The Journal · Palace hotels, luxury trains and retreats
Stays, Rail & Wellness
Where and how you stay shapes a journey as much as where you go. This is our guide to India's finest experiences of place: its exceptional palace hotels, its legendary luxury trains, and its authentic wellness traditions of Ayurveda and yoga.
India's Most Exceptional Palace Hotels — Beyond Rajasthan
Rajasthan has the fame, but some of India's finest palace hotels stand elsewhere — in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and the south. An insider's edit.
India's Most Exceptional Palace Stays — The Insider's Edit
Beyond the famous names, there are private estates and royal residences that receive guests by invitation only. We know them well.
Palace on Wheels vs Maharajas’ Express: Which Is Worth Flying For
Eight thousand dollars is a lot of a long-haul budget to spend on a train. What each of the two great names actually costs, what a week aboard buys, and whether either earns its place in a two-week India trip.
India's Wellness Journeys: Ayurveda, Yoga & Retreats
The birthplace of yoga and Ayurveda offers wellness of a depth found nowhere else. How to design a restorative journey through India's healing traditions.
How to Choose a Palace Hotel (and When Not To)
Not every palace hotel is a palace, and not every palace is the right room. The four categories worth distinguishing, and the questions that separate a great stay from an expensive one.
What 'Luxury' Means When the Hotel Is a Fort
The Ministry of Tourism will classify a building as a Heritage hotel if it was built before 1950 — and will separately classify a brand-new building as 'Legacy Vintage' if half its material came from an old one. Between those two schemes, a 1958 monuments Act and a fire code that treats a fort as an auditorium, sits everything that the word luxury actually means in a converted palace.
Design Your India Around Stays
Tell us what draws you, and a curator will compose a private journey around it — typically within one working day.
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