West End Show

Last weekend,Three Graces,a spa by the Amatrra group,opened at Vishal Enclave,near the Metro station at Rajouri Garden. Glossed-up south Delhi ladies,doddering on high heels,swarmed the place for the launch,while actors Mughda Godse and Kunal Kapoor made a brief appearance. “West Delhi has got wealthier. People’s spending powers have increased. They no longer have to travel to south Delhi for a spa treatment,” says Abhit Sud,managing director of Amatrra,who introduced the denizens to a five-room spa and a fitness centre. So far,the only spa at West Delhi was at the Hilton hotel in Janakpuri. Annual membership at Three Graces is Rs 1 lakh as compared to Rs 2.2 lakh at its spas at The Ashoka and Le Meridien. “The stress is not so much on holistic approach as it is on beauty therapies,” says Sud. A 60-seater rooftop restaurant meanwhile offers health food.

At the West Gate Mall,a funky crowd is downing cold vodka shots at the ice bar Freeze Lounge. Ambrosia,a Greek restaurant,which opened shop in November,is wooing the well-heeled Punjabi Bagh crowd,while the boutique Muah has branched out of Khan Market to Rajouri Garden main market. “West Delhi has a lot of potential. And with the Commonwealth Games coming up,we expect a greater footfall,” says Manjit Singh,proprietor of the 80-seater Ambrosia. A meal for two here costs around Rs 2,000. Diwanshu Mittal of Muah says the business is picking up,but the designs are tamer here: “There is a slight difference in styling,since people are conservative in West Delhi.”

The Metro,which slid into the district in 2005,is the game changer. It connected the residents of Dwarka to the up-market Rajouri Garden,and then in December 2009,brought it closer to the NCR,linking the bustling Noida city centre to Dwarka. AGK Menon,town planner and convener of INTACH’s Delhi chapter,says,“What was a low-intensity shopping area has now developed into a prime market. With the development of the Metro,we see more multi-storey residential complexes and hence a proliferation of malls to meet the growing demand.”

The Metro is one reason the footfalls in malls have gone up during the weekend. “The Metro has revived the interest of the weekend crowd that comes from as far as Dwarka,” says Preeti Rai,general manager,West Gate Mall. “It has connected Rajouri Garden to the cash-rich areas of Kirti Nagar,Moti Nagar and Shalimar Bagh that lack a mall. The Metro has added a footfall of 6,000-7,000 over the weekend.”

The Lifestyle store at City Square,the first West Delhi mall that opened in 2005 and appropriately near the Metro station,is drawing in the crowd. Down the road,Shopper’s Stop,a multi-branding outlet,enlivens the otherwise dead TDI Mall,also set up in 2005.

However,opinions are still divided on West Delhi. Though the demand for better brands has been growing around West Delhi,Sameer Khurana,owner of Kolors nail bar in Punjabi Bagh,says the area will “take time to pick up”. “The rich still goes to South Delhi for shopping,” says Khurana. But malls are crawling in. Up next,according to industry watchers,the Pacific mall is about to open in Subhash Nagar.