I stayed at Ista Jan 12 for 5 days. The reception staff is ok, not very friendly. All of them very young and probably nervous. If you dont ask you dont get a view, I had to get my room changed for a better view. The room size is comparably small though well equipped and maintained. There is no iron board available, which I think is a must for a business traveller. The internet is really good.

Their own cab service is fairly expensive. I found the food options limited and highly priced. The service staff though is good and quick. Breakfast is served with plenty of options. The Lido restaurant is pool side and a bliss in Bangalore weather, with a band that plays in the evening.

The hotel is in a bustling area of Bangalore which though great due to city access , can be a disadvantage if you need to travel during peak hours. When in Bangalore stay in a hotel close to your work place, else cab services are usually delayed due to traffic snarls.
I had to move out to a closer place mid of my stay, which I must add was not a prob with Ista and they incurred no extra charged on the cancellation.

Overall the stay is confortable. Quick recommendations-
** Set up a buffet for business travellers intending to stay for a long duration
** Distribute your focus between Indian & foreign guests
** Have more experienced staff at conceirge, who can make upfront decisions & arrangements.
** Have competitive costs of transport and food facility.

Ista has been one of my favorite hotels and this new joinee to the ranks lives up to that reputation. The hotel ticks all the right boxes: spacious, well appointed rooms, a location which puts it within walking distance of the city-center, decent food and very (VERY) helpful crew. And then it adds delight to your travel with an outdoor lounge for you to unwind at the end of the day and a spa which for a an elusive moment, would help you forget your hectic business schedule. Love it!

The pink popadum restaurant is a must gom rooms are very nice, especially the ones facing ulsoor lake

I stayed at Ista for one month, the hotel's entrance is very obscure, and indeed it is just a stone throw from Trinity Circle (next to Lido), it is a 10 min walk to the Trinity Metro station, and a further 20 min walk will take you to the Church Street, Brigade Road areas, or you can take a tuk tuk to Indira Nagar within 15 min, this hotel is so centrally located.

The hotel's facade is not attractive, just another concrete block, but once inside, it is modern, it is very comfortable, if you sit at the Lido restaurant, all you can see is tropical plants and trees, you won't know you are in the middle of Bangalore.

The rooms are all small(ish), there are only a couple of big rooms as I had been told, the room has ample storage for to store at least 3-4 big suitcases of stuff. The bed is very comfortable and firm, the toilet has got a shower only, no room has bath installed.

The decor is very timber(ish), modern, and comfortable feeling. There is wifi, it is not free but if you are a member and has achieved certain number of stays, you can get free wifi for a couple of hours a day and some concessions on laundry.

I suggest to stay on the upper floors which has got great views of the city, mine is facing east which I can see Leela Palace Hotel very clear. I will avoid the west facing side which can get really hot.

Room cleaning is always done as soon as the room is ready, the staff are very efficient, usually will be done before we came back from breakfast.

Laundry service is good and always return on time.

Phone in the bathroom is not working most of the time in spite of repeated complaints, engineer came and never fixed it.

It is very quiet at night, cannot hear any noise from next door or above.

Power cut doesnt' affect the hotel as it has got backup power which takes over literally immediately after the cut.

The swimming pool is small, very clean.

The restaurant staff at Lido are very good, but I feel they are programmed in a certain way, not very flexible if you suddenly ask them something outside of what they have been told, even after staying there for weeks, they still don't quite know what you like to drink (I mean tea or coffee) first thing in the morning. The staff at The Pink Poppadom are in fact same as some of staff (Usually the taller ones from my view) that work at Lido, I feel the service at The Pink Poppadom are superb, food is great. The breakast at Lido is good, I like the choices to have both western and Indian food, beware, Indian food only available on certain days on the buffet table but you can always order them as a la carte and there is no extra charge.

I like to have drinks every now and then at the Liquid, bar staff are very friendly, very good, snack food are very tasty and it is handy especially if you are not in the mood for a big dinner at the Lido or The Pink Poppadom.

The Business centre has got 2 PCs, 1 printer and 1 scanner. PCs sometimes not working, scanner extremely slow, printers the same, and all are very ancient, they definitely need to upgrade the Business Centre hardware in this day and age.

At the reception, they are mostly efficient until I tried to dispute some of the charges and ask them to print a statement from a certain day, chaos will start to appear and usually the female staff will come to rescue and got it resolved.

On the whole, I really enjoy my 1-month stay at the hotel, I had a look of the similar rooms at the Viventa at MG Road, they are small and don't have enough storage, I like Ista more, not a busy hotel like the Viventa and make you feel more like a home.