"A bed and breakfast in Delhi's tree-lined Defence Colony, open since 2008"
The Colonel this retreat is named for played cricket at Lord's in 1947, touring a war-ravaged Britain with the Indian Military Academy team months before Partition took his family's Lahore fortune. Col. Anand Kanwar Khanna, "Nandi" to his friends, was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers and Miners and saw action in Kashmir in 1948 at 23. He died in January 2025, a month short of his 100th birthday, and his family still runs the Defence Colony guesthouse that carries his rank.
Colonel's Retreat has been a B&B since 2008: two houses in a tree-lined South Delhi neighbourhood, residents only on the premises, with rooms opening onto semi-private floor lounges hung with original art. The Colonel's son Arun and daughter-in-law Suman manage it, and his widow Meena, who captained the Delhi Women's Cricket team and was named Best Woman Athlete of Delhi State in 1954, started a cooking school in 1976. The food today is home-style and made to order, and guests can sit in on Indian cooking demonstrations built around dishes you can recreate at home. Rooms are simple but complete: air conditioning, air purifiers in every room, fridge, safe, tea and coffee kit, attached bathrooms with hairdryers, and breakfast included.
In good weather, a la carte breakfast and dinner move to the private rooftop. The multigrain bread is baked in-house, so are the gooseberry jam and orange peel marmalade, and the banana bread is the acknowledged signature.
Dining under the stars is certainly an unusual experience in New Delhi.
The location does quiet work: Defence Colony Market and its restaurants are a 5-minute walk, Lajpat Nagar metro is about 500 metres away, and Humayun's Tomb and Lodhi Gardens are minutes from the door. Our take: Delhi is a city most visitors endure between trains, and this is the rare address that turns it into somewhere you would happily add a night, with The Telegraph and The Guardian among the papers who got there before us.
In Delhi. The nearest airport is Delhi (DEL).
The B&B is at D-418 Defence Colony, a leafy, upmarket neighbourhood of South Delhi, about 500 metres from Lajpat Nagar metro station on the Violet and Pink Lines. Humayun's Tomb, Lodhi Gardens and the Bahai Temple are a few minutes away, and Defence Colony Market with its restaurants and cafes is a five-minute walk.
Standard Rooms come with air-conditioning, WiFi, a television, refrigerator, electronic safe, tea and coffee maker and an air purifier in every room. Each has an attached modern bathroom with a hairdryer, and rooms open onto a semi-private lounge decorated with original art.
Meals are home-style, fresh and made to order from family recipes, with complimentary breakfast included. The house bakes its own multigrain bread and makes its own gooseberry jam and orange-peel marmalade, and guests have described its banana bread as the signature dish. In good weather, breakfast and dinner are served on the rooftop terrace.
Yes. Cooking demonstrations by Mrs Meena Khanna and her team of home chefs teach authentic Indian recipes designed to be simple to prepare, using ingredients easily found in Europe and the USA, after which participants enjoy the dishes.
It opened in 2008 and says it has since been recognised in TripAdvisor's Hall of Fame and Traveller's Choice Awards, with coverage in publications including The Telegraph and The Guardian. The property admits residents only on the premises, which it says ensures exceptional privacy.
The house's single room class, in double or twin. Each room has air conditioning, an air purifier, fridge, TV, tea and coffee maker, in-room safe and 24-hour hot water; breakfast and afternoon tea are included.
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