Surajgarh, Rajasthan

You can eat like a king anywhere in Rajasthan. But at Surajgarh, in art-filled Shekhawati, you can be fed by a king — HRH Vikram Singh. Or by a battery of kitchen staff trained to reproduce recipes created by three generations of maharajas from the principality of Sailana in Madhya Pradesh. Over the last few years, Tikarani Shailaja, Singh’s eldest daughter, along with her husband, Aishwarya, has leveraged her great great grandfather’s accidental foray into cooking — on a royal hunt no less — as a delicious marketing strategy for this haveli-turned-hotel. Expect the unexpected here: mutton dahi vada and garlic kheer!

₹10,000 (approx.) for double rooms; surajgarh.com; reopens mid-October; watch out for the annual Sailana Food Festival.

Itachuna Rajbari, Bengal

Unlike Rajasthan, where ‘palace’ hotels are as common as camels, Bengal is a rookie in the heritage hospitality business. Not counting the colonial tea bungalows in the north — for the British were rajahs too — it barely has two functional royal mansion-hotels. Of them, Itachuna Rajbari, two hours from Kolkata, places food at the centre of all affairs. Served in traditional kansha or bell metal, every meal here is an elaborate event, starting with a breakfast of luchi (deep-fried bread) and aloo’r chorchori (a simple dish of potatoes). Owned by the Kundus, descendants of Maratha warriors who once attacked the region to forcibly collect taxes and eventually put down roots here, nowhere is the family’s acculturation more evident than on its overladen plates.

From ₹2,400 for double rooms, plus ₹180-250 per meal; itachunarajbari.com

Chittoor Kottaram, Kerala

Think Ladakh, think camps. Think Kerala, think homestays. But Chittoor Kottaram, a restored single-key property in Cheranallur, is no ordinary homestay; it’s home to descendants of the Kochi royals. Not dripping with excesses, like palaces are wont to be, but with an elegance entirely unassuming, it abandons its modesty only in the dining room, displaying a range in vegetarian sadyas unheard of today.

₹20,000 for 3 rooms; cghearth.com

Elgin Nork-hill, Sikkim

Built in the 1930s by the last chogyal of Sikkim, this royal guesthouse still rings with the laughter of parties that could shame the Gatsbys of the world. Some of its early fascination for the Continent is still evident in the ceremonial afternoon teas — where the local Temi is served. But it’s the Sikkimese and Nepalese menus here that draw in the most discerning guests, who wash it all down with freshly fermented tongba (from millet).

From ₹8,700; elginhotels.com

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