Fernhills Palace

Mysore's maharajas needed somewhere to sit out the summer, and this was the answer: an 1844 colonial bungalow, bought in 1873 by Chamarajendra Wadiyar X and rebuilt Swiss-chalet style with carved bargeboards, ornamental cast iron and rooms panelled in Burma teak. Fifty wooded acres at 1,800 m keep it cool and half-hidden. Since the 1990s it has run as a WelcomHeritage hotel with 19 period suites; non-guests are admitted at the management's discretion, so call ahead and book a meal if you want to see the teak ballroom and the corridors of maharaja photographs.

The only maharaja's residence in the Nilgiris, a Swiss chalet dressed in Burma teak