Iris - The Business Hotel — Hotel in Bengaluru

After staying a few nights at the wonderful Elanza hotel, we wanted to be a tad more central, a little cheaper and seeing as we were sticking around in Bangalore another couple weeks we wanted a bit more of a living space apartment/suite over a hotel. After being messed around by Airbnb, we found Brunton Aster...||-The Good- |As soon as we arrived we were given a small, "hotel" style room on the third floor, so I immediately informed reception that I specifically booked a suite with a kitchenette and some living space so we could have friends over to drink till the early hours as Bangalore nightlife finishes at midnight. |I was told that I had booked the cheaper room online but they went ahead and gave us a large, super spacious suite on the ground floor for no extra cost, which was fantastic. There was a dining table in the kitchenette area, room for a sofa and TV, and a huge bed with plenty of storage space (I unpacked my entire bag into the wardrobe)| Later, with help from some local friends, we requested saucepans, plates, a 2 burner electric stove and some cutlery to fill the totally bare kitchenette. In this place if you don't ask, you don't get. But when you do, they deliver wonderfully!|Room service were quick to send us milk and tea when we awoke late and missed breakfast (complimentary even though we hadn't paid for that option, which was very kind of them) | Even when it got late (around 3-5pm) as we were too hungover to move, we would request a room clean and they would happily oblige despite the silly times||They were very accommodating of guests (and we always had drinks till the early hours) and for a few days when I was alone in the room I felt very safe as the staff were always checking up on me particularly when I had guy friends round and it was getting late. Normally this would irritate me to no end, but this is India after all and I was a lone female for a few days so I thought it very kind and considerate of them. ||Location was amazing! Especially for the price. All the main roads were a walk away, we were literally off MG road, but ours was a quiet road and away from the incessant traffic and horn blaring. In one direction you had Brigade road, church street etc, for all the shopping, bars, food, tourist needs. And on the right there was a lovely big mall with shops such as Big Bazaar and a gourmet food shop, FabIndia, Mac, an amazing momo stand, fast food joints, and a cinema. That part of MG road is littered with banks and ATMs too so there's no shortage of cash. |You could catch a 30p rickshaw to all the clubs and bars. |But most importantly, it just so happened that all the friends we made and partied with actually lived on Brunton Road! It was destiny that we'd stumbled upon Brunton Aster Suites by mistake. ||On our final day, which happened to be New Year's Day, we had a late flight to the next destination and the staff kindly offered us a 3-4pm grace period to check out, very generous compared to the strict noon checkouts. As we were still massively hungover and didn't need to be at the airport until 9.30pm, the receptionist allowed us to stay as late as 8pm till our cab arrived, all for the cost of an extra tenner. ||-The Average-|The gym wasn't particularly well equipped. A deflated swiss ball (luckily I had my own), a few free weights ranging from 2kg - 10kg, a rickety old treadmill that I actually was a little frightened to use as my long stride seemed to be the same size of the whole thing! When I ran at 14kpm I swear the thing was going to snap. No A/C but a little fan that I pointed directly at me worked a treat. Plus it was always empty. ||Hotel food wasn't bad. Still preferred to go out to get munch, but as our timings were all messed up the room service came in very handy. And whenever they were no longer serving food (it wasn't 24 hours like normal hotels) they would promptly put us through to a place nearby that would deliver. |At one of the few breakfasts that we woke up for (or rather stayed up till 6am for) I really fancied dosa. I asked politely for it and was told that the kitchen isn't making it. Then after my boring toast and tea arrived, the man next to us - who had ordered everything off the menu as if he'd never seen breakfast in his life - demanded some dosa and got it sent to him! Immediately I called the waiter and asked him why I was refused it despite asking politely? He apologised and I got my dosa even though by then I was too full to eat it, and it wasn't as nice as the ones you get round the corner anyway. ||-The Bad-|Lack of light and wifi. If these two aspects of the room had been fixed then I'd have awarded Brunton Aster a 4-5 star rating!|As we were on the ground floor, and as with most hotels in India, there was NO NATURAL LIGHT. In the heat of the day when it was 30 degrees sunshine outside, I would fling open the curtains and barely a sliver of sunlight would come through. Then at night one had to turn on every single bulb and lamp in that room to get some decent light in. This affected our stay heavily, as it messed with our mornings and waking patterns, made us feel a little depressed if we hadn't left the apartment all day, and starved us of much needed vitamin D. |Worse still, if we did open the curtains we were right next to where the staff and others had their tea break, smokes, gossip, which meant that they would peer in to see what we were doing. So we had to just keep the curtains closed at all times!||This place has some sort of wifi network block. Firstly the wifi was temperamental and always appeared to be on and yet would switch on and off. Absolutely infuriating. So we decided to use our 3G dongle (though having to pay for that when we were promised wifi made us pretty mad)... But it was still rubbish, which made us come to the conclusion that the cell tower or satellite or whatever it is that improves wifi connectivity must be bust in the area. |We explained that we are writers and Internet connectivity is of the upmost importance. To be fair they did try to sort it out, but what can they do if it's just the area that's not good for wifi? In the end they gave out those old school wires to connect directly to the laptop. |So it's not really their fault. But it did hinder the experience for us||The first, smaller room they'd allocated to us had a nifty power-jet shower cubicle, and one of the essentials for a good stay is a nice bathroom. When we were moved to the large suite I was disappointed to find that it was another wet room with a flimsy shower curtain separating the sink and toilet from the shower area. Hot water seemed to come on at random times so we had to be lucky to catch it. A shower first thing almost always meant bathing in lukewarm water. |However the shower was powerful enough to wash my hair and detachable for the days I didn't need to. |The flush was a little weak though, which wasn't particularly pleasant the morning after a heavy night of drinking and spicy food...! Oo-er. ||Perhaps this was more so due to the nature of our stay (a place to party till the wee hours and drink and entertain friends) but every morning we would be disturbed by a series of calls from housekeeping/room service asking if we wanted our laundry done. Then if we wanted breakfast. Then if we wanted the room cleaned. When all we really wanted was a lie in! ||-The Verdict-|Overall I reckon I would stay again, but perhaps book the larger suites on the upper floors with a balcony so that there's a bit more natural light. |Staff are lovely, and very accommodating. But it is literally a case of having to demand/coax these guys into getting...

After staying a few nights at the wonderful Elanza hotel, we wanted to be a tad more central, a little cheaper and seeing as we were sticking around in Bangalore another couple weeks we wanted a bit more of a living space apartment/suite over a hotel. After being messed around by Airbnb, we found Brunton Aster...||-The Good- |As soon as we arrived we were given a small, "hotel" style room on the third floor, so I immediately informed reception that I specifically booked a suite with a kitchenette and some living space so we could have friends over to drink till the early hours as Bangalore nightlife finishes at midnight. |I was told that I had booked the cheaper room online but they went ahead and gave us a large, super spacious suite on the ground floor for no extra cost, which was fantastic. There was a dining table in the kitchenette area, room for a sofa and TV, and a huge bed with plenty of storage space (I unpacked my entire bag into the wardrobe)| Later, with help from some local friends, we requested saucepans, plates, a 2 burner electric stove and some cutlery to fill the totally bare kitchenette. In this place if you don't ask, you don't get. But when you do, they deliver wonderfully!|Room service were quick to send us milk and tea when we awoke late and missed breakfast (complimentary even though we hadn't paid for that option, which was very kind of them) | Even when it got late (around 3-5pm) as we were too hungover to move, we would request a room clean and they would happily oblige despite the silly times||They were very accommodating of guests (and we always had drinks till the early hours) and for a few days when I was alone in the room I felt very safe as the staff were always checking up on me particularly when I had guy friends round and it was getting late. Normally this would irritate me to no end, but this is India after all and I was a lone female for a few days so I thought it very kind and considerate of them. ||Location was amazing! Especially for the price. All the main roads were a walk away, we were literally off MG road, but ours was a quiet road and away from the incessant traffic and horn blaring. In one direction you had Brigade road, church street etc, for all the shopping, bars, food, tourist needs. And on the right there was a lovely big mall with shops such as Big Bazaar and a gourmet food shop, FabIndia, Mac, an amazing momo stand, fast food joints, and a cinema. That part of MG road is littered with banks and ATMs too so there's no shortage of cash. |You could catch a 30p rickshaw to all the clubs and bars. |But most importantly, it just so happened that all the friends we made and partied with actually lived on Brunton Road! It was destiny that we'd stumbled upon Brunton Aster Suites by mistake. ||On our final day, which happened to be New Year's Day, we had a late flight to the next destination and the staff kindly offered us a 3-4pm grace period to check out, very generous compared to the strict noon checkouts. As we were still massively hungover and didn't need to be at the airport until 9.30pm, the receptionist allowed us to stay as late as 8pm till our cab arrived, all for the cost of an extra tenner. ||-The Average-|The gym wasn't particularly well equipped. A deflated swiss ball (luckily I had my own), a few free weights ranging from 2kg - 10kg, a rickety old treadmill that I actually was a little frightened to use as my long stride seemed to be the same size of the whole thing! When I ran at 14kpm I swear the thing was going to snap. No A/C but a little fan that I pointed directly at me worked a treat. Plus it was always empty. ||Hotel food wasn't bad. Still preferred to go out to get munch, but as our timings were all messed up the room service came in very handy. And whenever they were no longer serving food (it wasn't 24 hours like normal hotels) they would promptly put us through to a place nearby that would deliver. |At one of the few breakfasts that we woke up for (or rather stayed up till 6am for) I really fancied dosa. I asked politely for it and was told that the kitchen isn't making it. Then after my boring toast and tea arrived, the man next to us - who had ordered everything off the menu as if he'd never seen breakfast in his life - demanded some dosa and got it sent to him! Immediately I called the waiter and asked him why I was refused it despite asking politely? He apologised and I got my dosa even though by then I was too full to eat it, and it wasn't as nice as the ones you get round the corner anyway. ||-The Bad-|Lack of light and wifi. If these two aspects of the room had been fixed then I'd have awarded Brunton Aster a 4-5 star rating!|As we were on the ground floor, and as with most hotels in India, there was NO NATURAL LIGHT. In the heat of the day when it was 30 degrees sunshine outside, I would fling open the curtains and barely a sliver of sunlight would come through. Then at night one had to turn on every single bulb and lamp in that room to get some decent light in. This affected our stay heavily, as it messed with our mornings and waking patterns, made us feel a little depressed if we hadn't left the apartment all day, and starved us of much needed vitamin D. |Worse still, if we did open the curtains we were right next to where the staff and others had their tea break, smokes, gossip, which meant that they would peer in to see what we were doing. So we had to just keep the curtains closed at all times!||This place has some sort of wifi network block. Firstly the wifi was temperamental and always appeared to be on and yet would switch on and off. Absolutely infuriating. So we decided to use our 3G dongle (though having to pay for that when we were promised wifi made us pretty mad)... But it was still rubbish, which made us come to the conclusion that the cell tower or satellite or whatever it is that improves wifi connectivity must be bust in the area. |We explained that we are writers and Internet connectivity is of the upmost importance. To be fair they did try to sort it out, but what can they do if it's just the area that's not good for wifi? In the end they gave out those old school wires to connect directly to the laptop. |So it's not really their fault. But it did hinder the experience for us||The first, smaller room they'd allocated to us had a nifty power-jet shower cubicle, and one of the essentials for a good stay is a nice bathroom. When we were moved to the large suite I was disappointed to find that it was another wet room with a flimsy shower curtain separating the sink and toilet from the shower area. Hot water seemed to come on at random times so we had to be lucky to catch it. A shower first thing almost always meant bathing in lukewarm water. |However the shower was powerful enough to wash my hair and detachable for the days I didn't need to. |The flush was a little weak though, which wasn't particularly pleasant the morning after a heavy night of drinking and spicy food...! Oo-er. ||Perhaps this was more so due to the nature of our stay (a place to party till the wee hours and drink and entertain friends) but every morning we would be disturbed by a series of calls from housekeeping/room service asking if we wanted our laundry done. Then if we wanted breakfast. Then if we wanted the room cleaned. When all we really wanted was a lie in! ||-The Verdict-|Overall I reckon I would stay again, but perhaps book the larger suites on the upper floors with a balcony so that there's a bit more natural light. |Staff are lovely, and very accommodating. But it is literally a case of having to demand/coax these guys into getting...

I stayed there for about two months so I may have seen things others haven't in a shorter amount of time.

Pros: -The hotel looks very nice. They have a stunning lobby with glass doors and windows which is where I spent most of my time sitting on the couches reading the newspaper, working on my laptop or browsing on my phone. -The breakfast buffet was delicious. Lots of variety and food was tasty. The breakfast team treats you with respect and makes you feel like you're at home. -The night manager, Sairam, was a pleasure to speak with. He was friendly, courteous, professional and shared good tips for someone who isn't familiar with the city. -The rooms were clean and spacious and most importantly, they have an ethernet port. This was crucial for me as I would work during the weekday and I needed a strong and consistent internet connection to make video calls. Having the ethernet port made working easier.

Cons: The wifi policy was silly. The policy was each room is only allowed 2 connections for the wifi and if you needed additional connections then they would provide you with a 24 hour connection (With data transfer constraints). So since I was staying with another guest and we each had 2 phones and 2 laptops, I would constantly ask for multiple 24 hour passwords almost every day. I asked for the hotel to make an exception but they said unfortunately that's their policy and nothing could be done. On my last day, I spoke to Managing Partner Mr. Shakeer and mentioned my wifi issue and he said they do make exceptions. If that was the case, then it was poorly communicated to the staff as I asked multiple times if something could be done. Their gym is very sad. I wouldn't even call it a gym but rather a "Cardio Room" so people don't have a misunderstanding of what to expect. This wasn't too much of a big deal because I was always out and about but it would have been nice to lift some free weights. After a couple months of stay, I noticed that their was a clog being developed in my standing shower that caused water to drain very slow which caused temporary flooding. -Mr. Santoush, one of the managers at the hotel is the most introvert manager I have ever met. During my 2 months staying at the hotel, he never once said hello to me. He would just walk by and act like I wasn't there. Even on my last day, as I was speaking to Mr. Shakeer, he was literally right there and never said a word or even thanked me for my stay. One of the pillars in the hospitality and tourism industry is customer service and this was definitely missing from him.

Overall, the cons are minor compared to the pros and I would stay at the hotel again if...