Boutique Destinations of India

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:30:28 +0000

Boutique hotels are taking the world by storm, and there are a couple of new breeds springing up in India. The first caters to the really rich, creating a designer mirage of the Merchant-Ivory meets yogi-Vogue variety; the other is a collection of almost private homes that offer a mixture of family life and desi cooking.

Explore the luxury and grandeur of Rajasthan royalty in one of the Taj Group’s boutique palace hotels. The group manages three of the world’s most celebrated boutique hotels (of the more decadent variety) housed in palaces throughout India:

Jaipur

The hot pink city of Jaipur is not only the state capital but the retail capital, where designers such as Isabelle Fraysse and Celia Forner Venturi get their jewellery and accessories manufactured. This is the city for gemstones, abounding with skeins of rough-cut emeralds and rubies.

Rambagh Palace: Sleep a la Maharaja in Rambagh’s presidential Suryavanshi suite, which was part of the personal chambers of the royal family.

Udaipur

Home to the Kingdom of Mewar, Udaipur lies south of the Aravalli ranges; lush rolling green hills following the monsoon contrast vividly against the parched spurs in the arid season, with the City of Lakes and Palaces in its shadows.

Taj Lake Palace: Constructed, because Maharana Jagat Singh II took umbrage at his father’s refusal to allow him to have moonlit picnics with the ladies of his Zenama (women’s quarters) on the neighbouring island palace. No wonder James Bond picked the summer palace of the royals, which remains a quintessential pleasure palace.

Jodhpur

Jodhpur is encompassed by the Umaid Bhawan to the east and the Meherengh Fort to the west; the fort is one of the best preserved heritage sites in Rajasthan with a collection of historical artefacts dating back hundreds of years.

Umaid Bhawan: Commissioned in 1929 and designed by the British architect H.V. Lanchester, the palace took 16 years to complete and stands now as a perfectly-preserved monument to the art-deco style of the ‘Twenties. Inside, it’s a treasure trove of elaborate furnishings and finely worked exports.

Homey Boutique Hotels

Equal to these palace retreats in comfort and ambiance, if not in scale, are some smaller boutique hotels of the homespun variety:

The Cottage: A very lovely hill home that has been opened to guests by its owner Bhuvan Kumari. They serve delicious, homemade food, and there is nothing arch or fancy about the place. The cottage’s gallery of exquisite doorways and window frames recalls the time when the kings of Nepal ruled the region.

Sitla Estate: An old apple estate further east, where you can sit on the roof and watch the sunrise over the Himalayan peak of Nanda Devi. Run by Vikram Maira, a delicious action man who doubles as kitchen genius, the atmosphere breathes warmth and simplicity.

By: Tom Ingrams

India Travel » Merchant Ivory

Boutique Destinations of India