The Imperial Salon, Delhi

Salon at the Hotel Imperial Delhi

So how does the grand old dame of India’s luxury hotel industry – a hotel that was built more than three-quarters of a century ago – continue to entice more and more visitors to stop by and give it more than a passing glance?! Well, the management at The Imperial  seems to have quite a simple answer to that: Keep Reinventing! And how well they do it! After continually updating and sprucing the hotel’s interiors, they slowly upped the ante with more restaurants, shops and most recently, an unbelievably opulent Spa. Just when we thought that they were done for a while, out came the announcement of their brand new Salon. Of course, Madhu and I had to go check it out.

The Imperial Salon at Hotel Imperial, Delhi

Built alongside the gorgeous Spa below the hotel grounds, the Imperial Salon is a much-awaited addition to the hotel’s impeccable array of services. Unlike the spa, though, non-guests can also avail of the Salon’s services and this must be a big boon to both the city’s elite residents as well as its visitors. It offers the very best in hair and skin care with products from Kerastase-Paris, Natura-Bisse and Yves Saint Laurent. The small reception area where we were greeted by the Salon manager and his staff is not only light and airy but also chic with freshly upholstered antique chairs. A short corridor beyond the reception area leads to separate service halls for men and women. Both areas are spotlessly neat and well-designed with several stations for hair-care and manicures/pedicures. One section of the ladies’ room had natural light pouring in through overhead sky-lights and this gave the place a bright and cheerful look, while the men’s room’s stunning black interiors looked suave and sophisticated!

Madhu and I both opted for the Salon’s signature Hair Ritual, for which we were led off to the service halls where we were introduced to hair-care specialists, trained specifically on the Kerastase line of hair products. The young lad assigned to me started the treatment by asking me specific questions about my hair and my hair-care routine. Then he seated me next to a laptop, which was connected to a hand-held camera device. He used this camera to take pictures of my scalp, hair roots and strands. Then he used a software to compare my pictures to those on the database and show me the type and quality of my hair. I learnt that I have an oily scalp with dry hair, which is of fine texture but of thick density. Based on this information, the specialist recommended an ‘Intense Nourishing’ treatment using Kerastase products and I happily submitted to his suggestion.

What followed was an hour of pure, luxuriant bliss! After washing my hair, a hair-serum was applied carefully to every strand on my scalp until they became soft and shiny like never before. Then a nourishing hair-mask was applied and left on while I was given the most relaxing head and shoulder massage ever! Before the final shampoo and rinse, a hair-cut specialist gave me a short trim to ensure that the ends of my hair looked healthy and perfect. In the end, when they blow-dried my hair and styled it, it looked, and more importantly felt, just like the celebrity manes on glossy magazine covers – a complete transformation!

Throughout the treatment the staff at the Salon was absolutely courteous and warm. They plied me with water and tea, ensuring that I stay hydrated and relaxed. The manager of the salon stopped by twice to check on me and ensure that everything was going well! I felt very well-looked after and that helped bring about a truly relaxing experience …. or should I say a truly ‘Imperial’ experience !?!

Rating: 10 out of 10