Balrampur House is the summer abode of the Maharaja of Balrampur who turned this over a hundred years old sprawling palace into a hotel in 1996. The hotel is grand and a wee bit intimidating with high ceilings, humongous rooms, stuffed wild animals, sweeping corridors and the portraits of royalty staring down at you from the walls.

A wide porch leads you to the reception adorned with portraits of the lineage of Royalty. The rooms open to huge common balconies that jut out like jetties and have seating arrangement with a view of the sprawling garden and lotus pool. The corridors have pencil sketches of pre-independence war scenes with the Union Jack clearly in the background. Come here for a dose of nostalgia.

The bus stand is 5 kilometers from Hotel Krishna and the Naini Lake is about 2 kilometers away. The nearest railhead of Kathgodam is 45 kilometers from the hotel.Hotel FacilitiesThere is a kids' play area on the premises where programs such as tambola and bonfire nights are arranged for adults as well. Other entertainment options include chess, table tennis, badminton and volleyball. The reception has a newspaper rack. Other facilities include car rental, sightseeing, shuttle service for the Mall, laundry service, car parking and doctor on call. Room AmenitiesThe rooms are spacious, sporting old colonial furniture that was used by the Maharaja and his family. Four poster beds, large couches with thick rugs, built in wardrobe and an elaborate dresser manage to occupy only a small part of the room and Mediterranean drapes are strung on the windows. A touch of modernity comes in the form of television with satellite connection and Telephone.

En suite washrooms are again very spacious with an enormous wall-to-wall marble slab with a basin and mirror. A bathtub, geyser and even a bidet add to the comfort. The Superior Deluxe rooms, if it were possible, are even larger with a seating area included in the bed...