The Imperial New Delhi is a historic

luxury hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suite (hotel), suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a d ...

opened in 1936 in New Delhi, India. It is located on Janpath, close to Rajiv Chowk. It was New Delhi's first grand hotel.Famous Hotels: Imperial New Delhi - the making of
By Andreas Augustin. 4hoteliers.com. 11 December 2006. The hotel is owned by the Akoi family.

History

The hotel was designed in a mix of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

and colonial styles by architect, F.B. Blomfield, an associate of

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

, who designed the new capital of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. The hotel was built by Sandhu Jat Jagirdar S.B.S. Ranjit Singh, son of R.B.S. Narain Singh, honoured by the

, at the Coronation Durbar of 1911, when New Delhi was declared the new Capital of India. The hotel was officially opened in 1936 by

Lord Willingdon Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (12 September 1866 – 12 August 1941), styled as the Earl of Willingdon between 1931 and 1936, was a British people, British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician and administrator who served ...

, the

Viceroy of India The governor-general of India (1833 to 1950, from 1858 to 1947 the viceroy and governor-general of India, commonly shortened to viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom in their capacity as the Emperor of ...

. Also present was his wife, Lady Willingdon, who chose the hotel's name and conferred its lion insignia upon it. The hotel underwent restoration under the leadership of its General Manager and Vice President, Mr. Harvinder Sekhon, spanning from 1996 to 2001. During his tenure, the Imperial hosted notable guests including the Queen of the Netherlands, Hollywood celebrities, adventurers, and business magnates. Sekhon also oversaw the opening of six distinctive restaurants and bars: "Spice Route," "Patiala Peg Bar," "1911 Restaurant and Bar," "Daniells Tavern," and "San Gimignano." For further details, refer to articles such as "New Delhi Hotel Opens Door to Art, Los Angeles Times, 7 December 1997, Associated Press" and "India: Fishlock's empire" by Mr. Trevor Fishlock, Daily Telegraph, London, 27 November 2000. Today, the hotel has the largest collection of colonial and post-colonial art and artifacts anywhere in Delhi, and has a museum and an art gallery. The Imperial was awarded Travel + Leisure India's Best Award for Heritage Hotel in 2017, awarded Best Heritage Hotel by Outlook Traveller in 2018 and listed in the Conde Nast Gold List of best hotels in 2018 in amongst multiple other awards. The hotel contains nine restaurants and eateries ranging from fine dining to bars, three function rooms, a spa, salon and nine styles of accommodation.

Heritage

Hotel Imperial, New Delhi is well known for its heritage and legacy. It has a well known bar called 'Patiala Peg'. It was this hotel and the bar where Pandit

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

Mohammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

and

Lord Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was ...

met to discuss the

Partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

and the birth of Pakistan. It is also the name of a school in Aligarh.

References

External links

The Imperial Delhi

The Imperial Hotels in New Delhi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Imperial, New Delhi, The Buildings and structures in New Delhi Hotel buildings completed in 1936 Art Deco architecture in India Hotels established in 1936 Hotels in Delhi Heritage hotels in India 1936 establishments in India ru:Империал (жилой комплекс)

History

Heritage

See also

Further reading

References

External links