दिल्ली

We pick this over The Imperial because Dhilli by Vineet Bhatia is the only Michelin-credentialed kitchen in a Delhi hotel right now, and the Humayun's Tomb view from the upper floors is unobstructed. The Khari Baoli cooking excursion—spice market at dawn, four-course meal back at the hotel—is the one program in Delhi that doesn't feel like a desk activity. Cirrus9 rooftop at 7pm before the April heat fully breaks is where we'd end the day.

Defence Colony is a functional base—upscale, quiet by Delhi standards, and a straightforward cab ride to Lodhi Gardens (4.5 km) or Humayun's Tomb (4.2 km). The Pio Coffrant interiors mean you're not staring at beige walls. No spa, no pool, no room service theatre—but the 4.7+ review scores hold because the basics work. If you're in Delhi to move around and sleep well, this covers it at roughly half the Oberoi rate.

We pick this for the location alone: Humayun's Tomb is visible from guest rooms, the Arab Serai Mughal gate is a 2-minute walk, and Sunder Nursery—Delhi's best morning walk in April before 8am—is next door. The Nizamuddin dargah qawwali on Thursday evenings is a 10-minute walk. No other property in this dossier puts you this close to three UNESCO-adjacent sites at once. The Indian breakfast is specifically called out in multiple 2024–2025 guides.

A 200-year-old Mughal haveli inside Chandni Chowk's heritage zone, UNESCO-awarded for its six-year restoration—this is the one property in Delhi where the building itself is the reason you're there. Intricate woodwork, Hindu deity carvings, internal balconies, a rooftop pool, and Lakhori downstairs serving the kind of thali you can't replicate outside Old Delhi. The rooftop at night over the old city's lights is the specific reason we'd choose this over any contemporary hotel at a similar rate.