The Most Expensive Hotel In Dhaka, Bangladesh ($200) 🇧🇩

A short hotel review — the InterContinental in Old Dhaka, at about $200 a night, which Harry calls the most luxurious in the city and possibly in Bangladesh. Pool, spa, gym, business centre and a breakfast buffet that takes him several minutes to walk round.

Two things he singles out that aren’t the amenities. The location, because Old Dhaka is where he actually wants to be filming rather than the modern districts. And the Wi-Fi, at 47 Mbps, which he says is unusual for a large five-star — the big ones are normally worse than the small ones.

Key moments

• [01:01] A business centre and conference rooms, which he tours anyway.
• [02:12] The outdoor pool, with a screen at the water so guests can watch the football from it.
• [03:04] Gym, and a steam room and sauna switched on to order with about an hour’s notice.
• [05:07] The spa: sixty minutes for around $85.
• [06:39] The room, and a bathroom he rates as the best part of it.
• [07:10] A minibar with beer in it, which he wasn’t expecting here.
• [08:12] Postcards of Cox’s Bazar — billed as the longest beach in the world — and Ahsan Manzil.
• [08:42] The view isn’t much, but the greenery is: he says it’s the most he has seen in any city, in the middle of Old Dhaka.
• [10:15] The price, stated plainly: around $200 or £180, which is not cheap and which he thinks is roughly what you get.
• [10:45] Wi-Fi at 47 Mbps, and his observation that big five-stars usually manage under 10.
• [11:19] Breakfast.
• [12:51] The Bengali section — paneer, poha, sambar, jeera aloo, mutton nihari and chicken tikka masala at breakfast.
• [13:21] Beef bacon and beef sausage rather than pork.
• [14:23] He takes one hash brown and otherwise eats local, on purpose.
• [17:02] Lassi against apple juice. The lassi wins comfortably.
• [17:28] Room service chicken tikka masala at 1,600 taka, about $15, which he notes is expensive here.
• [19:38] Considerably spicier than the version he’s used to in England.
• [20:42] The aside worth keeping: a lot of Britain’s “Indian” restaurants are Bengali-owned, which he offers as evidence for how good the cooking is.

Extracted pages

• Place: Dhaka
• Country: Bangladesh