DEPARTURES TRAVEL
DEPARTURES TRAVEL DISPATCH 36 Subcontinental Splendour From the Himalayas to the Andaman Islands, India’s hotels have never been so attractive, as the latest openings and makeovers across the country prove. By Lisa Grainger INDIA’S ECONOMY HAS been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years, thanks in no small part to leisure visitors, who account for seven per cent of the national GDP. Last year, the annual numbers of visitors to India increased by over 15%, and hotel occupancy rates were at their highest levels since 2008. This goes some way to explain why, in spite of the considerable expense of construction on the remote Andaman Islands, the Taj hotel group chose to build not a diminutive boutique hotel but a smart 50-villa resort on Havelock Island. Set within 18.6 hectares of mahua forests that fringe a 3.2km stretch of white beach, the Taj Exotica Resort & Spa (tajhotels.com) has a slick Jiva spa, three restaurants and a 147sq m beach villa, as well as a range of activities that include moonlit kayaking in phosphorescent-rich seas. Because India’s wildlife has become such a key attraction, several hotels and camps have recently expanded their guest capacity. Just outside Dudhwa National Park, for instance, Jaagir Lodge (tutc.com) has just reopened, offering accommodation that ranges from historic suites furnished with silk and four-poster beds to new stilted forest villas, from which Looking out at the horizon from the palatial Raas Devigarh hotel guests can venture out to see creatures from the one-horned rhino to the shy sloth bear. In the Satpura Tiger Reserve, “Under Canvas” experiences are being offered for guests who wish to camp for a couple of nights, after staying in the Reni Pani Jungle Lodge (renipanijunglelodge.com). In Rajasthan, Suján Jawai (sujanluxury. com) has added a two-roomed Royal Tented Suite to its elegant whitetented camp, for guests who wish to sun themselves beside their private pool before embarking on an evening leopard safari. And for those who enjoy venturing into the remotest parts © RAAS DEVIGARH
FROM TOP: © TUTC, © KISHKINDA CAMP, © RENI PANI JUNGLE LODGE of the country, the respected Indian wildlife guide Hashim Tyabji has created bespoke luxe camping trips to little-visited parts of the Himalayas to try and spot snow leopards and brown bears for The Explorations Company (explorationscompany.com). There are plenty of new offerings, too, for travellers wishing to immerse themselves in the country’s vibrant cultures. In the southern Karnataka province, The Ultimate Travelling Camp (tutc.com) has just opened its fifth safari-style camp amid the impressive boulder-strewn hills of Hampi. Here, from Kishkinda Camp’s ten spacious tents, with intricately embroidered ceilings, guests can head out to explore the ruins of 14th-century palaces and temples scattered over 40 square kilometres of countryside. In Rajasthan, the handsome Shahpura Bagh (shahpurabagh.com) has added a pretty new two-bedroomed villa near the pool, while Raas Devigarh (raasdevigarh.com) has refurbished its interiors, as well as created new outdoor terraces and an elegant boutique stocked with carefully curated crafts. Farther up north, in the Himalayas, keen hikers can now explore yet another part of Sikkim, thanks to Shakti Himalaya’s (shaktihimalaya. com) refurbishment of a handsome mountain farmhouse, Hatti Dhunga, or they can sign up for British fitness guru Matt Roberts’s next tailormade retreat in November at the lauded Ananda Spa (anandaspa. com). Those travellers who prefer to indulge in fine food than to burn it off can now book for new tours of the cuisine and culture of Mumbai, Goa and Hyderabad led by the respected foodie couple Carolyn and Chris Caldicott at Greaves India (greavesindia.com). There have been significant renovations in urban Indian hotels as well. After 21 months of work, The Oberoi (oberoihotels.com) in New Delhi reopened in January, lighter and brighter and with several lauded chefs at the helm of its restaurants. This summer, the Vivanta by Taj – Connemara (vivanta.tajhotels.com) in Chennai will also reopen, with its modernist Geoffrey Bawa detailing and 100m pool revived, and in autumn a new Taj in Rishikesh will cater to lovers of both yoga and adrenaline activities such as white-water rafting. Thankfully, as well as new hotels, new flight routes and private-jet Above: Dudhwa National Park’s historic Jaagir Lodge; below, from top: a peek inside a plush tented suite at Kishkinda Camp; breakfast with a view at the Reni Pani Jungle Lodge excursions are also being offered that will make traversing the country easier. Of the dozens of new routes that have been launched, those that will significantly change travellers’ lives will be those from Delhi to Jaisalmer (cutting out the long drive between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer), Shimla (where the airstrip has been closed for the past five years) and Bikaner (opening up a less-visited area of Rajasthan). In addition, new private-jet circuits are being offered by Sujan Luxury (sujanluxury.com) between its four properties and by Aman (aman.com) on its pan-Asian trip in 2019, which on the Indian leg will take in Aman-i- Khas, a superlative tented camp on the doorstep to Ranthambore National Park and Amanbagh, an ageless beauty set amidst the Aravalli mountain range in Rajasthan’s Sariska National Park. At the latter, the hotel has started to offer a charming early-morning cycling tour through local villages, which ends at the guide’s house for a breakfast of homemade chapattis, pickles and chai. Earlier this year the prime minister, Narendra Modi, predicted that in 2025 tourism will be growing by 7.5% annually. Given it’s already a 0 billion industry, we can expect to see a lot more new hotels on the horizon. DEPARTURES 37
