There was a time when “heritage hospitality” meant a predictable visual formula: carved wooden doors, antique trunks in the lobby, brass lamps polished to perfection, and a sepia-tinted story framed at reception. Beautiful, certainly. But often, little more than aesthetic theatre.
Today, the conversation around heritage in hospitality design is becoming far more nuanced. Across India and beyond, architects and hoteliers are moving away from decorative nostalgia and asking a deeper question: can a hotel preserve the spirit of a place without turning it into a museum?
For architect Anil Badan of Studio B Architects, the answer lies in moving beyond imitation. “I don’t see heritage as copying old elements,” he says. “I see it as understanding how people lived, how spaces were used, and what made them comfortable within a specific climate and culture.”
That distinction is quietly reshaping the way some of the most compelling hotels are being imagined today.