The Elgin Fairlawn - Kolkata - Heritage Hotel (Since 1783)

The moment we stepped into this property, it felt as if the time has stopped. The spacious bunglow is well maintained and gives insight into its heritage. Loved by tourists and centrally located near major attractions gives it an old world charm. The stay was comfortable. One feels dwarfed when standing in this property. We stayed in Jenny Flower room (Room 1 ) which opens to common balcony where you can sit and enjoy quiet time with a book and tea or beer. The staff anchors the guest well and their garden restaurant is great place to have a quiet evening over a Darjeeling tea

There is potential in this hotel but it is in dire need of renovation. The walls are peeling of, mold everywhere (including in our shower, the towels were happily placed against it) and the places around the rooms need a proper clean up because as a guest you actually look at it and it looks like total chaos. Upon arrival we were given room 16. The airconditioning in this room was not working properly. They moved us to room 2 where it was working a bit better, but not good either. We booked a deluxe room and I have the feeling that our initial room was not a deluxe room. Room 2 was much bigger. A lot of things are missing for the hotel to start calling itself luxurious. There is no safe or hairdrying in the room. You can make use of a safe at the reception. The towels were in threads and there was almost no water pressure. The waiters at the restaurant had no eye for the guests and only came whenever you called them. I heard more guests complaining about this. On a positive note: the food was fine.

We stayed here for just one night on the last night of our holiday. The furnishings and decorations have been carefully gauged to reflect the heritage of the building.|Our room was excelent.|I was most impressed by the man on front desk who was most polite and keen to help. The same guy was there when we booked in late in the afternoon and still on duty when we left to catch our flight in the early hours.|The only area that I felt needed improvement was the bar and dining service. Both were a bit erratic with two people bringing us glasses in one case and then, at dinner, food was served in a piecemeal fashion. I had a quiet word with the head waiter on this score as at least both our starters should have been served at the same time rather than with a seven minute gap.

We had been keen to visit the Fairlawn for the past 20 years - it did not disappoint!||Clearly this is a heritage property with an ongoing renovation project which is trying to retain the legacy of Violet Smith, the previous owner. So it's not completely spick and span - for example, our shower was at times challenging in terms of water pressure and temperature. However, for us such minor issues are worth accepting for the fun of staying in this unusual and special hotel.||We were really happy with the room we were allocated - room 16, which is upstairs and out the back. Several other rooms give directly onto reception/dining rooms but those at the back are quiet and more private. It had a fridge and kettle, plenty of storage and a very comfortable bed. NB We noticed that some of the deluxe rooms had walk-in showers and others (like ours) showers over the original cast iron bathtubs, so if this matters to you it's worth asking in advance.||Excellent food at a reasonable price meant we dined in the hotel most evenings. The terrace is particularly relaxing and pretty with lots of fairy lights and plants, while the inside dining room is more formal. We also tried out several of the food stalls clustered at the 'Indian Museum' end of Sudder Street - delicious and of course very cheap.||NB the hotel recently regained its liquor license, and a decent range of spirits, cocktails and lager is on offer, along with soft drinks and warm beverages.||Stylish, comfortable and blessed with a wonderful staff who function well as a team and seem to enjoy their work, the hotel would certainly be our first port of call if we were to return to Kolkata.

Its an heritage hotel running in more than 2 and half centuries old buildings,other than that hard to find any point to stay in this property with the price it has.|No doubt building itself is a reason and common areas are well maintained but rooms needs serious renovation,everything from pluming to furniture to electrical needs renovation.|Location is on sudder street which is centrally located but same time its too crowded due to large number of budget hotels and new market in the vicinity,my room was at one side where there was a road connecting sudder street to new market and it remains noisy till late night around 11-12.|Breakfast was ok,expected more items plus service was slow,also found the waiters at restaurant biased ,were more interested serving foreign guest than domestic,ordered egg and it arrives after 2-3 reminder whereas many arriving after me got earlier,same for tea,they didn't bother to even ask for tea or coffee whereas can clearly see they were asking others.|Overall experience was disappointing,if someone loves heritage hotels and wants to stay at crowded central area then ok otherwise no other reason to stay here.

The Elgin Fairlawn has def had a facelift. A lovely ambiance. Many attentive and helpful staff, starting with Debasish at the reception, Rinky, Prakash and Paele and Anand on service . Service of rooms too was good. |What def needs improvement is letting guests know what is available to order at Breakfast and for the buffet to be served hot. |Re: Disappointed with room 14 downstairs which was very bare, no window, no pics, including only a sink, no vanity in the bathroom and nowhere to put your toiletries. I'm sure this could be addressed in keeping with the heritage style of the hotel. Would have been a 5 star rating if room was better appointed. Excellent location. |Should be a 3.5 star based on the room.

Good location however you and hemmed in between noisy roads and markets so up to 9pm it is noisy and not a quiet place or escape. The communal areas are lovely to look at plenty of heritage faded glamour, the reason to go. However a lot of it tips over faded into grotty, it really needs some work and money spent to get back to faded. The deluxe rooms out the back really need some attention, our first room, 16, completely unacceptable, poor bathroom design and the kitchen extractor fan outside the bathroom window. Opened the door and you get kitchen smells in the room. We were moved after complaining along the balcony to another room that was quite nice and had Biden of the issues . It is noisy, some of their doing but most in fairness down to the busy location. Needs some attention to detail, it relies too much on past glories and very old photos of international guests who stayed a long time ago. Nice but was disappointed.

Place has been upgraded in the last few years without losing its charm. Staff very helpful. Food could be better and the packed breakfast was disappointing. Why give stale bread sandwiches when we could have delicious parathas. Other than that everyone in my tour group had a fantastic experience.