Vijay Mallya built this neoclassical manor in the early 2000s on a 66-acre winery outside Pune, with the sphinx-flanked grand staircase, arched colonnades, and cream-and-ochre rendered facade of someone who understood spectacle. That history gives Hotel Irada, which opened in 2026 as a 32-key Design Hotels member, an unusually loaded starting point: a monument to a particular kind of Indian ambition, quietly converted into something far more nuanced. The interiors, handled by a studio from the AD 100, pull the building in an unexpected direction. Walnut-panelled bedroom walls carry a diamond inlay motif that echoes the facade's ornamental detailing while tilting firmly toward midcentury warmth; iron-framed sofas in oatmeal linen sit alongside damask armchairs and glass-topped cocktail tables with wrought-iron bases. The bar features a green marble counter, barley-twist columns, and a floor of polychrome stone in a geometric pattern borrowed from North African tilework, all hung with over 150 curated pieces sourced from Le Puces in Paris and galleries across India. Elsewhere, a scarlet chandelier above a patterned orange rug in one of the villa-category rooms introduces a playful counterpoint to the more composed main-house suites. The pool terrace, lined with burgundy-fringed umbrellas and balustraded arches framing the Sahyadri foothills at dusk, is where the building finally relaxes into its landscape, 4,000 acres of reserve forest pressing in on all sides.

2hr drive from Pune airport (PNQ)

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