Hanging Gardens, Island Restaurants & Peacock Suites: The Star Hotel Is #StaycationGoals

One of the newer 5-Star hotels to join the ranks in Bangalore, ITC Gardenia is indulgent, airy, filled with greenery, and is a real tribute to Bangalore, the Garden City.

Inspired by Bangalore, and the surrounding area’s history and culture, ITC Gardenia is one of the finest hotels in the city. Lush with greenery, from balcony gardens to island restaurants, it’s like a breath of fresh air, literally. The whole building is made from Gwalior sandstone and Malaysian red brick, magnifying the earthy appeal, and once you enter, the Lotus Pavilion greets you, carrying forward the ‘green’ theme. Meant to be a living room with a roof, the entire sloping roof of this day-time restaurant is lush green grass, and since it’s an island restaurant, the soothing water around it makes it even more serene. Add to that the vertical gardens in their restaurant, Cubbon Pavilion, and you know why we love this hotel.

Cubbon Pavilion is the 24/7 restaurant serving multi-cuisine food, we’d pick the buffet here, so a full range of feasting. Though, the dishes can be rather repetitive. Edo is their Japanese speciality restaurant, and we might just move here for the authentic sushi and sashimi. Oh, and their Bento box meals too. If you’re looking to find Italian food, look no further than Ottimo which takes the traditional and gives it a modern spin. The pizzas are flawless {try the Pizza Ottimo with porcini and salami, or the simple Margherita}, but we also love the classics like the Chicken Cacciatora, ravioli and of course, Tiramisu. For kebabs and a taste of the Awadh cuisine, make a beeline to K&K {Kebabs & Kurries}. When there, make sure to order Dal Bukhara as it’s an ITC speciality, and these guys get it spot on.

Rooms here are airy, well-lit and in tune with the whole green theme of the hotel. We love that they all have renewable and eco-responsible furnishing and bathwear. Eco-friendly for the win! Plus, all the rooms look inwards, into a garden, so there’s no fear of drawing one’s curtains in the morning to see the neighbours laundry! Some rooms look onto Cubbon Park, making them all as good as the other. Unless you want to live it up in the Peacock Suite which is touted to be the biggest in India. Feel free to check in team LBB at this room, if you want to show us some love.

If you want a view of the other side of Gardenia, then dive into the swimming pool. It has lovely views of UB City, and the rest of the Vittal Mallya Road, as well as of the gorgeous sunset. There’s even a spa, but we haven’t check it out yet. But what we do know is that the hotel has a helipad, which we hear will open operations for the airport heli-taxi. Soon you may be able to fly directly from the hotel to the airport. Talk about uber luxury!