170 Best Hotels in India

The old meets the new at Taj City Centre, where the decor—terracotta walls, dancing dolls, and exquisitely woven carpets—upholds local artistic traditions. The rooms are spacious and the location is near high-end shopping destinations. The onsite spa offers ayurvedic treatments.

Part of the haughty City Palace complex, this 19th-century retreat on the eastern bank of Lake Pichola is run by the Taj group and oozes stateliness and history—royal portraits, antiques, chandeliers, ornate ceilings, and an abundance of crinkled-edged arches set the tone. Rooms and suites are spacious, with marble floors, furnished with silks and period furniture; some have window seats (one has a swing as well) and great views. The dining opportunities of this hotel are equally memorable—you can opt for lake-view breakfasts, a sunset terrace tea, or a poolside dinner.

Previously known as Taj Gateway, this hotel has modern rooms done in soft colors with brass-accented furniture and eclectic Indian art. The upper-story rooms are cozy and quiet, with great garden views. Dine at the specialty Varuna restaurant for a posh Indian meal, or at Chowk for continental flavors.

Outside the Old City, this hotel offers a respite from the hustle and bustle, and what it lacks in excitement, it makes up for in hospitality and subdued charm—and children will enjoy the nightly puppet show. The modern rooms are tasteful and spacious with rich furnishings, though they lack the artful decorations of other hotels in the city. Some rooms overlook the pool and some the garden, and second-floor rooms have small balconies. Marwar, the multi-cuisine restaurant with a large breakfast buffet, is open all day, while The Good Earth is open for dinner and offers Cantonese and Sichuan cuisines. For a drink, The Bar, which is open all afternoon and evening, serves cocktails and bar snacks, and the Poolside Grill serves Indian barbecue in the evenings.

Choose this opulent, ocean-facing hotel if you don't mind paying a decent buck for a luxurious stay far from the city's main sights but close to some of its best restaurants, bars, and clubs. The lobby seems like an acre of marble, and the huge, sparkling chandeliers and fountains add to the refined atmosphere. The more expensive rooms are remarkably luxurious and modern, with bedside controls for lights, curtains, and air-conditioning, and bathrooms with both showers and tubs. By comparison, the lowest-priced rooms are much more basic and dated. But the views—especially those that aim directly down the Bandra-Worli Sea Link—are unparalleled.

The fifth Taj property in Mumbai, this hotel shares the high standards of all the others; each room offers all the regular mod-cons---free Wi-Fi, deep-soaking bathtubs, and DVD player. All guests have access to the pool, spa, sauna, in-house restaurants, special diet menus, babysitting services, and salon.

Formerly known as Taj Gateway, this hotel offers a good view of the Taj Mahal from some rooms and its rooftop restaurant. The rooms feature marble inlay flooring and jaali work, and some rooms come with daybeds by the window to enjoy views of the Taj. The elegant marble lobby opens into an excellent restaurant. Guests can go for a dip in the temperature-controlled pool surrounded by acres of landscaped lawn, or visit the JIVA Spa (spread out across five air-conditioned tents) offering therapies inspired by yogic principles.

Getting around this hilly property is a workout—especially the hike to the skylight-topped restaurant—but the setting on 66-acre cardamom plantation is phenomenal. The cottages, all ensconced in lush greenery, come in different varieties, with some being single rooms while others occupy multiple floors and have spacious living rooms and balconies. Furnishings are of cane and rubber wood. The main restaurant has a glass roof and great location overlooking tall trees.

The Oberoi's less luxurious cousin continues the same tradition of excellent service, and because room rates vary according to occupancy, it can be great value in the off-season. It's connected to its more famous counterpart by a corridor of luxury shops. The interior design is pretty standard for an upscale Indian hotel—simple and luxurious, with such Indian flourishes as paintings by local artists and various prints. The Trident isn't a heritage property and doesn't try to be, and it tends to attract a business crowd.

This tasteful and stylish hotel, across the harbor from Fort Kochi, is a low-rise, tile-roof building that wraps around a central courtyard and is outfitted rather plushly for both business and leisure travelers. A beautiful oil painting of Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama meeting the Zamorin of Calicut in the 15th century is a backdrop in the reception area. The rooms, which face either the pool or the garden, have sand-color wood floors that complement soothing cream and teal color schemes. Due to the central courtyard, hallways are full of natural light. 

While a stay at Trident—built to look like a rambling haveli 9 km (5 miles) from the center of town—does not offer the authentic royal experience, it does make for an interlude of gracious living. The property looks out onto the Mansagar lake and its exteriors are of light pink stone. Interiors feature the finest Rajasthani marble, with rooms furnished in soothing colors; opt for a lake-facing room.

Built around a large garden courtyard with fountains, a soothing expanse of green lawn, and a pool, this place is a real oasis in Agra. The spacious rooms are in soft browns, with wooden flooring, coffeemakers, and views of the gardens or the pool. The lobby is, perhaps, the most inviting part of the hotel: bright yellow chairs, dark-wood accents, and modern chandeliers made of glass tubes are infused with sunlight. There's live Indian classical music, folk dancers, and a henna artist by the pool every evening.

A more moderately priced option among Udaipur's luxury hotels, the Trident is removed from the downtown bustle, amid acres of beautiful gardens on Lake Pichola. The architecture is striking, but the lobby, decorated in white marble arches lacks grandeur. Rooms, done mainly in white, facing the garden or pool, are well equipped and modern, though nondescript. The restaurant serves Indian and continental dishes (buffet and à la carte) at lunch and dinner.

It's hard to pass up regal accommodations at moderate prices in luxury-driven Udaipur, particularly when the hotel's rooftop is one of the liveliest places in town. Every room in this towering boutique hotel across Lake Pichola from the City Palace, re-created to look "heritage," is decorated with antique furniture and art that relate to specific regions and people in Mewar history—evidence of personal involvement of the Rajput owners. Most of the rooms lack lake views, but from the hotel pool and from the rooftop restaurant, which serves Indian and international cuisine, you get spectacular views of the Udaipur skyline. There's also a center courtyard garden to while away time.

One of those faux havelis that abound in the Bani Park neighborhood, this small, comfortable hotel does a zealous job of re-creating old Rajasthani charm with colored glass windows, Mughal arches, ornate ceilings, mirror work, murals, old photographs and portraits, painted peacocks, turrets, and a giant entry arch. Rooms are masterfully decked out with dark green marble floors and period-style furniture. The rooftop restaurant serves wholesomely made Indian cuisine and even a few continental dishes. It has an annex hotel around the corner—Umaid Bhawan—with similar rooms and facilities.

Located by the backwaters of Kochi harbor and away from the touristy hub of Fort Kochi, this hotel has clean, modern rooms with excellent views over the water or the city. There's a pool, a gym, and a spa offering ayurvedic treatments.

This chain property is more business-oriented than the average Panaji hotel, with the added oomph of high-tech features such as surround-sound home-theater systems, multimedia panels, and LCD screens in all rooms. The aesthetically pleasing rooms are styled in contemporary fashion, and the top-notch facilities are kept in great repair.

This large and centrally located hotel, with its hospitable staff, has a large outdoor swimming pool, an ayurvedic spa, and a 24/7 gym, plus two restaurants, a bakery, and a bar. Spacious rooms feature warm linen accents, wood floors, and panoramic city views, while suites add living rooms and balconies.

A pair of outdoor pools (one carved into the hillside with views across the Arabian Sea), along with contemporary Indian artworks and well-groomed grounds make this beachfront resort a joy at every turn. Rooms and suites come in various categories—all have wonderful outdoor spaces (either a balcony or garden patio), and most offer a nightly turndown service. Extend the experience by heading to the cavernous spa center for a massage or the Vagator beach-facing bar for live DJ beats and drinks.

A long driveway through the spacious grounds here leads to a place where efficient and friendly staffers create the kind of warm, intimate setting you'd normally associate with a smaller hotel. The exterior of the building is decorated simply with red bands of elephants chiseled on its bleach-white facade. Standard rooms, in two wings around the pool, are spacious, plush, and comfortably elegant, with views onto the verdant garden of palms and bright flower beds. Corner suites are vast.