Indian luxury hotels just don’t feel the same anymore. Sure, the marble’s still imported, the flowers still arrive from who-knows-where, and you can drop more on a room than most people get paid as a monthly salary. But all that gloss can’t hide what’s missing.

Back in the day, the best hotels earned their reputation on substance, not flash. It started in the kitchen—with people who actually cared. Walk through the doors of the Taj Mahal Palace and you’d find yourself in Hemant Oberoi’s world. ITC? That was Imtiaz Qureshi’s turf. The Oberoi Group didn’t just raise the bar—they obsessed over every inch of it. Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi, and later his son “Biki”, didn’t just pose for photos. If a chair were out of place, he’d fix it himself. Leadership back then meant sweating the details, not just showing up for ribbon-cuttings.

And it wasn’t just about the bosses barking orders. Excellence felt personal. The spirit of the place mattered, and leaders protected it. Guests weren’t statistics or “room nights”—they were treated like actual people. Comfort wasn’t a line item in a budget; it was a way of doing things. You felt it in every handshake, every greeting.

Now? The vibe’s different, and not in a good way. There’s a tired sameness everywhere you turn.

Room rates have shot up—₹30,000 and ₹50,000 a night are almost normal in the big cities. But something’s emptier than ever. Breakfast and lunch buffets, which used to be worth showing up early for,........

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