Experience Cultural Heritage at.....Heritage Hotels

Retro style has become popular in hotels, as in other industries. Many countries have taken initiative to use their unique heritage and cultural resources to attract tourists

- Ashok Malkani

Egypt was one of the first countries to advocate for the preservation of world heritage sites and has been making great efforts to sustain heritage buildings by renovating and remodeling them and using them as heritage hotels. India, which has the 6th largest number of World Heritage Sites in the world, has vast cultural heritage, specially in structures erected in different epochs. Its palaces, forts and havelis (traditional townhouses, mansions or manor houses) have been converted into heritage hotels which have attracted both, international as well as domestic, tourists. Ashok Malkani probes into various issues, concerning heritage hotels, like the concept, popularity, methods for reviving heritage structures as hotels et al., in an effort to learn about the growth, popularity and success of heritage hotels.

Heritage hotels are proving popular with domestic as well as international tourists. These hotels, while providing luxurious experiences also provide you with an opportunity to learn about the country's history, art, culture, tastes, traditions, and sentiments present in various eras.

Maharajahs, in the bygone era lived in palaces. Some of the most opulent palaces were built during the British Raj when Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. On the eve of India's nationhood in 1947, there were more than 565 maharajahs, nawabs and rajas. However, after independence, as socialism became the norm, subsequent to 1971, many of them, with foresight, turned their palaces to hotels.

Today, you can dip into the bygone era by staying in these palaces-turnedto-hotels. Heritage hotels, with higher and more stable occupancy, have today advanced due to higher and more stable occupancy which has been made possible by the tourists being attracted to these properties.