Exquisite royal palaces of India that are now luxury hotels

With the 26th amendment to the Constitution of India in July 1971, a lot changed for the Indian royalty. The monarchy had no other choice than to sit back and move forward into the world of modernity. While many of the privileges were lost and the royal households had to give up their royal status and titles, some of the Indian royals still got to keep the magnificent line of palaces listed in their names by their predecessors. But over time, they have either been turned to luxury hotels or museums for the general public. That said, here are some of the most exquisite palaces of India that are now luxury hotels.

Built by the Prince of Udaipur, Maharana Jagat Singh II in 1746, Taj Lake Palace, also known as Jag Niwas, is one of the most extravagant royal palace-cum-luxury hotels in India. Following India's independence, many more chambers were added to the palace and in 1971, the Taj group of hotels took over the palace management.

Popularly known as the 'Jewel of Jaipur', the Rambagh palace was built in 1835. The extravagant palace was renamed Rambagh after the then reigning Maharaja, Sawai Ram Singh II. The Royal family of Jaipur stayed at Rambagh as their home until 1957 and later in 1972, it was taken over by The Taj Group of Hotels, Resorts and Palaces.

Named after the late Maharaja Umaid Singh, Umaid Bhawan Palace was built somewhere in between 1929 and 1944. In 1972, the palace was turned into a luxury hotel. However, even in the current times, a part of the palace is still resided by the Royal Family of Jodhpur which is currently headed by His Highness Maharaja Gaj Singh II.

Jaipur's City Palace was built by Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amer. While the Royal Family of Jaipur currently resides in the palace, the current titular head of the royal household, Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh has introduced one of it's suites on Airbnb.

The Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad has its own story to tell. Once the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, Mehboob Ali Khan, was invited by his brother-in-law and the Prime Minister of Hyderabad to take a tour of the Falaknuma Palace. The Nizam loved the place so much that he chose to stay there for over a month. On being offered the palace as a gift, the Nizam refused but paid a handsome amount for the same. After years, the palace was renovated by the Taj group and reopened as a luxury hotel in 2010.

Laxmi Vilas Palace was built by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III in 1890. It is known to be four times bigger than Buckingham Palace of the United Kingdom. The Palace accommodates several other buildings within its complex including the LVP Banquets and Conventions, Moti Baug Palace and the Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum building.

Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar of Udaipur is the chairman and the managing director of the HRH Group of Hotels, which is India's largest chain of heritage palace-hotels and resorts under private ownership.