SARACA HOTEL LUCKNOW : A Heritage Getaway!

At the heart of Lucknow stands this white piece of art, Saraca Hotel, a shining symbol of the era gone by.

December, 2020. Going for a long vacation after one full year, thanks to Mr. Covid, was a completely different feeling. Although I was basking in the joy of our upcoming forest stay, I couldn’t miss out on the excitement of spending a few hours in our one night pit stop destination, Lucknow, lovingly known as the city of Nawabs.

Magnificence in white, Lebua Saraca Estate!

Heritage stays are always alluring. A snow white mansion at the heart of Lucknow welcomed me with all its vibrancy and richness. Saraca Hotel is Lucknow’s latest cynosure for travellers looking forward to a unique stay in the historical city.

Immediately after reaching the place my curious mind was keen to know the story behind this mansion. Whenever I enter a heritage place - a palace, a fort or a haveli - the one thought that passes my mind is ‘How exciting it would be knowing the stories hidden behind the veils of these walls and doors!’

The friendly staff at Saraca Hotel were courteous enough to bear with my volley of questions and showed tremendous patience in answering them all. Only after being completely convinced I finally let them focus on their real work.

An interesting blend of colourful tiles and white drapes amidst a lot of green!

The story goes like this. A colonial mansion built in 1936 was initially owned by a veteran, Brigadier Sharma, who lived there with his family for quite many years. I learnt that only two people stayed in this huge mansion once! When the family shifted to the US for good, they had no reason to continue with the mansion as maintaining it was getting more and more difficult. So they sold it off to hotelier businessman Mohammad Abdullah in 2014, who were also their family friends.

Mr. Abdullah, a passionate hotelier, and his interior designer wife Nayab Bakshi went overboard in restoring and renovating the mansion while keeping its intricate heritage charm intact. Saraca Hotel became operational as a charming heritage stay from 2016 onwards.

The hotel is named after the 100 year old Ashok trees in the 70,000 square feet of property conserved by Mr Abdullah. It has 41 rooms, each room uniquely designed based on its placement and position in the property. And then there are small and cute balconies, porticos, verandas, open terraces, courtyards, small gardens; each room opening up to something unique, whose beauty would melt any heart.

My room opening up to this small terrace!

It was very kind of the reservation staff there to upgrade us to a superior room. When asked why did they indulge in this sweet gesture, quick came the response, “We want our guests to have a wonderful experience. Since this is your first visit to our property, we wanted to take care of your stay here as much as within our capabilities. Please enjoy your stay.”

And that we did, even in a short span of a few hours, just an evening and a night!

We set out to explore the mansion. The first experience was a funny one. It is so huge and no less than a maze, with several corridors opening up to different places that one tends to get lost! Either you end up in a beautiful garden or a snow white balcony.

Every stair had its own story to tell!

Antique furniture not only adorned the unique rooms but were also strewn here and there throughout the mansion. Large antique mirrors, interesting geometric checkerboard patterned staircase, stained glass ventilators, arched doorways, mosaic floors, pictures of the bygone era, magnificent chandeliers, gramophones and the parked vintage vehicles would easily transport anyone to the bygone pages of history. It also houses an art gallery to applaud and showcase the work of artists from all over the country.

Antique pieces and magnificent chandeliers enhanced the beauty of this heritage property!

Coming to the culinary experience, the heritage hotel offers us to choose from three of its restaurants, each one with a unique look and feel and a unique menu card.

The al-fresco Italian restaurant, 1936, set in a lawn, caters to the Italian taste buds, maybe only when one doesn’t want to indulge in Lucknow’s Nawabi cuisine. The highlight is not only the elegance of the place and the dishes being offered but also the path to the restaurant. The restaurant could be reached only after you are done admiring the vintage beauties with a wondrous gaze and taking a few selfies with them. That was my rendezvous with 1936, even if for a few minutes!

This vintage car adorns the outer lawn of Lebua Saraca Estate!

Then there is Saraca rooftop bar, how could we miss the much required relaxing spot of the evening? With both indoor and outdoor arrangement, this rooftop bar should be the much needed weekend break for visitors as well as city residents, I believe.

In spite of the chilling cold weather I couldn’t relinquish my desire to sit outdoors, it was just beautiful and magical. Such peace; the flowing drapes and the beautifully lit décor of the place gave it a different class of elegance.

Beautifully lit Saraca roof top bar!

And there I experienced the greatest miss of the day! My golden opportunity to chit chat with none other than Mr. Abdullah himself was lost when his phone rang. We were almost done by then and wanted to retire to our cozy nest there. Somehow the call went so long that we left the restaurant disheartened, with a hope to make it up in our next visit.

Choosing the best of the three will be a difficult task, each one stood tall in its own way, but for now I will choose the all-day diner Azrak for its sheer beauty and the long list of its delicious dishes, all being Lucknow’s specialities.

The interiors are so beautiful I couldn’t take my eyes off it. And in terms of food, there is none to compete. Of course Lucknow is the home of delicacies and kebabs and surely there will be many hotspots to get the best of these. But Azrak wins over by its sheer beauty and elegance. What keeps sticking to my eyes is the interesting fusion of white and blue with a touch of the old world charm. Indulgence at its best!

Azrak restaurant, what a beauty!

Unfortunately it was dinner time and compared to my appetite for dinner I ate a lot, lot meaning a lot. We ordered dum paye ka shorba, bhakarkhani and gosht dum nihari. What are they? I would request you to try it yourself and figure it all out because I was too drowned in savouring on these dishes, bhakarkhani and gosht dum nihari for the first time definitely. What an out of the world thing is bhakarkhani!

Just one evening and night and such a delightful experience it was. Will certainly look forward to a longer stay next time and try all the remaining dishes in Azrak’s menu at least, if not 1936. A great way to time travel though!