Livin' the luxury
Grand Presidential Suite, Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi
The most expensive hotel room in India is the Grand Presidential Suite located at the Taj Mahal Hotel on New Delhi's Man Singh Road.
The tariff: An astounding $5,000 (about Rs 225,000) per night.
Styled after the architecture of Sir Edwin Lutyen, the famous English architect who built Delhi over 20 years in the early 20th century, the furniture and artifacts in the room reflect his designs. Aptly the suite offers views of Lutyen's Delhi.
The ten-room suite -- two master bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a pantry, a workout area, a library, a vanity room, a powder room, a bathroom -- is equipped with Italian Frette linen, Bose speakers, a personal treadmill, an IBM thinkpad and state-of-the-art Avaya digital phones.
The Grand Presidential Suite has recently played host to guests like Australian Prime Minister John Howard, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi and then Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon among others.
Interestingly, both then US President Bill Clinton and current American President George W Bush chose to stay in the $1,500 (Rs 67,500)-a-night Presidential Suite at the Maurya Sheraton for security reasons.
New Delhi is also home to the $1,800-a-night (about Rs 81,000) Curzon Suite at Oberoi Hotels.
Incidentally the world's most expensive suite is in New York City at The Plaza, Manhattan for $15,000 (about Rs 675,000) per night.
Image: The living room at the Grand Presidential Suite at the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi.
Photograph courtesy: Taj Hotels
Text: Vaihayasi P Daniel
Also See: How M S Oberoi became India's greatest hotelier