Home — Experiences
Delhi, arranged around your day.
Our concierge keeps a small black book of guides, drivers, cooks and gallery owners. Tell us what you're curious about and we'll build the day around it.
Delhi Experiences
Four ways into the city.
Everything below is arranged by the desk, usually with 24 hours' notice. Prices are indicative and confirmed in writing before you go.
Old Delhi at six
Leave before the crowds with the house car and a guide who grew up in Chandni Chowk. Walk the spice market, eat parathas at a stall that's been there since 1875, and be back for breakfast by ten. Half day, from ₹4,500 for two.
The Mughal circuit
Humayun's Tomb, Nizamuddin and Safdarjung in one unhurried morning, with a stop for kebabs near the dargah and a conversation with the restoration team if timing allows. Half day, from ₹5,200 for two.
Lodhi Gardens on foot
Two and a half kilometres from the gate. We'll send you out with a map, a bottle of water and the best time to go — early morning for the birdlife, late afternoon for the light on the tombs. Complimentary.
Studios & galleries
Introductions to artists working out of Lado Sarai, Okhla and Garhi, arranged in advance and usually over chai. Also gallery walks in Lodhi Art District. From ₹3,800 for two.
Cultural Attractions
What's within reach.
Sunder Nagar sits unusually well for the monuments. Most of what people come to Delhi to see is within twenty minutes, and the two best gardens in the city are within walking distance.
- 1.8 kmKhan Market — bookshops, bakeries, the city's best-stocked wine shop
- 2.6 kmLodhi Gardens — 90 acres of tombs, lawns and parakeets
- 3.1 kmNational Gallery of Modern Art — Jaipur House, largely empty on weekdays
- 4.0 kmIndia Gate & Rajpath — best at dusk, when the lawns fill up
- 5.4 kmHumayun's Tomb — the template for the Taj, and far quieter
- 5.8 kmNizamuddin Dargah — qawwali on Thursday evenings
- 6.5 kmConnaught Place — the colonial-era centre, good for a half day
- 9.2 kmRed Fort & Chandni Chowk — go early, leave by eleven
Local Recommendations
Where the team actually eats.
No commissions, no arrangements. These are the places the desk sends friends.
For breakfast
Khan Market's Bengali Sweet House for chole bhature, or the small South Indian counter at the back of the market for dosa before nine.
1.8 km · 6 min by carFor lunch
Lodhi Garden Restaurant, for the terrace and the kebabs. Or Pandara Road, five minutes away, where the butter chicken places have been competing for forty years.
2.4 km · 8 min by carFor dinner
Indian Accent at The Lodhi for something special — book three weeks ahead. For something closer and quieter, the small Awadhi place on the Purana Qila road.
2.9 km · 10 min by carFor coffee
Two roasters in Khan Market worth the walk. Both open at eight and both do a proper flat white, which is not a given in this city.
1.8 km · 20 min on footFor shopping
Khan Market for books and linen. Delhi Haat at INA for crafts, best on a weekday. Lajpat Nagar for fabric, if you know what you're looking for.
1.8–6 kmFor a walk
The Sunder Nagar lanes themselves, at seven in the morning. Peacocks in the garden of the house on the corner, most days.
On the doorstepHotel Experiences
Things that happen in the house.
Garden breakfast
Under the jackfruit tree, cooked to order, from seven until noon. Included in every room.
The residents' bar
Twelve seats, open from six. House gin and tonic with curry leaf, and a short list of Indian wines.
Cooking with the chef
A two-hour session in the Kachnar kitchen, most Saturdays. You choose three dishes, cook them, then eat them on the veranda. From ₹3,200 per person.
The sitting room
Books, newspapers, a record player and a very good chair. Open to guests all day, no booking required.
Concierge
Ask us for something specific.
Our concierge, Rehana, has been in Delhi her whole life and has been at the house since it opened. She keeps the black book: guides who actually know their subject, drivers who don't take the long way, a tailor in Lajpat Nagar who can turn something around in two days.
Tell her what you're interested in — textiles, Sufi music, modernist architecture, street food, birdwatching — and she will build a day around it rather than sending you to the same three places everyone goes.
Rehana is at the desk from 9am to 6pm, six days a week. Leave a note at any hour and she'll find you at breakfast.
Sample Itinerary
Three days, unhurried.
A shape we often suggest for first-time visitors who'd rather not spend the whole trip in traffic.
Old Delhi before the city wakes
Leave at six with the house car. Chandni Chowk, the spice market and a paratha breakfast at a stall older than the house. Back by ten for a rest in the garden.
Lodhi Gardens on foot
A thirty-five minute walk through Sunder Nagar and along Lodhi Road. Two hours among the tombs, then dinner at Pandara Road on the way back.
Humayun's Tomb & Nizamuddin
Early entry at Humayun's Tomb before the heat and the groups. Then the dargah next door, and lunch at the kebab stalls outside the gate.
Qawwali at Nizamuddin
Thursday evenings only. We'll arrange a guide to take you in and back — the lanes are a maze after dark, and it's better with someone who knows them.
Studios in Lado Sarai
Two or three artist studios, arranged in advance. Lunch nearby, then the National Gallery of Modern Art in the afternoon if you still have appetite for it.
Dinner at Kachnar
Back at the house. The kitchen will put together a tasting menu of whatever the market gave them that day, with the Nashik flight from the bar.
We build itineraries to order — this is one example. Tell the desk what you'd like to see and we'll write you a version with timings and costs.
Questions
Before you go out.
Twenty-four hours is usually enough, though for Old Delhi at dawn and for qawwali on Thursdays we prefer two or three days. Peak season (October to March) fills up faster.
Not in the room rate, but we can arrange both. The house car is available for half and full days at ₹3,500 and ₹5,500 respectively, fuel and driver included. Longer trips are quoted separately.
Yes — ₹1,800 each way to IGI, slightly less for Terminal 1. Share your flight number and we'll track it. Drivers wait with a name board in the arrivals hall.
October to March. February is the best month — cool mornings, the kachnar in flower, and the city at its most sociable. Avoid May and June if you can; the heat is genuinely punishing.
Yes. The Lodhi Gardens bird walk, a kite-making session in the courtyard and the Saturday cooking class all work well for children over six. Tell us ages and we'll suggest something suitable.
Some of them, yes — the cooking class and the gallery walks are open to non-residents. Walking itineraries and car hire are reserved for guests of the house.
Reservations
Plan your stay.
Send us your dates and tell us what you'd like to do while you're here. We'll come back with a room, a rate and a suggested itinerary. For anything urgent, call or WhatsApp the desk.