Nanotel - The Boutique Business Hotel

Located in the heart of the Hi-tech city, Nanotel, a self-proclaimed "boutique business hotel", has business in its heart and mind, and is strictly meant for people on the move - people who might drop in to finish their modern-day business obligations with the basic amenities required, and will not spare much thought to the restricted space, the spartan decor or the bog-standard menu.

Keeping in tab with its business hotel tag, Nanotel's lobby is an expansive space, done in understated white and brown monotones. There are a few plush, chocolate-coloured sofas around a black table, and the only splash of colour in the sprawl is brought by a some in-house plants in glass enclosures. The glass walls surrounding the lobby accentuate the feeling of space and let lot of sunshine in. Dark, tribal articrafts add to the sombre look of the lobby.

The moment you step inside a suite, you feel that perhaps the "nano" part of the hotel's name has found expression in the space alloted to its rooms. The suites consist of an antechamber, a main room and a bathroom. The antechamber is a corridor-like space with a working desk and a small sofa thrown in. The moderately-sized main room has 2 beds, and makes up for the stingy space by providing facilities like an LCD TV, a phone with direct-calling facilities, WiFi connectivity, tea and coffee-makers, a mini-bar, a frigidaire and an electronic safe locker. The rooms are done in the same white and brown blend, with a few colourful paintings and pastel-curtains breaking the scheme.

The bathrooms are cramped and are provided with the bare minimum, a hair dryer being the lone distinguishing factor. The absence of bathtubs in the separate showering space provided is rather conspicuous.v The single and double rooms are spitting images of the suite, sans the antechamber.

There are 22 single rooms, 22 double rooms and 4 suites in the hotel, totalling 48 rooms. With the undesired economy in space, the room tariffs bend towards pricey with single rooms, double rooms and suites available at Rs. 2,750, Rs. 3,500 and Rs. 4,500 respectively (at the time of writing in November 2010).

Adjoining the lobby is a mini conference room called The Chamber, which can accomodate 20 people, and is equipped with a power point projector and other conveniences to conduct business meetings.

Nanotel also has a hair-styling and massage saloon called Mane, where you can get a hair-cut for Rs. 160, a pedicure for Rs. 400, a Shehnaz facial for Rs. 800 and a massage for Rs. 400. Fitness freaks and jettisoned fliers might sorely miss the presence of a gym, which is still under construction.

The hotel also offers other services that include PC stations, a cake-shop and a doctor on call.

Nanotel comes with a 24x7 restaurant called Bytes, and it is an extension of the hotel's bare minimum leitmotif. The 3-star status of the hotel, though very evident in the prices, certainly does not reflect in the variety of dishes offered. The menu offers a standard choice of English breakfast items that include toast, juices, beverages, cereals and omelettes. Moving down, the usual sweet corn and hot & sour soups fill up the soups section. Dal, Bhindi, Paneer and Alu varieties come under the Indian vegeterian fare, and a couple of varieties of fish, prawn and chicken dishes cover the non-vegeterian section. Vegeterian and non-vegeterian South-Indian thalis also figure on the menu, though the inclusion of a North-Indian thali would have been a great idea, keeping in view the migrant population of the area. There are a few Chinese items like Manchuria, Noodles and Chicken 65. Ice-creams and gulab jamuns are the only desserts offered.

The jewel in the crown is the hotel's pub, Down Under, which engulfs you in its cosy, ochre-lighted charm as soon as you step in. The earthy bamboo chairs lend a rustic feel to the atmosphere, and the dimly-done lights, along with a few drinks from the replete bar and soothing music by the in-house DJ, can do wonders for frayed nerves. A snookers table and flavoured hookahs heighten the unwinding experience.

A stay in Nanotel is ideal for those who seek the close proximity of the Hi-tech city for the ease of business, and whose trips are invariably "billed to company".