How A 'Palace' In Karnal Is Courting Delhi With Art And A Train To Pakistan

Sometime in the early-1900s, before the Partition of India, the Frontier Mail chugged in to the Peshawar railway station and an uproar followed. How was the Frontier Mail late? 15 minutes late? People at the platform were aghast. They couldn't believe that the train, whose timetable you could set your watch by, could be delayed. The driver was asked to explain the delay.

No one quite knows what the driver's answer was, but today, as you step into a carriage of the 'Frontier Mail' somewhere in a palace two hours from Delhi, you can sit at ease. This train won't be late. Neither will the services here, in this train-themed restaurant at Noormahal Palace in Karnal, Haryana, a stone's throw from Delhi.

A Train To Pakistan For A Dinner Date

The restaurant borrows its name and is a tribute to that exotic legendary train that once ran between Bombay and Peshawar and ferried celebrities from this part of the undivided country to that. The menu at Frontier Mail is curated from all the stops that the train stopped at on its way from Bombay to Peshawar.

Frontier Mail at Noormahal Palace. Photo: Noormahal Palace

As a local band played out Saadgi, dinner at Frontier Mail took us back to the era of ice-cube air-conditioning, steam engines, and food that made us smile a smile of satisfaction.

The restaurant is the star of Noormahal Palace, a 'palace' hotel two hours from Delhi. The hotel is the brainchild of ex-Armyman Colonel Manbeer Choudhary and his wife Binny Choudhary. "Whichever corner you look at here, you will see a lady's touch. My wife brought a delicate and detailed touch to the interiors," Col Choudhary tells NDTV.

'Only A Sardar Or An Armyman Can Fight This Battle'

It has been more than a decade that the couple has been running the hotel, fending off big conglomerates from awarding a 'badge' to them, and keeping their head steady in a landscape dotted with five-star hotels.

"Only a Sardar or an armyman can fight this battle, I tell you!" laughs Col Choudhary.

How does an armyman become a hotelier, we ask. The answer is as fascinating as his hotel.

The Choudhary Trio: (L-R) Roop Partap, Col Manbeer, Binny Choudhary

"I come from an army background. I have served with the indian army for 25 years in active service. I took premature retirement. I resigned from my job. I felt that there was a calling or something, and that I wanted to do much more. The army, for me at that point, had become a routine job of chase and run," says Col Choudhary. 

"I was in Jammu and Kashmir, in a separated family accommodation, for a very long time. I was lucky enough to see a lot of action at the Line of Actual Control for about 4.5 years, when I wrote a letter to the army headquarters, saying that enough was enough. No officer is posted in the Northeast or Jammu and Kashmir for more than 18 months, because that ends up turning the officers themselves into targets. Somehow, I was there for 4.5 years," he says, "So, I thought I needed to do something better than just the normal policing job; my area of operation was more into countering insurgency."

"I came out of the army in 1997. I needed a cooling off period before beginning the second innings of my life," says Col Choudhary.

Art, Architecture, Opulence

The second innings came quick and came easy for Col Choudhary. His father had left him a plot of land in Karnal where he created his first hotel: Jewels. The second hotel had to be bigger, and had to be the realisation of a joint vision: so, while the Colonel brought discipline and a quarter-century of learnings from the Army, his wife brought the art, the eye, and the put-togetherness that turned Noormahal Palace into an address worth checking out.

The lounge. Photo: Noormahal Palace

The 125-room (200 rooms soon) hotel in Karnal reflects the Choudharys' eclectic taste in art and architecture. A palace hotel might have made purveyors of modernism raise an eyebrow at the time when the couple built Noormahal, but they went against the tide to go big.

Today, when you enter Noormahal, you are stunned by the art, the architecture, and the sensibly maximalist aura of the hotel. It is opulence but not eye-watering. It is a thousand artefacts but none out of place.

At Noormahal Palace, you see opulence but not of the eye-watering kind. Photo: Author

"You can pick up extremely expensive items at an auction, but placing it right isn't everyone's cup of tea," as Col Choudhary's son and hotelier Roop Partap Choudhary sums it up.

The hotel is designed by renowned architect Himmat Singh. It is built in the Mughal and Rajputana schools of architecture and you find the jharokhas, the chhatris, the massive gates, and artwork everywhere. Inside the 'Khwabgah', the highest category of suites at Noormahal, you find a window from the time of the Mughals.

Inside Khwabgah. Photo: Noormahal Palace

The in-room bar area has a jangla from Amritsar during the time of Operation Blue Star. The Khwabgah boasts a royal sleeping chamber - which lends its name to the suite - with two sleeping rooms, a dining room where the chairs weigh more than any you might have come across, a separate bar, a private office and a private terrace that opens to views of all of Karnal. Speak of opulence!

A Suite Loved By Jagjit Singh

The suite that NDTV spent a weekend in came with its own story. It once hosted the legendary late ghazal singer Jagjit Singh. Inside, as you wonder if Jagjit Singh hummed "Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe Ho" somewhere by the massive windows, you catch yourself smiling too. An autograph by the singer sits framed on the wall.

The suite. Photo: Noormahal Palace

Singh, known for his love for his drink, would have been at home at Noormahal. Trust the in-house Polo Bar on that. The colonial-style bar has a cocktail menu inspired by the sport and has shelves lined with everything from rare whiskies to wines. A selection of Cuban cigars too.

Films, Weddings, Recreation

Noormahal has quite a few food and beverage options to choose from: Khaas Mahal, its al fresco under-the-sky restaurant; Jal Mahal, the poolside restaurant; Brown Sugar, its international all-day diner; the award-winning Frontier Mail; and the Polo Bar. The hotel also has an in-house spa with a bouquet of wellness therapies to choose from (and a couple's jacuzzi to soak in if you're travelling with a date).

A hit with weddings, the hotel has an array of packages to choose from. It has also found itself in a few movies and music videos, including on the day we found ourselves at the property.

'New-Age Travellers Want A White-Lotus Feel To Trips' 

And why not. For the film and wedding circuit that does not want to navigate the chaos of Delhi-Gurugram-Noida, nor venture as far as Shimla, Karnal offers a middle-of-the-road destination. "Noormahal's location means there's no real competition in a 150-kilometre radius," says Roop.

A Bofors gun shell fired in Kargil War at Noormahal. Photo: Author

"There is no palace hotel in this area. And after Covid, the market trends have completely changed. Your decision-makers are now in the age bracket of 25 to 40. They are more focused on wellness, they need more value for money, and they also want a certain aesthetic - a White Lotus feel to their trips," Roop tells NDTV.

'How Will You Fake Warmth?'

"Above all," the Senior Choudhary adds, "you need a story. You need heritage. If you have to sell a hotel, you cannot just do boxes. I was the President of the FHRAI (the Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Associations of India). My time there taught me what five-star hotels need. The big players in the hospitality industry have only now begun focusing on the Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities in India. That's where the expansion is happening. When I invested in this piece of land all those years ago, it was investment in the dark. Look at us now."

The place has played host to several film and wedding shoots. Photo: Noormahal Palace

It's the guest reviews, the people at Noormahal, and word of mouth that keep the hotel the way it is, say the Choudhary father-son duo. From Khwabgah to the Frontier Mail, it's the warmth that sets the palace apart.

After a meticulously curated warm dinner at Frontier Mail, Roop leaves us chewing on some food for thought: "You can fake a chandelier. How will you fake warmth?"

FACT SHEET

Where: Noormahal Palace in Karnal, Haryana, is situated 120 kilometres from Delhi. A two-hour drive from the national capital takes you to the hotel.

Rooms And Tariff: The hotel offers various categories of rooms - Club, Club Royal, Heritage Suite and Presidential Suite. Doubles from Rs 13,290 per night, subject to change. Noormahal Palace also curates several seasonal and occasion-based packages.

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