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The hotel had services available – same-day laundry, shops, travel centre, bank, air-line offices (Indian, Jet, and Lufthansa), photography and postcards studio, 2 restaurants, internet access (pricey at 200 Rs for half an hour), post-box, doctor, astrologer, and disabled assistance. All pretty impressive, although we didn’t trouble the astrologer...

I can’t be altogether positive about the place, however. My mother’s and my rooms weren’t very close together, as they were full when we stayed there, which meant we used the phones between the rooms. Irritatingly, there was no direct dial between the rooms, and the operator took up to 3 minutes to answer the phone on occasions! The system also seemed flaky – my brother ringing us from the UK was told there was no answer from my mother’s room, although we were sitting right next to the phone waiting for him to call. The worst aspect, though, was a charge for about £10 on the bill for a phone call we disputed. They accepted it was wrongly made, but put a huge amount of pressure on us, telling us that if we didn’t pay it, the staff would have to, and that we could afford it and they couldn’t. This type of emotional blackmail over the bill, for something they accepted we had been wrongly charged for, I found absolutely unacceptable. I liked many of the Clarks hotels, but this one lets the chain down.

The first evening we were there, my mother and I had pilau rice, small paneer (cheese) pancakes with garlic sauce, lentils, and chickpeas with garlic. The portions were fairly generous, so we had a bit too much food between us, but the variety was good. The pancakes were very hot – too spicy for me – and the meal as a whole was very spicy, even thought we asked for medium, not hot. If you don’t like really hot food, it’s a good idea to ask for mild here. The cost was 1,100 Rs – expensive for India, but the food was very good indeed. The second night in Agra we were both tired after a long day, and had a passable but not amazing room service meal from the same restaurant – omelettes and toasted sandwiches. The third evening we ventured back upstairs, and had a Diwan Kebab – a mixture of lots of small servings of different dishes, available in meat and vegetarian options. We had the vegetarian one, which was 500 Rs for 2 people, and can only be ordered as a 2 person dish. It included 5 different types of curry, rice, dal, and roti bread, and was very good indeed.

The restaurant is incredibly good at Indian food, and if you’re in Agra, I’d recommend a visit here – the restaurant is open to non-guests, and indeed most of the diners when we were there weren’t staying at the hotel. Their continental food isn’t that good, so stick to the Indian.

There is a travel centre in the Clarks hotel, that will organise and book taxis for you, to and from the airport, Taj Mahal, the Fort, or Fatephur Sikri. The car we had was modern, and not an Ambassador, with a quiet engine and good suspension. The centre was very helpful when we booked, and the driver spoke English well. The prices were non-negotiable, however, but were reasonable if on the pricey side, and very reliable. It’s a good idea to have a car booked to take you from the airport to the town if you are arriving by air, as it’s a military airport with the odd civilian flight, and there aren’t many taxis there.

The driver we had spoke English well and knew exactly where he was going, but there were some (typical for India) irritations – he picked us up at the agreed time, but 5 minutes later stopped for petrol, and put pressure on us to be taken to handicraft and marble shops, etc. After words with the office, this stopped.

The prices we were quoted were 150 Rs to the airport or back, 500 return to F. Sikri, and 300 Rs return to the Taj. The last of these is very expensive, as it’s a short distance, but the other two aren’t bad.