Focus On Travel: India

No trip to the northwestern state of Rajasthan is complete without a night at Delwara village's Devi Garh hotel. The Delhi-based Poddar family renovated this eighteenth-century palace-fortress over a ten-year period, and their painstaking attention to detail is evident in 39 sparsely decorated but unmistakably posh suites, boasting floors inlaid with semiprecious stones and walls painted with miniature Krishnas. Liz Hurley threw a 40th-birthday bash for consort Arun Nayar here, and when PR executive Vanessa von Bismarck, who recommends the presidential suite, checked in over the holidays, she spied Paris Vogue's Carine Roitfeld. More information available at Devi Garh, http://www.deviresorts.com/.




French jeweler Marie-Hélène de Taillac spends six months of the year in the Pink City of Jaipur sourcing stones and designing her collection. That's a long time to go without a fashion fix, which is why she partnered with Munnu Kasliwal of Gem Palace—the city's, nay India's, premier jeweler—to open Hot Pink, an airy boutique that stocks local labels like Manish Arora and Neeru Kumar. Hot Pink, Narain Niwas Palace, Jaipur, 011-91-141-510-8932







When Gillian Conroy and Danica Wilcox, alums of French and Japanese Vogue and partners in a new jewelry company, visit Jaipur (where their matte gold necklaces, cabochon labradorite earrings, and tourmaline rings are made), they invariably end up inside the Old City, searching for treasures at the Johari Bazaar. "It's colorful and chaotic, great for shopping for friends at home," says Conroy. "But be prepared to bargain hard." All that haggling can make a girl parched, so the duo quench their thirst at the nearby L.M.B. Hotel. Once refreshed, it's time for more shopping. Satayam, outside the City Palace gate, is their preferred tailor for made-to-measure clothes. More information available at Conroy & Wilcox, info@conroywilcox.com; Satayam, Laxman Dawra Road, Jaipur, 011-91-141-260-0555; L.M.B. Hotel, Johari Bazaar, Jaipur, 011-91-141-256-5844, info@lmbsweets.com.

New Yorkers hungry for a taste of home eat at Véda, the Delhi restaurant opened by the chefs at popular Manhattan Indian joint Dévi. But it isn't just Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur's famous Gobi Manchurian that keeps the Jaislamer-marble tables packed. Rohit Bal, a fashion designer who's been called the Versace of India, has decorated the brick-walled space in spicy orange hues and plenty of mirrors—the better to spy the well-dressed locals.
Véda, H 27, Outer Circle, Connaught Place, Delhi, 011-91-11-5151-3940

For something wild, Deep Kailey recommends a trip to Madhya Pradesh, the "heart of India." The London-based stylist and managing director of Kim Jones' label stayed at a guest house in Kahna National Park, where "getting out really early in the morning meant seeing tigers." Hampi, left, is up next for this adventurer. The onetime capital of the large, rich Vijayanagara empire, it was destroyed in 1565 by marauding Moguls. The ruins are now a World Heritage Center—and a destination for today's time travelers. More information available at Kahna National Park, http://www.kanhanationalpark.com/.

Franco-Indian relations are cheery, thanks in part to Jean-François Lesage, the expatriate son of François Lesage, the famous haute couture embroiderer. While la mode occupies the elder Lesage (Chanel bought the family business in 2003), the son, a former art auctioneer, focuses on interiors. "We do not do fashion," he asserts. Instead, his company, Vastrakala Exports, has been supplying embroideries made in a converted house in Madras to museums, as well as the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, Catherine Deneuve, and Steven Spielberg. Visitors to the balmy city can call ahead to tour the workshop. More information available at Jean-François Lesage, Paris, 011-33-1-4450-0101.

Dries Van Noten turned to Japan for inspiration for his spring show, but India is a recurring motif for the Belgian designer. Among the saris he's collected, two stand out: a vintage style printed with images of Indian Ambassador cars and another in fuchsia emblazoned with gold brocade. Van Noten's favorite sources are the Calcutta markets, including the old (it opened in 1874) New Market, housed in a red-brick Victorian Gothic building with a clock tower. New Market, 19 Lindsay St., Calcutta