RAN BAAS THE PALACE PATIALA

Punjab's first luxury palace hotel unlocks the possibilities for a great cultural revival of the state's royal legacy, finds Chandrahas Choudhury.

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Of how many properties in India could it be said that they were also into luxury hospitality two hundred years ago? In November 2024, after decades of desolation.

Patiala's Ran Baas The Palace opened its doors as the newest property under Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Limited.

Astonishingly, for a land so rich in riyasats and Rolls-Royce cars, Ran Baas is Punjab's first luxury palace hotel. Consisting of an entire wing of Qila Mubarak, a 10-acre fort complex in the heart of the old walled city of Patiala, Ran Baas was, in the heyday of the maharajas, a home for their queens and a guesthouse. Its eclectic blend of Sikh.

Late Mughal, and Rajput architecture is a testament to its 18th-century origins. Beyond its white stucco façade, it was furnished with state-of-the-art entertainments and diversions-rooms with frescoes and panels of gorgeous art, a kitchen that could feed 35,000 people, banquet halls, water fountains, a temperature control system using piped water, birds imported from faraway climes, among other features.

Then, as with many an old fort palace.