Something different

BLOG

Delhi, 10^th October 2013

In Delhi for a few days…As some of you may know I have a small local project office in Delhi, so being here allows me to catch up with them. Being in Delhi also brings up the differences in the riches in this world. From polished well organised Singapore to the organised chaos and extremities of Delhi. While the difference between rich and poor in Singapore is contained and controlled, it is extreme from one end of the scale to another here in Delhi. Every time I come here it strikes me. It was even brought home further by the hotel I am staying in this time around. It took about 7 years to built and only just opened a month ago or so. I am staying at the 7 star Dusit Devanara near Gandhi International Airport courtesy of the event organisers. The hotel was designed by renowned Thai architect Lek Bunnag and is an artwork of some extravagance. At the same time the huge 8 acre site with only 50 rooms (suites is a better description) has huge water bodies, integrates nature and greenery, with architectural elements playing strongly with light and shadow.

I was told that the architect felt he was good enough to do the lighting himself and though I must say the general conceptual lighting approach has lots of merits, to my trained and experienced eyes it clearly lagged a professional lighting input. In the rooms poor to practically non existing facial lighting at the vanity sinks, inconsistent lighting colours, a night light that is as bright as a floodlight. The use of Digivalet on the bedside Ipad to control virtually everything in the room was refreshing. With only 3 control panels in the whole room (one at the entrance and one each bedside) is also something I appreciate. I manage to figure out the lighting in the shortest of time. Quite different from some other hotels where you have to spent a while flicking on and off (after finding the switch first! To understand what switches what. Here everything was clear pretty much straight away. Pity the dimming was not working to make it perfect. Definitely something different. Specifically the door camera (instead of the peephole) to allow you to see who is at the door from your Ipad and unlock the door without getting out of bed!

Light Watch 4-174: Here are some impressions of the room and the hotel.