India

The History

Long before hotels existed, India had already perfected hospitality. Atithi Devo Bhava — the guest is god — was scripture, and royal courts competed to receive travellers with ceremony: rose water at the threshold, garlands of marigold, feasts served on silver. Luxury here was never an industry; it was a moral duty.

When the princely states faded after independence, the palaces found a second life. The Lake Palace at Udaipur — a marble vision floating on Lake Pichola since 1746 — opened its doors to guests, as did Jaipur's Rambagh Palace and the great sandstone forts of Rajasthan. In Bombay, the Taj Mahal Palace had already set the standard in 1903, facing the Gateway of India across the harbour.

Today India's palace hotels remain a category without rival: candlelit courtyards, turbaned guards, peacocks in the gardens and suites where maharajas actually slept. Nowhere else does a hotel key come with quite so much history attached.