The Elgin Fairlawn, Kolkata

The hotel has a old world charm that is very endearing. It felt like a part of our history comes alive as we walk the stairs and corridors. It is very relaxing to sit in the verandah and enjoy a cup of tea. The breakfast was very good and we enjoyed it. Staff is very helpful and courteous.

The place needs upkeep. Would be great if it was painted inside to keep the place clean and shining. Also the towel’s are worn out. We had to ask for better towels.

There is a lot of history associated with the place. The room was comfortable and had a lot of character.

There were many good photos, but some of the dates on the photos were obviously wrong, like the photo that was dated "1809". There were no photographs that early. That is just one example.

Great hotel in the old style with magnificent furnishings.We received a room with a bath, for which my wife it is difficult, so they change our room to a very nice room one with a shower.Staffe were very friendly and very helpful.

Breakfast could be with a few more choices.

Heritage property, very nicely renovated and preserved. Good food. Location excellent from runners participating in Kolkata 25k by procam

1. diner restaurant very good2. staff highly motivated and efficient

1. missing safe-deposit-box (USD 50 modern type)2. missing hair dryere (USD 10)

The location of the hotel is fantastic, the hotel is beautiful and the room are nicely decorated with style and very spacious. the staff is absolutely fantastic and helpful.

the hotel has serious humidity issues, I adressed the issues to the staff taht did everything to make me feel conformable.

An old colonial style building, central to old Kolkata with great staff

The property requires a little tlc - beginning to show its age

I had to go to the US Consulate, so proximity to that is great. The property is heritage. The location in very central

Everything! there are cob webs in the ceiling, the air conditioning was dripping water into the room the whole night, the rooms are smaller than most toilets, the waiters are rude and arrogant. It is definitely not worth the money they're asking for it.

The location of the property is excellent, although as a solo female traveler I found the surrounding gullies to be rather unsafe to walk around. The property itself is beautiful but very decrepit and dusty, which was terrible for my allergies.

The place could use a deep cleaning and sprucing up. It’s in quite a state of neglect. Could be a terrific property with proper investment and also training for the staff to be more attentive and hospitable.

We loved the old world charm of this beautiful hotel. You feel like you are stepping back into time. We know they will be doing some renovations and hope they keep the true feeling of the Fairlawn and that is what brings guests back. We loved the room size and hope to book again for February 2026. Location is great and convenient. Lots of activity around the hotel, but the hotel, for the most part, is set back from the road, and some rooms have double pane windows, which gives it a quiet feeling and stay. The restaurant staff was very pleasant. We loved Dev, one of the receptionists. He was outstanding and helped us a lot. Its common rooms are well set up and decorated in that lovely old manner. We love the terrace. My wife stayed there in 1992, and for her, walking through the gates was like coming home. This is one hotel that you just have to experience for yourself.

The only thing we can fault is that the restaurant's wait staff needs to be more fully trained to be more efficient and timely when serving the tables. The breakfast buffet needs to be watched more thoroughly and should always be stocked. If you come into the later part of the breakfast service, you should not have fewer choices available. At times we felt like we had to ask for basic table things like utensils, water glasses, napkins, salt and pepper, etc. This training can be achieved relatively easily and would enhance the guests' stay.

I am a history buff so I loved the history of the hotel which is why I booked it… I loved sitting on the upstairs verandah, overhead fans whirling while I sipped. G&T… food was good, staff good… the hotel is like a dowager lady in her reclining years, a little shabby around the edges but still alive… 1 thing I would do is repaint the stairs going up and redo the carpet…that does look tattered… loved the pictures and “grand salon”

My room was exceptionally small , the other rooms were extra large.. the AC didn’t work well, the geyser didn’t work in my room and they didn’t change the water daily . Very slow service for breakfast .

The public areas are magnificent - very grand.The staff were very pleasant and helpful.

The bedrooms are shabby with badly peeling paint and tired furniture and the bathrooms (poor plumbing, dated fittings, no hot water to basin) are in desperate need renovation.

It's beautiful, good size room and fantastic location.

The water was leaking from air conditioning. They said it's been fixed but never really stopped leaking.

It’s a beautiful heritage hotel, loads of character, shabby chic, in the process of improvement since being taken over by the Elgin group. I stayed there in 1965 and it’s pretty much as it was then - Colonial splendour! The front desk staff were very cheerful, friendly and helpful, as were most of the other staff. The location is also good. I highly recommend this hotel, it’s a very special place.

We had a bit of a misunderstanding with one of the restaurant staff, his English wasn’t so good and when we pointed out that we didn’t get what we’d ordered, he argued the point! And even told us that the menu was incorrectly printed!!

I liked the openness of the lounge because it was always cool and cosy after the hustle and bustle of the day. It was absolutely lovely to be able to step into this gorgeous house with its historical architecture and cosy setting, sit down and sip a cold delicious sweet lassi or have a nice masala chai with Elgin’s delicious homemade biscuits. What made the stay truly pleasant was also the fantastic service of the staff. They were incredible, very polite and attentive to our requests. Five star staff! We had our Bengali family over and had reserved an evening dinner. The service was perfect with the food served on time and at the same time. The menu is quite impressive and the quality of the food is top notch! Every dish we ordered irrespective of the menu type was beautifully plated and delicious! The breakfast was average. I was satisfied with the options but having been to many hotels of this standing, I guess I was expecting some more fruit or a change in the Indian options.

The only thing I was not too keen about was the bathroom which was a wet room. It’s very common in India to have wet bathrooms but my parents and children had the shower separated from the toilet area which was more comfortable compared to our bathroom which was completely wet after a shower. I didn’t want to change rooms because of that because everything else was perfect and it was a small inconvenience but if this could be fixed for future guests it would really improve the experience in room number 12.

Super comfy, well-run hotel with a great staff & nice restaurant. Not exactly perfect if you’re obsessed with that, but it has immense character & history —and that’s exactly what we love! Some of the best bits of this place are hanging on the walls—in our week there we studied almost all of it with great interest.

Perfect location for exploring Calcutta.We were given a very nice room after initially spending one night in a room with no windows!

Location was great and staff could not help enough, arranged whatever I needed food the short time I was there.

For a higher end property, the tv did not work and would expect it to have. Had to call maintenance twice and then gave up. Only… very small issue, otherwise really good.

Comfortable old style hotel; reception staff very helpful

All the standard rooms are adjacent to the reception and dining area; in addition ours was between the kitchen and the dining area.. Some of the staff were inconsiderate in the amount of noise they made outside our room, especially at night.The breakfast staff were slow to refresh used tables and refill the buffet