Desi Design by Devanshi Mody
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Narain Niwas Palace Hotel
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For designer it certainly is, what with the flourish of glam new addresses, be they hotels, restaurants, bars or spas that have world-class style and panache. And, crucially, haven’t failed to catch the international eye. Here, dutifully presented, are the most dramatically designer venues.
Dungarpur’s Udai Billas is where the just-released Anglo-German film "Who Promises Love?” was shot. But 7 international Vogue shoots have been done here too. The big news is the conversion of the palace Janana (harem) into the sexiest al fresco dining area on earth.
Contemporary black and white pebbled walls blend seamlessly with an ancient temple facade and the ensemble forms a courtyard enclosing a brand new but made-to-look-antique, intricately carved marble fountain that forms a dinner table. When the fountain is on, it has a Jacuzzi-like effect with rose petals dancing on the bubbly water which flows towards the diner. Breathtaking.
The Yuvraj himself conceived this ingenious and inspired piece of design, but he confesses that when they started digging, they discovered foundations for an identical fountain, and feels that an ancestral spirit had drawn him to fulfilling an unfinished dream. Of course, the new but made-to-look-old pool flanked by elephants, peacocks, porticos is all the Yuvraj’s imagination.
The palace that was originally designed to be India's premier pleasure court seems all set to fulfil its purpose. Udai Billas is being hailed oversees as India’s “party palace” with the jet set bent on whizzing in to throw sensational supper parties in the designer dining area. Super supper, indeed!
Travel + Leisure voted the Oberoi Udai Villas the world’s No 1 hotel with Amar Villas and Raj Villas placed 10th and 11th respectively. Successful design helped: amalgamation of legendary Rajputana grandeur and the ultimate in modern luxury like exclusive villas with private pools, gardens, pavilions and saunas. In a way, the design envisages how a modern maharaja would have built a palace in the 21st-century - exotic, yet refined elegance incarnate.
Devi Garh is a modern-day love song in white marble, comprising everything from towering uncut blocks to beds, baths, sofas and vases. Colour comes with a green marble pool and black marble Kamal Court, where the traditional lotus motif is re-incarnated as a futuristic water maze.
Passage to India or India’s passage to the 21st-century? With an 18th-century regal amber façade and cutting edge designer interiors, Devi Garh seamlessly fuses past and future, a glorious heritage with cool contemporary chic.
None of the riotously hued Rajasthan we’d expect over here. This ground-breaking heritage property is about understated elegance with 39 designer suites, each unique, sprawling, sublimely white, enlivened with local semi-precious stones and sumptuous silks. The slickest, sexiest, most ravishing rooms and sunken marble baths next to floor-to-ceiling windows framing fabulous views have made every top international publication.
Sereno Ayuruveda Spa (The Park Hyatt, Goa): This pristine white, ethereal enclave envelopes you in a swirl of fountains, fine lines and foliage – an exquisite balance of zen and style. Tell their general manager that it’s the best spa you’ve ever been in, and he smiles that you’re not the first to have said so. Sereno Spa is Asia’s and the World’s Best Spa according to Spa Asia and Conde Nast Traveller respectively.
Internationally acclaimed as one of the world’s top restaurants, the Spice Route is poetry in design. Sheer mesmerizing sensuous exotica, Rajeev Sethi’s masterpiece took 7 years to complete. Designed to reflect the journey of spices from Kerala’s Malabar Coast through Ceylon, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Indonesia to Thailand and Vietnam, the restaurant is entirely hand painted by mural painters brought from a Kerala temple with a tradition dating back 3000 years.
Following Feng Shui, the Spice Route – a treasure trove of antiques (including 16th-century temple pillars) – is divided into nine different sections, each exquisitely depicting a stage in the journey of life with murals of the Kama Sutra (Lust Section), manuscripts of the Ramayana (Religion Section), 24 carat gold leafing (Wealth Section) et al. The courtyard is embellished with Chiang Mai sculptures and Khantoke-style seating.
Wallpaper went for swanky Cinnamon. Walk up a mini staircase upon which purple rain drizzles in the form of glitzy lights reflected in a splendid silver sun and enter the plush purple and silver setting enlivened by ornate mirrors, captivating contemporary art and a stunning, sunken private dining area whilst dancing Ganesh presides over the open kitchen. Who would have guessed that this swish restaurant is housed in one of Jaipur’s oldest palaces, the Jai Mahal Palace?
But it’s an open secret that Mumbai has some of the world’s best designed venues. Shiro, meaning 'Asian castle of sensuous indulgence', is sheer mind-blowing exotica. Rated amongst the world’s best looking bar-restaurants, this place integrates a lofty bamboo-thatched roof with low seating, eclectic lamps and mellow lighting.
Process through a towering antique metal door flanked by flaming torches and you’re confronted by three imposing 16ft high female figures dropping water into a large moat with lotus flowers. These figures guard a VIP room 10ft from the ground, overlooking a zen spa-like enclave, where rustic tranquillity fuses with the criminally crimson exuberance of sumptuous silk, chenille and velvet.
Intimate niches, each offering a unique experience of contemporised oriental mystique, are adorned with oriental statues, busts, heads and antiques as in a private castle. Castle cool indeed!
China House at Mumbai’s Grand Hyatt has to be the show-stopper. And keeping with its dramatic opening attended by the film set, the restaurant-bar continues to be where Bollywood romances are made and broken. It's heartbreakingly astonishing. Enter the dragon and you’re transported into an oriental designer space that can rival the world’s best. Exceptional attention to detail!
The almost Balinese feel of the immense open-air lounge leads to ornate doors concealing what might be one of the world’s most expansive restaurants, which encompasses interestingly-themed private dining areas nestled amidst public spaces looking into the fabulous open kitchen, where everything from chefs, staff and lotus stems are imported all the way from China. This no-expenses-spared restaurant is the ultimate extravagance.
There’s nothing groundbreaking about the design at Mumbai Leela’s Stella. But it’s so damn classy, it hurts. Celeb Italian chef Maximiliano Cotilli makes the city’s most elaborate menus degustations, including the best lasagne ever. Think aubergine and lemon puree sandwiched between two slender layers of home-made pasta.
Unforgettable is the fabulously stylish presentation of the dishes, as impressive as the plush décor with contemporary artwork highlighted by modern chandeliers. This is arguably unrivalled by even the finest Italian Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris, London or Milan - they haven’t such luxury of space, for starters. The elegant wine library remains unrivalled in India.
Vetro in Italian means glass. Venetian glass panelling and crema marfil flooring means style in any language. The slick, glass-encased Enoteca attached to the spectacular, Venetian glass-panelled Vetro are an exercise in elegance.
Vetro is moody, constantly changing hues, depending on how the vibrant glass captures light. But it’s always seductive, what with the finest Italian wines chicly showcased in the world-class Enoteca which hosts complimentary wine tasting. Notice the designer display of Italian cheeses, breads, condiments, fruit, nuts et al.
Vetro made it into Tatler, Conde Nast Traveler and Wallpaper in a span of a year, not to mention the countless other luxury international publications and now the Italian gastronomic Rosso Guide. So choose a bottle from the Enoteca and hit the restaurant. High spirits guaranteed! Vetro is so designer these days, they won’t let you in if you’re dressed in shorts and slippers, but they want you whistling by the time you leave - keeping the desi spirit. Or perhaps the 1200 bottles of stylishly-stocked Italian spirits!