780 sq ft, panoramic views, a private dining nook and a butler on request. What the flagship suite actually buys you over the other three categories, who books it, and when it is the wrong choice.
Every hotel has a room it puts at the top of the list, and most of them are the same room with more of it. A larger bed, a bigger bathroom, the same layout stretched. The interesting suites are the ones where the extra space has been spent on a different idea rather than a bigger version of the old one - where you can point at a corner of the floor plan and say what it is for. That is the case worth making for the Maharaja Room, and it comes down to about a hundred square feet in the corner.
The Maharaja Room is the flagship suite at ORNATE Lucknow: 780 sq ft for two to four guests, with panoramic views, a private dining nook, a walk-in wardrobe and a butler on request. It is the largest of the property's four room categories, sitting above the 640 sq ft Family Premium, the 520 sq ft Premium and the 320 sq ft Regal Triple.
What 780 sq ft is actually spent on
Set the four categories side by side and the jump to the Maharaja Room is 140 sq ft over the Family Premium and 260 over the Premium. That is not a huge margin in absolute terms, so what matters is where it goes. It does not go into a larger bedroom. It goes into two things the smaller categories do not have at all: somewhere to eat that is not the bed or a desk, and somewhere to keep a week's clothes that is not a suitcase on a rack.
| Room | Size | Sleeps | What it is built around |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maharaja Room | 780 sq ft | 2-4 | Panoramic views, private dining nook, walk-in wardrobe, butler on request |
| Family Premium Room | 640 sq ft | 4-5 | Two bedrooms, extra bedding, a layout built for differing schedules |
| Premium Room | 520 sq ft | 2-3 | A separate living area, soaking tub and lounge seating |
| Regal Triple Room | 320 sq ft | 2 | King bed, city view, rain shower, smart climate control |
Note the occupancy column, because it is the counter-intuitive one. The Family Premium sleeps more people than the flagship. If you are travelling with four adults and a child, the 640 sq ft room with two bedrooms is the better room and the smaller number. Size and suitability are separate questions, which is the argument of our quick decision guide.
The private dining nook, and why it is the point
Room service in an ordinary hotel room is a slightly sad transaction. A tray arrives, it is placed on whatever surface is free, and you eat facing a television with your knees somewhere they should not be. The nook turns that into a meal. Four people can sit at it. A conversation can happen across it. It is the difference between eating in your room and dining in your suite, and it is the reason the suite gets used during the day rather than only at night.
During a wedding this becomes structural rather than pleasant. The host family needs somewhere to sit with six people and decide something, at eleven in the morning, without walking into a banquet hall full of vendors. The nook is that room. It is also where breakfast happens on the day of a function, when going downstairs would cost forty minutes to greetings alone.
The best thing about a large suite is not the space. It is having somewhere to sit that is not the bed.
Who books it, and why
| Who | The stay | What they use most |
|---|---|---|
| The couple, or the hosting family, during a wedding | Three to five nights | The nook for family decisions; the distance from the function spaces for sleep |
| A guest staying a week or longer | Seven nights and up | The walk-in wardrobe and the living space - a long stay in a small room degrades fast |
| An anniversary or a milestone | One to two nights | The views, and the fact that the room is the occasion rather than the container for it |
| Senior visiting delegates during a corporate programme | Two to three nights | Butler service, and somewhere to hold a small meeting off the agenda |
Butler service is on request rather than standing, which is the right way round. A butler you did not ask for is an interruption; a butler you called for at seven in the morning on the day of a function is the reason the day starts on time. Ask for it at booking if you know you will want it, and the desk will arrange it against the stay rather than the moment.
When it is the wrong room
Three cases, said plainly, because a flagship suite booked for the wrong trip is just an expensive room you are not in.
- A single night with an early flight. You will be in the suite for nine hours and awake for two of them - the Regal Triple does that job
- Four adults and a child travelling together. The 640 sq ft Family Premium sleeps more and separates better; two bedrooms beat 140 extra square feet
- A work trip where you are out from eight until nine. A 520 sq ft Premium Room with a separate living area covers everything you will actually touch
And one case where it is emphatically the right room: a wedding where you are hosting rather than attending. Everything about the week is other people - their arrivals, their questions, their schedules. The one thing worth buying is a door that closes on a room large enough to sit in. Where to place that room relative to the functions is covered in where to stay when the whole family travels.
The suite sits on the same property as the spa and salon, the rooftop pool, Amrkh and Saakiya, and seven-plus banquets and lawns - the full walk-through is in inside the best hotel and banquet in Lucknow. To check availability, reservations are on +91 92199 04134 or reservations@theornate.in.
Frequently asked questions
How big is the Maharaja Room?
780 sq ft, sleeping two to four guests. It is the largest of ORNATE's four room categories, ahead of the 640 sq ft Family Premium, the 520 sq ft Premium and the 320 sq ft Regal Triple.
What is included in the Maharaja Room?
Panoramic views, a private dining nook seating four, a walk-in wardrobe, and butler service available on request.
Is the Maharaja Room suitable for a family?
For a couple with one or two children, yes. For four adults or a larger family group, the 640 sq ft Family Premium Room is the better choice - it sleeps four to five and has two separate bedrooms.
Is it used as a bridal suite?
Frequently. Hosting families book it for the wedding days, and the usual advice applies: place it away from the function spaces rather than beside them, so there is somewhere quiet in a loud week.
Does butler service come as standard?
It is available on request rather than by default. Ask for it when you book if you know your stay will want it, and it is arranged against the reservation.
