Is The Oberoi’s reign as Kolkata’s favorite luxury digs finally over? After a years-long gestation, The Glenburn Penthouse opened in January as the epitome of genteel living in the onetime imperial capital of British India. Owners Husna-Tara and Anshuman Prakash, together with flamboyant Melbourne-born designer Bronwyn Baillieu-Latif, sourced the finest local craftsmen for the hotel’s plaster moldings, inlaid-marble furnishings, Venetian mirror work, and teak parquetry, all of which lend an air of old-world elegance to this thoroughly contemporary property. The nine suites are arranged over the top two floors of an eight-story office building—an odd location to be sure, but the Penthouse exists in its own fabulous world. The delight is in the detail: a lady walking her leopard in the lavishly whimsical “Hindoostan” wallpaper, custom made in Paris; the Burmese-teak beds carved with flowers, horses, lions, and dancing girls; the pink chandeliers and cherub sconces in the dining room. Everything, from the ceramic-handled cutlery to the elephant-motif crockery, has been chosen for character and aesthetics. Then there are the views, especially from the rooftop infinity pool. At this height, the 19-million-strong metropolis is laid bare in its smog-smudged glory: the Victoria Memorial, Eden Gardens, Howrah Bridge, the racecourse. Just extraordinary.
—91-33/4604-5267; glenburnpenthouse.com; doubles from US$335

See the full 2019 Luxe List in the October/November 2019 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“The Luxe List 2019: The Glenburn Penthouse, India”).