Taj Krishna

Hotel description

Those of us with an aversion to big hotels might be put off by the hulking silhouette of the Taj Krishna. But in India’s big cities, Hyderabad included, it’s probably wise to adjust your sense of scale a bit. Sure, the Taj is not exactly small, certainly not a boutique, and the only thing exclusive about it is the price — but that sort of thing is beside the point here. This is by a mile Hyderabad’s most upscale luxury hotel, with the star-studded guest register to prove it.

The lobby is an opulent but somehow still warm and human-sized space, lined with stone columns and eclectic antiques — genuinely impressive, and rather unique. The rooms are equally luxurious but thankfully slightly more sedate — it would be a stretch to call them contemporary but they’re definitely on the tasteful side, for a classic grand hotel.

And for the uninitiated the Indian luxury-hotel experience has to be seen to be believed. Service is top-flight, and you’ll lack for nothing in the way of diversions: not just clay-court tennis but every racquet sport under the sun. Lounge by the pool in the afternoon and spend the evening surrounded by Hyderabad’s beautiful people in the Taj’s restaurants, nightclubs and discotheque.