition the grounds were used as a Muslim refugee camp.  

We left the fort and made our way (carefully!) across the busy street and into the Chandni Chowk area of Old Delhi. 

Built in 1650, this area is one of the oldest and biggest market areas in India! The main way to get around the maze of hectic and narrow streets is by rickshaw and our guide negotiated 2 of them for us. 

Spending time in this area was fascinating! I loved seeing all the different street vendors, temples, mosques, bakeries, and people going about their day to day business. Our guide explained that most of the shops in the area have been in business for 100 to 200 years! He stopped and bought us traditional chai tea served in small clay cups from a popular spot and then took us shopping for tea on my request.

Even though it was very early, and the main markets weren't even open yet, the streets were very busy! After buying tea and spices we ventured down a few side streets, they seemed to get narrower and narrower the deeper into the area we went. And the hanging electrical wires were crazy!!

Rachel had been looking for some particular jewelry so our guide also took us to a great little shop, hidden in a little dead-end alley. These tiny streets reminded me of being in the medinas in Morocco! So confusing! It was quite a thrill riding through here, I'd highly recommend a ride thru Old Delhi!

Our final stop of the day was at Humayun's Tomb. Humayun was the 2nd Mughal emperor and the tomb was commissioned by his first wife Empress Bega Begum. He was also the great grandfather of Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal. The similarities are obvious! 

The garden grounds of the complex are huge and a few other tombs are on the site as well. But we spent our time in the main one, walking around and admiring the beautiful architecture. There are actually over 150 family members and other Mughals and emperors buried here, but the odd thing is that none of the graves are marked, except with a symbol for male or female, so it's hard to know just who is who. Except for Humayun who has center stage.

Another great stop! 

We dropped my friends off back at the Oberoi while I headed to the Le Meridien where I had a comped room. My flight was later the same night so I would only be there for 5 hours, but since I'm a Marriott Gold member they upgraded my room to a 1-bedroom suite with living room, huge primary bathroom, guest bath, and lots of views of the city. I had lunch and took a quick swim in the pool, both were fine but this is definitely more of a business hotel than a resort. 

I checked out the Club Lounge, which kind of looked like a UFO to me, but they were not offering wine or cocktails until later so I went down to the main bar. It had a surprisingly long cocktail menu and the space & staff were nice. 

Palace on Wheels had the same guy pick me up to take me to the airport but this time we were really in the thick of rush hour traffic. It took us 1 ½ hours to get to there, just ~7 miles away! My driver was so worried, he even called me to make sure I got through security, but luckily I was flying business so it was a breeze. 

At DEL I hung out in the Encalm Prive Lounge, which is only available to business class passengers, vs credit card or pass holders. This lounge is HUGE! I didn't eat as I wasn't hungry yet and I was flying Singapore Air business class, thru Singapore to Seattle, and was very interested in trying their food.

I had booked my flight using my Biz Plat Amex & MR miles, and since I booked business class I was refunded 35% & there were no fees. My suite on Singapore's A380-800 was very nice! There was a side console, a footrest and a storage cubby under the footwell, also a little mirror and lots of usb plugs. Strangely though there were no pj’s/slippers, amenity bag or mattress on this 6 hour/overnight flight; that was a bit disappointing. The upper deck on these planes has a huge biz class section & I had chosen a seat in the smaller rear one thinking it would be more private. Wrong. All the families had chosen this section, so many noisy kids! The flight crew actually handed out earplugs! But the layflat was quite comfy, even though the flight attendants did not offer to make up the bed with the sheet and duvet like most do & there are no privacy door. First world problems, I know! 

Something that Singapore Air has, unlike any other biz class I have flown is, a pre flight menu option called Book The Cook. This is a special menu of Western, India, and Singapore dishes and these dishes are not available unless you pre book. Since this was a late flight I just chose some of their tandoori kebabs which were quite good! They also served some marinated prawns with cucumber as a starter which was tasty and I chose a scoop of ice cream for dessert. 

We arrived in Singapore at 6am and I had a 3 hour layover before my next flight. It's a huge airport and it took me a while to find the correct lounge. This one had some excellent food options including lots of dumplings, fried rice, and cucumber/cream cheese sandwiches. 

My next Singapore Air flight was on a A350-900 and the business class seat here was very good, even without privacy doors. This layflat pod also had great storage and a nice footrest. And the chair folds forward & down to reveal a bed and bedding. It was super comfy and the attendants will do it all for you as it really isn't automatic. The only issue with this is that you have to choose to either be in bed or be in your seat. 

I had forgotten to order my Book the Cook on this leg so I missed out on the lobster thermidor but I still had a delicious Beef Rendang! And for lunch I had prawn salad, dry style noodles Bok Chor Mee & an excellent mango passionfruit cake for dessert. 

The flight home was just under 15 hours! So it's really nice to have a comfy bed, some good movies, and lots of champagne to pass the time. 

All photos of Delhi here.

All photos of the Palace on Wheels tour here. 

Other post from this trip: Palace on Wheels; Exploring India Royally