Travel Stories
28 Kothi: Hotel Review: The Telegraph UK
This boutique guest house with just five individually-styled rooms makes a virtue out of its quirky minimalism. The Instagrammable interiors are dotted with thoughtful design touches. Dinner, which is prepared on request, is superb and served in the candlelit garden.
Shahpura House: Hotel Review: The Telegraph UK
This meticulously maintained 64-room heritage hotel, in a quiet residential area of Jaipur, is owned and run by an aristocratic family. They live on the top floor and take pleasure in sharing their traditions and festivals in a way that is both authentic and ebullient.
Samode Palace: Hotel Review: The Telegraph UK
This 16th-century palace nestled in the ancient Aravalli hills has striking wall murals, atmospheric rooms, an infinity pool, and a great wine cellar. It's an hour outside Jaipur, and run by the same family that lorded over 45 surrounding villages in princely times.
Hilton Embassy Golflinks: Hotel Review: The Telegraph UK
This hidden pearl in the heart of Bangalore affords quiet, spacious studio-style rooms with kitchenettes for long-stay guests. Facilities include a spa, swimming pool, badminton court and restaurants.
Tree of Life: Hotel Review: The Telegraph UK
This resort an hour outside the Pink City of Jaipur is designed to pamper guests with spacious villas, a swimming pool overlooking the Aravali hills, a spa offering excellent treatments, an organic garden, and walking trails that encourage solitude and reflection.
Taj Jai Mahal Palace: Hotel Review: The Telegraph UK
This 18th-century palace, which is spread over 18 acres in central Jaipur, has tasteful rooms, a fabulous spa, swimming pool, and enough activities – including miniature golf, heritage walks, restaurants and a running track— to keep a guests entertained for a long weekend or more.
Alsisar Haveli: Hotel Review: The Telegraph UK
This heritage hotel was once a large 'haveli' (traditional home) for a large Indian family. It has a welcoming and rather dramatic façade, open courtyards, a swimming pool, and a boutique that sells block-print clothes.
Narain Niwas Palace: Hotel Review: The Telegraph UK
This heritage hotel, with its stunning entrance façade, has been with the same family since it was built in 1926, giving it an authenticity that is hard to duplicate. For a taste of Jaipur with all its charms and quirks, stay here.
Oberoi Rajvilas: Hotel Review: The Telegraph UK
A luxurious base from which to see Jaipur The Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur, India Telegraph Review/ Shoba Narayan/ Travel writer 8/10 This hotel just outside Jaipur, with red-brick architecture [...]
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So which is the true Iyengar bakery, began the thread. The answers came fast and hilarious. That’s like asking, which is the original Balaji Wines, or Durga Medicals, Ganesh Fruit Juice, Parameshwari Traders, Akbar Travels, Bangarapet Chaats, Basveshwara Khanavali, SLV Tiffin Room, Udupi Lunch Home, Vasavi Condiments, or cab drivers called Manjunath, and bus drivers called Basavaraju. Before we had franchises that sanitized and equalized everything we eat and drink, ranging from coffee to croissants, there were unique and distinct stores started and run by families. You could argue that Iyengar bakeries were the first franchise. Perhaps it started with different family members before branching out to become a brand name.
Nine features I wrote for Condenast Traveler (US edition) a while back
Interviews with His Holiness The Dalai Lama
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Shoba Narayan is an award-winning Indian author, journalist, and freelance travel writer based in India. She specialises in luxury travel, immersive journeys, and Indian culture with a focus on food, wine, culture, cities, and identity. With over two decades of experience, she has contributed travel features to Condé Nast Traveler (US edition), Travel & Leisure, DestinAsian, Mint Lounge, The National (Abu Dhabi), Taj Magazine, and Hindustan Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph UK, The Guardian UK, and Robb Report among others. Her awards include the James Beard food-writing award and a Pulitzer Travel Fellowship. Her travel writing spans India, Southeast Asia, Japan, China, the Maldives, Bhutan, Costa Rica, and beyond — always with a focus on the sensory, the cultural, and the deeply human. Based in Bangalore, India, Shoba is a leading voice on South Asian travel, reviewing luxury hotels in India and abroad, and writing immersive features on traditional Indian crafts, and contemporary Indian culture. As a freelance travel writer and memoirist, she writes evocative, deeply researched features on everything from birding in Costa Rica to spiritual tourism in Bhutan.
For editors: Shoba Narayan is an Indian travel writer and food writer, who contributes to assignments on travel, food, culture, and Indian cities. She has reported from across the world and writes narrative-driven features with a strong sense of place.
Key Expertise: India travel writer, freelance travel writer India, South Asia travel journalist, luxury travel India writer, food and travel writer India, Indian food writer, Bangalore travel writer, South India travel writing, cultural travel writer, narrative travel journalist, travel features India, heritage travel India, slow travel India, sustainability travel writer, hotel and destination features India, travel essays South Asia.