3 French Boutique Hotels in South Delhi

The Rose, in trendy Hauz Khas Village, is a credit to owners Francois and Pio, who have renovated a faceless building and made it way more than the sum of its parts.

It’s an art space, it’s a meeting place, it’s a restaurant and it’s a boutique hotel – with 11 rooms upstairs, all of which are bright and fresh.

The food downstairs is superb, while the service is minimal but refined. Stay here and you can get to a metro easily, and into tourist-Delhi, but don’t miss out on the chance to wander around the vibrant neighbourhood at your doorstep.

The recently renovated Scarlette (formerly Colaba House) is an absolute gem of a guesthouse, though ‘mini-boutique hotel’ would be a more apt description, given there are only 4 guest rooms here (so book well in advance!!). The location is Safdarjung Enclave; safe, chilled-out, and in South Delhi.

New owner Pauline Bijvoet does that natural-French-style thing that we can only envy: every curio, colour or furnishing so effortlessly tasteful and chic.

The kitchen is run with love by Bengali cook Mamta, who serves up both European and Indian dishes, and had our reviewer Deepti gushing over her chocolate cake and lemon tart.

Amarya Villa is a 9 room, discreet boutique hotel in Safdarjung Enclave, a great residential neighbourhood in south Delhi. The obvious ‘getting around’ issues are rendered irrelevant by the ubiquitous auto-rickshaws, taxis and the nearby Delhi metro; plus when the service and food is this good, why would you want to be in the manic centre of town anyway?