The Oberoi, Gurgaon

The fast-growing business capital of Gurgaon, just outside of New Delhi, is a natural choice for the Oberoi group, the home-grown chain whose luxury hotels are in the top tier of India’s hospitality business. Unlike some of the others, the Oberoi Gurgaon occupies a newly-built structure, rather than a classic palace — but there’s more than a little bit of palace atmosphere about it, with its rainforest-like landscaping and its “moat” of pools that circle the hotel, lit up at night with thousands of candles.

A new build means a modern floor plan, which in turn means large rooms, and if the décor feels a touch conservative, the physical comforts certainly impress — bench showers are a small detail but they contribute an air of decadence, and the butler service doesn’t hurt on that score either.

Nor does the 24-hour spa, for that matter. The restaurant adds Japanese and Chinese cuisine to the expected Indian offerings, and serves the lot of it in a stately dining room or outside on teakwood decks over the moat-like reflecting pool. It’s a modern-day palace for the modern-day aristocracy that is India’s burgeoning business class, for whom Gurgaon, with its privatized services and hands-off government, is something of a bizarro-world Versailles for the 21st century.

How to get there: The hotel is located in the heart of Gurgaon, National Capital Region – New Delhi, within easy distance from the International and Domestic airports. The hotel is 25 kilometers from New Delhi city centre and is well connected by road and metro rail.