Kolkata, East India, India

The Grand has been a Kolkata institution since it was first acquired by Mohan Singh Oberoi in 1938. Oberoi gave it a glittering facelift, which must have pleased the 3,000 American GIs billeted here during World War II – and come as some surprise to any locals old enough to remember its humble beginnings as ‘Mrs Monte’s Boarding House’. Today, the strident Neoclassical façade and pillared entrance rank among the Bengali capital’s most prominent landmarks, while the hotel itself is regularly named among India’s top three. The rooms are as polished and plush as you’d expect for one of Oberoi’s benchmark addresses.