Hotel Index
Premium Hotels Across India
Every real premium hotel we book, across every region — pick a destination below or see the full spread.
Shillong, Meghalaya
Vivanta Meghalaya, Shillong
★★★★★
Vivanta Meghalaya is a Taj-group hotel in the centre of Shillong, at Police Bazar, and it was the first five-star hotel in the state. The rooms are modern and well kept, with Khasi patterns and local art worked into the design. There is a spa, a bar and a good all-day restaurant. Staff know the region and can arrange guides and cars. Being in the middle of town is the point. Shillong's cafes, the lake, the markets and the churches are a short walk or a five-minute drive, and the roads out to Cherrapunji and Dawki start here. It is the premium choice for a city-based Meghalaya trip, and the easy option for a first or last night around a flight from Guwahati.
Jaipur, Rajasthan
Alsisar Haveli
★★★★☆
Alsisar Haveli was built in 1892 as a family mansion. It still belongs to the same family, the Thikana of Alsisar in Shekhawati. That continuity is the point of staying here. Nothing about it feels leased or rebranded. The building works the way old Rajasthani havelis do. Rooms open off a series of open courtyards. Painted arches, carved jharokha windows and frescoed walls survive throughout. Corridors turn where the original plan turned, not where a floor plate would have preferred. Every room is decorated on its own terms. Some carry old family furniture. Ceilings are high, windows are shuttered, and the walls are thick enough to keep the Jaipur heat outside. There is a swimming pool set in the garden, which is rare for a haveli of this age in the middle of a city. Meals are served on the terrace and in the courtyard. The kitchen cooks Rajasthani home food alongside a wider menu. The location is central. The walled Pink City, Hawa Mahal and the bazaars around Johari Bazaar are a short drive away. Amber Fort is roughly half an hour out.
Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
Fort Rajwada
★★★★☆
Fort Rajwada was built in the late 1990s, but not in a modern idiom. The design came from a team that included the architects who worked on Jaisalmer's own restoration projects, and the building follows classical Rajasthani proportion closely enough that first-time visitors often mistake its age. It stands on the Jodhpur-Barmer link road, a short drive outside the walled city. That distance is an advantage. Jaisalmer Fort is a living fort with narrow, crowded lanes, and stepping back from it at the end of the day is welcome. The interior is built around a large central atrium in golden Jaisalmer sandstone. Carved brackets, jharokha balconies and stone screens run through the public areas. Corridors are wide and cool, which matters in a desert town. Rooms are generous and traditionally furnished, with arched alcoves and carved headboards. The Royal Palace and Terrace categories add more space and better outlooks. Bathrooms are conventional and well kept rather than designed. There is a large outdoor pool, an Ayurvedic spa and a multi-cuisine restaurant that does a reliable Rajasthani thali. Staff arrange desert safaris to the Sam and Khuri dunes, and the fort, Patwon Ki Haveli and Gadisar Lake are all ten minutes away.
Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Ajit Bhawan
★★★★☆
Ajit Bhawan has a real claim to being India's first heritage hotel. It was built in 1927 as the residence of Maharaj Ajit Singh, younger brother of the Maharaja of Jodhpur. The family opened it to guests in the 1970s, well before the idea became common, and they still run it. The property sits on Circuit House Road, close enough to Mehrangarh Fort that the fort walls are visible from parts of the garden. The grounds are the appeal: mature trees, lawns, water channels and a pool, all within the city. Accommodation is spread across the original house and a set of individual cottages and tents in the garden. That means no two categories feel alike. Vintage Suites keep period furniture and family pieces. The Vintage Tents are permanent, properly built, and considerably more comfortable than the name suggests. Food is served in the garden restaurant, and the kitchen's Rajasthani cooking is a genuine reason to eat in rather than out. There is also a bar and a spa on site. The family's vintage car collection is parked on the property, and they run jeep excursions to Bishnoi villages outside the city. Mehrangarh Fort, Jaswant Thada and the clock tower market are all short drives away.
Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan
The Aodhi by HRH Group of Hotels
★★★★☆
The Aodhi sits at the base of Kumbhalgarh Fort, one of Rajasthan's great hill forts. Stone walls and sloping tiled roofs echo the fort above. The setting is genuinely rural. Forested hills roll away from the property in every direction. This is a heritage hotel run by the HRH Group, the hospitality arm connected to the erstwhile royal family of Mewar. Twenty-six rooms are spread across two low floors, kept deliberately small in scale rather than built up. A large pool sits amid the greenery, and the spa offers a quiet counterpoint after a day exploring the fort's ramparts. Chowka, the in-house restaurant, serves Rajasthani and Indian dishes, with a bar and 24-hour room service for guests who prefer to eat in. Wildlife sanctuary walks, jeep safaris, and fort tours can all be arranged from the front desk. For a Kumbhalgarh stay built around the fort itself, The Aodhi remains one of the most established options in the area. Guests reach it via a scenic drive through the Aravalli hills from Udaipur, about ninety minutes south.
Pushkar, Rajasthan
Ananta Spa & Resorts, Pushkar
★★★★☆
Ananta sits on the Pushkar-Ajmer road, a few minutes outside the town, with the Aravalli range rising directly behind it. Pushkar itself is small, dense and built around its lake, so a resort with room to spread out is a useful counterweight. The site is large and low-rise. Accommodation is split between cottages, villas and permanent luxury tents, arranged around gardens and water features. Walking between them takes a few minutes, and the hills stay in view for most of that walk. Interiors mix contemporary comfort with Rajasthani decorative detail, and the tented categories are properly finished rooms under canvas rather than camping. Several categories add a private sit-out or plunge pool. There is a spa, a good-sized outdoor pool, a bar and a multi-cuisine restaurant. Pushkar is a temple town where alcohol and meat are restricted within the centre, so the resort's own dining is more relevant here than it would be elsewhere. The Brahma Temple, Pushkar Lake and the ghats are a short drive away, and the resort runs transfers. If you are travelling in November, the Pushkar Camel Fair takes place nearby and rooms across the town book out months ahead.
Ranthambore, Rajasthan
Nahargarh Ranthambhore
★★★★☆
A large palace-style hotel a short drive from the Ranthambore gates, built in the manner of a sixteenth-century Rajput fort. Arched colonnades, frescoed ceilings and a formal Mughal garden run through the property. Rooms are done in a traditional style, with painted ceilings and four-poster beds; upper-floor suites open onto private terraces facing the forest. There are two restaurants, a pool and a spa.
Udaipur, Rajasthan
Jagat Niwas Palace
★★★★☆
Jagat Niwas Palace sits directly on Lake Pichola, on the old Lal Ghat waterfront. The building is a 17th-century haveli, converted room by room rather than gutted. The stonework, the arches and the window seats are original. What you are paying for here is the water. The lake starts at the foot of the wall. The Taj Lake Palace floats a few hundred metres out, the City Palace rises to the left, and the Aravalli hills close the view behind. Lake-facing rooms look straight into all of it. Rooms are reached through narrow whitewashed passages and small courtyards. Cusped arch windows, carved niches and low seating alcoves come with the building. Sizes vary, because a 17th-century haveli was never built to a standard plan. The rooftop restaurant is the property's best-known room. It serves Rajasthani and Indian dishes over the lake, and it stays busy at sunset for good reason. Everything in old Udaipur is walkable from the gate. Jagdish Temple is minutes away on foot, the City Palace complex a little further, and the ghats run in both directions along the shore.
Gangtok, Sikkim
The Elgin Nor-Khill, Gangtok
★★★★☆
The Nor-Khill was built in the 1930s as the royal guest house of the Chogyal, Sikkim's former king, and it still feels like one. The name means the House of Jewels. The rooms are panelled in wood, with old furniture, Tibetan rugs and thangka paintings, and the lawns look across the valley to the hills. There is a small spa, a bar and a dining room that serves Sikkimese and colonial dishes. It sits just above the town, a few minutes from MG Marg and the Tibetology institute. It is the premium choice in Gangtok for a stay with a sense of the state's own history, rather than a modern resort.
Lachen, Sikkim
The Apple Orchard Resort, Lachen
★★★☆☆
The Apple Orchard Resort stands on the slope above Lachen, next to a monastery more than a century old, and it is the one proper place to stay in the village. It has about a dozen rooms, warm and simple in local timber, with heaters and bed warmers for the cold nights and views up the valley toward the peaks. There is a dining room with hearty food and a lounge with a fire. Gurudongmar Lake is a few hours further up a rough road, and the trip leaves around four in the morning while the wind is still down. The resort arranges the permit, the vehicle and a packed breakfast. Given how remote Lachen is, it is a genuinely comfortable base, and every North Sikkim trip that includes Gurudongmar uses it for the Lachen night.
Lachung, Sikkim
Yarlam Resort, Lachung
★★★☆☆
Yarlam Resort stands at the upper end of Lachung village, with snow mountains on three sides. It is the most comfortable place to stay in the valley. The rooms are warm and well kept, in local timber, with heaters and bed warmers for the cold nights and mountain views from the better ones. There is a dining room with hearty food, a lounge with a fire, and a garden. Yumthang Valley is an hour up the road, and the resort arranges the permit, the vehicle and an early start for Zero Point. Given how remote Lachung is, it is a genuinely good base, and both luxury and premium Sikkim trips use it for the North Sikkim leg.
Ravangla, Sikkim
Buddha Retreat, Ravangla
★★★☆☆
Buddha Retreat sits on a slope just below Ravangla, run by the Yangthang Heritage group, which keeps several small hotels around South Sikkim. The rooms are simple and warm, in wood and local weave, and many look across the valley to the Kanchenjunga range. There is a restaurant with Sikkimese and Indian dishes, a bar, and a garden to sit in with the view. Buddha Park is a few minutes up the hill, the Ralang monastery is a short drive, and the Temi tea garden and the Namchi statues are within a day trip. It is the comfortable base for a night or two in South Sikkim, on the way between Gangtok and Pelling.
Kashmir to Kanyakumari
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