CaLDRON February 2014 - Valentine's Day Special | Page 24

ROAMING ROVER

C

larks Amer in Jaipur
claims to be India's first
ISO 9001:2000 accredited hotel as
judged by QSI, USA. This Jaipur
business hotel has also attained ISO
14001:2004. When you are planning
a trip to Jaipur and figuring out the
best hotels to stay in, statements like
the ones above literally cinch the
deal. In layman terms you presume
that the business hotel is top-notch.
Well, Clarks Amer definitely has the
credentials to make such claim.

The entrance to Clark’s Amer, Jaipur

clark’s amer

JAIPUR
SERVICE WITH A

SIGH

First looks can be deceptive. That is how we
would best sum up our stay at Hotel Clarks
Amer in Jaipur.

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This 40-year old hotel is part of the
Clarks group that manages a chain
of four business hotels in non-metro
cities of India. Clarks Amer is located close to Jaipur airport and rubs
shoulders with Marriott and Radisson hotels located nearby. Spread
across 9-odd acres, the hotel has 211
rooms including 14 duplex penthouses, 3 restaurants, a spa, gym
and around 5 convention centers.
Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? But
there is one thing that Clarks Amer
lacks, which is the most important
aspect of any hospitality establishment; especially one which is entirely service-oriented.
The customer service is deplorable.
Before I related a series of scenarios
that led to this conclusion, perhaps a
tour of the property is in order.
Rooms without a View
Clarks Amer offers three types of
rooms – Superior, Privilege and
Penthouse. We stayed in a Privilege
room, which had facilities like STD/
ISD phone calls from the rooms, Internet port, multi-channel TV, safety
locker, hairdryer, etc. The refrigerator was strangely empty. That the
hotel has not seen a major
CaLDRON February 2014