Premium Travel: Luxury Hotels in India by Devanshi Mody
Featured Hotel in Udaipur
Trident Udaipur
See all hotels in Udaipur >
Pick up any top international glossy and you’ll see that India gets more luxury hotel and spa entries in annual compilations of “The World’s Best” lists. Indeed, the Tatler guide to the “101 Best Hotels in the World” (arguably the world’s most elitist guide) year after year is an ode to India’s luxury hotels.
The well-heeled international traveller looks to India for pampering at its premium best. Alas, it seems the uninitiated Indians themselves yet are want to whiz off to Europe and the Americas, which the hardened globetrotter will now call passé, perhaps. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
The recession, whatever its drawbacks, let us hope, will at least encourage more domestic travel and impel the Indian to explore his own backyard, now transmogrified into quite a classy courtyard fit for the finest – be it in the grandeur of the property, the sheer splendour of the setting, the serenity of a spa, the slickness of the service or simply the apogee of culinary creativity.
It is eminently worthy of lavishing one’s money on sampling the sublime. The pleasure will be all yours, but your pleasure will also help sustain the languishing luxury sector that will all but collapse without your patronage. Indeed, many hoteliers I spoke to on my travels, from the big-hitters to the boutique hotel owners, confessed that with a dearth of foreign tourists, they were seeking to lure the local market.
Expect attractive packages at attractive prices. Some say they have already made efforts to change their cuisine, hitherto catering to Western palate, to tickle rather the desi taste buds. This season, here’s to rediscovering India re-incarnated in its glam new avatar!
For those who fancy finery, nothing beats splurging at the world’s best hotels: i.e. the Oberoi Villas according to rarefied international royals and jet-setters. Readers of Travel & Leisure concurred when they voted the Oberoi Udaivilas the “World’s No. 1 Hotel” with Oberoi Amarvilas and Raj Villas placed 10th and 11th best respectively.
The Oberoi villas prove there is more to India than restored palaces. Indeed, their unparalleled style and sophistication are arguably a contemporary interpretation of royal India, how a modern maharaja would have built a palace in the 21st-century- exotic, yet refined elegance incarnate. They certainly shame Europe’s most prestigious glamour abodes.
Indeed, the Oberoi brand saw more of its properties rated amongst Travel + Leisure's world’s top 12 than even the Four Seasons group. One hears that various international PRs whizzed in after to investigate what made these villas so speciall! You could too; it’ll cost you less than a night at London’s Dorchester or Paris’s Plaza Athenee. And you’ll have an enchanting premium experience par excellence in the bargain.
The world’s number one hotel three years running (most recently according to Tatler), the flagship Oberoi Udaivilas sensationally adorns the shores of Lake Pichola with to-die-for views. The marvellous structure’s Kohinoor Suite, a 2650sqft mini palace, comes with fountained courtyards, immense private pool and breathtaking views over the City Palace and the Aravali Hills.
A wooden sauna from which to enjoy the view is a bonus. But if your room hasn’t the Sauna, don’t worry, it will still have the marble bathrooms and the view. And if it doesn’t, the characteristically obliging Oberoi staff will bring the view to you… Ask Madonna, Liz Hurley or Tony Blair.
The Oberoi Rajvilis: the Clintons, Brangelina, Richard Gere, Naomi Campbell, royals and Julia Roberts adore this idyllic retreat set in a traditional fort-like setting sprawling over 32 acres of lush verdant gardens, flowering trees, water bodies, cascading fountains and what not. It also boasts a pool that looks like it came out of a Bond film.
Accommodation includes luxury tents and villas with private swimming pools. Go for the Royal Villa, a luxurious oasis cocooned within traditional Rajasthani mud-walled private gardens including pool, romantic outdoor dining pavilion and a moat. Indoors, a sunken marble bath and private sauna beckon.
If you can’t check into the Taj Mahal the next best thing is checking into the Oberoi Amarvilas whose every room overlooks the love song in marble. Unsurprisingly, the hotel that recreates Moghal era magic is a bit hit for weddings and renewal of vows, if you’re looking for fun things to do over the weekend.
But you needn’t opt for anything quite so dramatic to enjoy romantic dinners in the Diwan-e-Khas serenaded by sensuous strains and the soft gurgle of fabulous fountains. And however exhausting your nocturnal activities in the ravishing rooms, do awake for the champagne breakfast on your suite’s private terrace. They say two’s company, three’s a crowd? Well, not if the Taj Mahal is joining you for breakfast!
The Oberoi Vanyavilas has for two consecutive years been declared “India’s Best Hotel” by a New York-based firm. Mick Jagger, Mukesh Ambani and the Duke of York’s favourite, this boutique property set in landscaped gardens has hitherto attracted those who come primarily for safaris at the world-renown Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve.
But jungle love can rage on in the 25 luxury tents with the most lavish bathrooms. The spa overlooking lily ponds is tres romantique but unrivalled are the romantic dinners organised on a water body set up in Maharaja style. But the breakfasts take the cake (to mix metaphors). Indeed, the best I’ve had anywhere in the world, be it the wonderful Indian platter or the only croissants worth eating outside France. And the smoothies... Ahh... After my first meal at the resort I left the general manager a note saying I was planning to kidnap his chef... Love at first bite? Indeed!
If there were ever India’s answer to a fairytale European castle, it must be the Oberoi Wildflower Hall, Shimla. Lord Kitchener’s erstwhile residence, tranquilly teetering atop pine and cedar slopes, has been splendidly restored in grand colonial style. Wood panelling and original artwork impart old world aura. Expect rooms with teak floors, quaint furnishings and staggering views.
This escapist mountain sanctuary comes with outdoor Jacuzzi and heated infinity swimming pool flowing into the Himalayas beyond. As for the private spa suites or pavilions, now they nestle in dense cedar forests overlooking hoary summits. No surprises why this spa has been repeatedly voted India’s Leading Spa Resort (World travel Awards) and figured amongst The Seven Natural Wonders (Conde Nast Traveller) or The 50 Most Romantic Places in the World (Travel + Leisure)…
But Conde Nast Traveller’s No.1 Destination Spa is The Ananda Spa slumbering in the Himalayan foothills close to the mythological cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh. All around are the elevating Sal forests paying homage to a gracefully meandering Ganga. Ananda intends not just to blow you away with its surroundings, but redefine lifestyles with its spa treatments, an amalgamation of ayurveda, yoga and vedanta laced with international wellness experiences to bring about the union of mind, body and soul. Spa-ctacular? We thought so too!