The hotel has 550 guest rooms and houses the largest pillar-less convention hall in New Delhi, where the iconic Dehlvi family hosted the Shama-Sushama Film Awards every year through the mid-twentieth century.

It has hosted several royals and heads of state, including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Aga Khan, Pasha Party, Tito, Margaret Thatcher, President Bill Clinton, Che Guevara, and Fidel Castro.

The Ashok was built in 1956 by the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, on 25 acres of parkland donated to the government by the Prince Regent of Jammu and Kashmir, Karan Singh, and designed by the Parsi Indian architect E.B.

Usha Uthup, Sharon Prabhakar, Hema Malini, and Uday Shankar all performed at the venue prior to attaining stardom, and a notable scene from Laawaris (1981) starring Amitabh Bachchan was shot there.

[6] In May 2019, immediately after the Indian General elections and before forming his next government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a dinner chaired by Amit Shah at the hotel for leaders of their NDA coalition.