In the Footsteps of the Raj

With a driveway lined by 24 towering palms and turbaned sentries at the door, The Imperial hotel in New Delhi will instantly transport clients back to the glamour of India’s Raj.

Built in 1931 by the British as a “legacy” hotel one that would memorialize their influence in India as well as provide a suitably luxurious place for them to stay while in its capital The Imperial remains an outpost for Anglophiles. After five years of renovation (including a 17,000-square-foot spa scheduled to open later this year), the hotel is beginning to reclaim its place among the legendary colonial properties of Asia, like Raffles in Singapore and The Strand in Rangoon.

“The hotel believes in superlatives,” said former public relations director Aruna Dhir. “The oldest, the best, the most unique.”

The Imperial was the only hotel included in architect and city designer Sir Edwin Lutyens’ master plan for New Delhi, and it became the unchallenged meeting place of the international community. The World Bank located its first India offices at the hotel, which also housed 13 embassies. Luminaries of Indian independence, including Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, met or stayed here, as did British figures from King George V to Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India.

Management quarrels led the property into decline in the 1970s, but today the international crowd is back. During a recent visit, The New York Times columnist and India booster Thomas Friedman was filming in the lobby and on the grounds. Other film crews sidled up to the plentiful breakfast buffet, and well-heeled tourists from around the world took tea during the too-hot afternoons.

Part of the hotel’s appeal is its elegant, eclectic architecture a mixture of Colonial, Victorian and Art Deco and its effortless conjuring of a time and a political system that was coming to an end, British rule in India. The hotel’s 232 guestrooms and suites offer a similar sensibility. The Heritage wing boasts quaint touches (pull-flush toilet, anyone?), but rooms can be a bit underwhelming. Put clients in the Art Deco wing. Renovated in 2002, the hallway carpets are already a bit dingy, but the rooms let you step back into the 1930s, with hardwood floors and art deco headboards and fixtures. The large bathrooms are equipped with deep tubs perfect for soaking after hard, dirty days of exploring the city’s Red Fort, Great Mosque and other grand monuments. The 44 suites are even grander, with rainfall shower heads, Bang and Olufsen stereo and video equipment and elegant appointments.

Completing the sense that it is someplace special is The Imperial’s renowned art collection. Nicknamed the “Museum Hotel,” The Imperial’s hallways are lined with 3,000 lithographs, sculptures and photographs depicting scenes of great battles, coronation ceremonies or Maharajahs draped in diamonds, their handlebar moustaches curling royally toward their eyes. Roll-top desks, chests with beveled mirrors and other eclectic antiques are strewn elegantly about. The collection is so large that it has its own full-time manager, who offers free tours on request.