Beautiful Collection of India's Top 10 Hotels

Amanresorts Amanbagh, Alwar

Best Desert Retreat: This ultra-deluxe resort sits on the former site of the Maharajah of Alwar's hunting lodge and personal pleasure garden. Amanbagh means "peaceful garden" and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more tranquil spot than this soft-sandstone hotel surrounded by graceful palms, fragrant eucalyptus and frangipani trees and manicured jade green lawns.. The elegant "haveli-style" rooms are among the largest in the country.

Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur

Best Place To Feel Like Royalty: Everything about this breathtaking property, from the arrival by boat on Lake Pichola and the views of the City Palace, will make you feel as regal as the peacock that wander the property. Many rooms boast private, walled courtyards with silken parasols and inlaid furniture, as well as private butler service. Upgrade to a suite with its own tented dining facility and infinity pool, or better yet, to the 2,650-square- foot Kohinoor Suite with its courtyard fountains, fireplaces and sauna in the master bedroom. Sorry, no throne.

Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai

Best Dining: This 565-room hotel weaves Moorish, Oriental and Florentine styles together: It features vaulted alabaster ceilings, onyx columns, archways, silk carpets, crystal chandeliers and a cantilever stairway. This diversity is also reflected in the hotel's dining venues, which happen to be Mumbai's hottest: the Middle Eastern Souk, Morimoto's Wasabi and the Zodiac Grill, where the menu changes each month to match the astrological sign.

Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur

Best Tent Accommodations: Built in 1727, majestic Jaipur is also known as "The Pink City" for its oleander-rose buildings, domes and minarets. This smaller luxury hotel about five miles from the city center reflects Jaipur's colors and stateliness. It offers a variety of courtyard accommodations, from suites to air-conditioned luxury tents with teak floors, Edwardian claw-foot tubs and embroidered interior canopies. Flashlight not required.

Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra

Best Views Of The Taj Mahal: Views of the domed marble mausoleum are clear from practically every window of this property (including some bathrooms!). This hotel features Moghul architecture, terraced gardens and several reflection pools. The 103 rooms are decked out in rich purples, oranges and yellows.. Their marble bathrooms are stately with their imposing soaking tubs.

Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur

Best Place For Romance: It's hard to top the setting of this white marble palace which seems to be floating atop Lake Pichola on its four-acre island pedestal. Adding to the storybook effect are the decorative details in the elegant suites: bohemian crystals, ornate glass work, green lotus leaves and cusped arches. The rooms look out on medieval gardens and hilltop fortresses.

The Four Seasons, Mumbai

Best Car Service: Driving conditions in India can be a little daunting. At the Four Seasons, the newest entrant to the country's luxury-hotel market, a fleet of 20 BMW Series 7s is available for guests--not that they'll need to go far: The glass tower hotel (whose 202 rooms look straight at the Arabian sea) is conveniently located in Worli, the city's financial center, obviously targeted to the increasing number of business travelers flocking to Mumbai.


The Imperial, New Delhi

Best Common Spaces: Built in 1936, the landmark Imperial Hotel, with its parade of palm trees, glossy Italian marble floors, teak furnishings and high ceilings, will make you feel like you should have arrived on elephant, sword on hip. But don't worry; the spacious rooms--the Deco suites are particularly stunning--have all the modern conveniences. Ask the resident curator to guide you through the hotel's hanging collection of British art.

The Leela Palace Kempinski, Bangalore

Best Business Hotel: Bangalore, India's third-largest city, has morphed into a hip, global technology center, attracting CEOs from Google, Yahoo!, IBM, Honeywell, and, of course, Bill Gates. The Leela Palace offers great accommodations and dining (at the lovely Jamavar) plus superior conference facilities. Expect to rub elbows with local resident Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon president and India's richest woman.

Devi Garh, Delwara Near Udaipur

Sexiest Design: From the outside, Devi Garh, an 18th-century Rajput palace-fort, looks just like so many of the majestic edifices throughout Rajasthan. But step inside and you'll find a totally reinvented minimalist décor. In one room, a sunken marble tub sits alone in a room looking at the Aravali Hills through floor-to-ceiling glass. Each of the 39 suites is embellished with marble and semi-precious stones. The hotel has a spa and can arrange camel rides.

Helix Hotel, 5 Star Hotel to Rise in Abu Dhabi, UAE

The Helix is a 5 star luxury hotel that will rise in coming months in Zayed Bay in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Designed by American firm Leeser Architects, the Helix Hotel for its staggered floor plates, it rests in the bay, partially floating in the water.

The hotel features 208 guest rooms and suites arranged around a helical floor, the floor constantly shifts as it rises to the top floor. The hotel includes a glass-bottomed swimming pool on the roof, visible eight floors below, and a running track on the fifth floor. Guests can take advantage of the lounges, cafes, meeting rooms, indoor health spa, running track and indoor fountain.

The spiral body hides a careful study, who has a proud and block light, free from the cone of shadow pervading the corridors and in other hidden areas of traditional hotels. The space is expressed in a joyful but functional.

The Wonderland OYC Hotel in Guangdong Province, China

OYC Hotel is located by the Seven Star Crags Lake in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province, China. The hotel boasts of its lush vegetation and fresh air,which is well known for high density of oxygen. That's why OYC have got an award for being a 'Wonderland on the Earth'.

The whole hotel takes around 120,000 square meters, combined with one convention centre and 55 convention rooms, and 750 luxurious guestrooms and suites. Each room equipped with the latest technology such as high-speed broadband internet and complete room amenities. Guests also have a wide selection of F&B outlets to choose from, including Chinese, Japanese, Italian and other western cuisine.

OYC Hotel holds the world's largest indoor hot springs, laying special bottom depth of 3,000 meters from the sand. For more information visit oychotel.com

Hotel Elan - Swimming Pool over the edge

One of the neat new structures in Dallas displaying cutting edge architecture and beauty that incorporates a Dallas swimming pool as a central theme is the new Hotel Elan which is being billed as a 5 star boutique hotel. This building is being transformed from a Bank to one of Dallas’ newest iconic images. It is the first structure in the world to feature a hanging pool - it drapes a full 8 feet over the edge of the building above the street with a glass wall at the far edge so you can see inside the pool. This will definitely be a sight to see!

Most Expensive Hotel Rooms in the World

Most of us have simple demands when it comes to travel lodging– a bed, a bathroom, a TV and wi-fi. There are others, however, whose demands far eclipse the simple convenience of your basic hotel room. When the world’s most wealthy travelers take a vacation for their own, they are treated to suites that cover entire floors of a hotel building, rooms that include a personal butler, hell– some even come with their own private helicopter. Take a peek into the experience of the world’s most wealthy travelers. Here are 10 of the most expensive hotel rooms in the world.

1. $50,000 a night – Royal Villa at Grand Resort Lagonissi

Athens, Greece

The Grand Resort’s Royal Villa gives the world’s most exclusive guests a private version of everything imaginable. The only other people lucky guests have to see while secluded in their heated pool, steam room or private beach is the suite’s dedicated butler, chef and pianist.

2. $40,000 a night – Hugh Hefner Sky Villa, Palms Casino Resort

Las Vegas

Hugh Hefner’s Playboy-themed suite at the Palms Casino resort has a $700,000 jacuzzi that cantilevers out above the Las Vegas strip. The 10,000 square-foot, two-story suite comes with around-the-clock butler service and a rotating bed set beneath a mirrored ceiling.

3. $34,000 a night – Ty Warner Penthouse, Four Seasons

New York

The Ty Warner Penthouse practically floats in Manhattan. Floor-to-ceiling windows surround all sides of the massive suite, surrounding guests in 360-degree views of the city skyline from atop Manhattan’s tallest hotel. The nine-room suite has walls inlayed with mother of pearl, gold and platinum-woven fabrics, and the room itself includes a private butler, unlimited global calling and TVs programmed to receive every channel in the entire world.

4. $33,000 a night – Royal Penthouse Suite, President Wilson Hotel

Geneva, Switzerland

President Woodrow Wilson reportedly suffered from high blood pressure, so it’s safe to assume he would have appreciated a stress-free stay at President Wilson Hotel’s Royal Penthouse Suite. Consuming the entire top floor of the hotel, the four-bedroom suite can hold up to 40 guests in its cocktail lounge and is said to be the best digs for heads of state wanting to make an impression when they’re in town on United Nations business.

5. $25,000 a night – Bridge Suite at The Atlantis

Paradise Island, Bahamas

The 10-room Bridge Suite at Bahamian resort The Atlantis fills the entire space linking the hotel complex’s two flagship towers. Forbes reports the suite has hosted guests including Oprah and Michael Jackson.

6. $18,200 – Ritz-Carlton Suite, The Ritz-Carlton

Moscow, Russia

Floor-to-ceiling windows outline the Ritz-Carlton Suite at the hotel chain’s Moscow location. Imperial furniture fills the 2,500 square-foot suite, which comes with a heated floor, a grand piano and a library. The suite has views of the Kremlin, Red Square and St. Basil’s Cathedral and visitors get to enjoy five meals a day and their very own KGB-approved autonomous energy supply system and secure telecommunications array.

7. $18,000 a night – Royal Suite, Burj Al Arab

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

A two-story suite that centers around an epic staircase, Burj Al Arab’s Royal Suite has Carrara marble floors, mahogany furniture and a master bedroom with a rotating four-post canopy bed. Guests enjoy Hermes bathroom products, Faubourg fragrances, their own private elevator and cinema and for a bit extra– a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce or helicopter.

8. $17,500 a night – Royal Armleder Suite, Le Richemond

Geneva, Switzerland

Le Richemond’s Royal Armleder Suite reopened in 2007 after an extensive restoration of the hotel’s seventh floor, which the luxury suite occupies the entirety of. The suite is bedecked in gold, mosaics and parquet floors and has a 300 square-foot terrace with stunning views of Geneva and the nearby Alps.

9. $16,000 a night – Royal Suite, Four Seasons George V

Paris, France

The George V in Paris boasts a pair of “sumptuous” Royal Suites that each come with private terraces and rooms filled with antique furniture. Each suite has a marble entrance, a full kitchen, a sauna and a separate bathroom for guests. The expensive 2,600 square-foot suites are split into separate spaces for sleeping and entertaining, both of which also have a private office.

10. $15,500 a night – Imperial Suite, Park Hyatt-Vendôme

Paris, France

Situated on the second floor of the Park Hyatt-Vendôme’s Haussmanian building is the hotel’s 750 square-foot Imperial Suite. Thise pricey suite has high ceilings, a dining room, kitchenette and bar. When visitors tire of toiling, they relax with an “In Suite Spa” that comes outfitted with a steam room, Whirlpool and built-in massage table.

Jail Hotel

One of the more amazing transformations to occur recently in Boston happened earlier this summer when the Charles Street Jail, built in 1851, became the Liberty Hotel, a 300-room luxury property with 10 suites, three restaurants, lounges, and a fitness center.

After a five-year renovation, the jail has finally turned into a luxury hotel. The renovation costs $150 million and it's best for guests who can afford to pay anywhere from $319 a night for the lowest-priced room to $5,500 for the presidential suite. Liberty hotel has opened starting September.

Architects Cambridge Seven Associates went to great lengths to preserve the original granite jail structure, and many original features of the jail remain intact, including the historic catwalks. If the building was home to notorious criminals before, now it's already a place for well-known people and celebrities and some of the guests who paid the luxury hote a visit are Mick Jagger, Annette Bening, Meg Ryan and Eva Mendes.

Atlantis Dubai Palm Opens with $20 Million Star-Studded Party

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- A huge man-made island shaped like a date palm tree opened Thursday (November 21, 2008) off the coast of Dubai with a celebrity-studded gala and a three-day party. The island officially opens with a spectacular fireworks display.

The Palm Jumeirah increased Dubai's shorelin by 100 percent after work started on it in 2001. It features resort hotels, homes, luxury shopping and entertainment.

Though the entire island officially opened, parts of it already opened weeks ago - including the Atlantis, The Palm, a sister to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas

The Atlantis played host to the opening celebration last Thursday night.


Stars including Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Robert De Niro, Janet Jackson and the Duchess of York were in attendance.

Pop star Kylie Minogue performed at the party.

Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra started what was billed as the world's Largest - ever fireworks display with more than 100,000 pyrotechnic devices.

When work on the island began, a team of Dutch engineers were employed to create the Palm by using a technique called rainbowing -- a vessel dredging sand from the seabed and spraying and piling it onto the desired area and into the requested shape.


A light display illuminates the Atlantis Hotel during the official grand opening party on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai on November 21, 2008. Dubai threw a multi-million-dollar extravaganza today to launch a luxury hotel on an artificial palm-shaped island, despite the bite from the global financial crisis.


Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York attends the landmark Grand Opening of Atlantis, The Palm Resort, and the Palm Jumeirah.


Former US basketball star Michael Jordan poses for a picture at the official grand opening party for the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.

US actress Lindsay Lohan arrives on the red carpet of the Atlantis, The Palm Hotel in Dubai launch party, which is the Middle East's biggest opening gala.

US actress Charlize Theron poses for a picture at the official grand opening party for the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.

Chairman of Kerzner International Sol Kerzner (L) arrives with his wife Heather Kerzner and Chairman of Dubai World Sultan Bin Sulayem (R) for the grand opening of Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai November 20, 2008. The $1.5 billion mega resort with 1,539 rooms is the first resort to open on Dubais man-made Palm Jumeirah island.


Singer Natalie Imbruglia, Sir Richard Branson, Lady Joan Branson, Holly Branson and Sam Branson attendsthe landmark Grand Opening of Atlantis, The Palm Resort, and the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.


Australian singer Kylie Minogue arrives on the red carpet of the Atlantis, The Palm Hotel in Dubai launch party, which is the Middle East's biggest opening gala.


Janet Jackson watches the unprecedented pyrotechnics and illumination at the Grand Opening of Palm Jumeirah and its flagship Atlantis, the Palm Resort at the Palm Jumeirah Island.


Robert DeNiro attends the ceremonial opening of the resorts Nobu Restaurant during the Grand Opening weekend Atlantis, The Palm Resort, and the Palm Jumeirah.

The Atlantis hotel opens today - the flagship resort on Dubai's man-made Palm Jumeirah Island.

A sculptured glass fountain decorates the entrance lobby of the luxurious complex.The resort has four celebrity chef restaurants, a nightclub, a Spa and Fitness Club among other attractions.

Aquaventure is the resort's water park, consisting of rides with cascades, tidal waves and rapids and a Mesopotamian-styled Ziggurat temple.There are seven water slides, two of which catapult riders through shark-filled lagoons.


The resort is also host to one of the largest aquariums in the Middle East - the Ambassador Lagoon.