Luxury Family holidays: Live 'like royalty' at Hyderabad's Taj Falaknuma Palace

Britons planning to stay in Hyderabad can live like royalty at the newly refurbished Taj Falaknuma Palace, it has been claimed.

Travel writer Sankha Guha recently stayed at the hotel and claimed that it still retains many of the hallmarks of the past despite its renovation.

He wrote on the Independent website: "This is what palaces should look like: dressed to impress the likes of the future King George V and his cousin, Tsar Nicholas II, who both stayed here, on state visits.

"The interior is equally grand: casually littered with European antiques, bespoke Arts and Crafts furniture, silk draperies, faux classical statuary and rococo French ceilings."

Mr Guha added that the building is a mixture of classical Italian style and exotic fashion.

The Taj Falaknuma Palace was built by Nizam Mehboob Ali Khan, the former Indian head of state, in the latter part of the 19th century. It was used as guesthouse for visiting dignitaries.