Lalitha Mahal Palace

Most people arrive at Lalitha Mahal expecting Mysore Palace and get something quite different. There is no queue, no ticket and no security scan. You drive up a slope, past lawns that have seen better decades, and park in front of a white Italianate building with a dome that looks borrowed from London. Nobody stops you at the door.

That is the most useful thing to understand before you plan a trip. Lalitha Mahal is a working heritage hotel run by a state tourism company, not a museum. Everything you can do here, from walking the corridors and photographing the staircase to eating under the dome or staying the night, follows from that one fact.

Built in 1921 for the Viceroy of India and converted into a hotel in 1974, Lalitha Mahal is Mysuru's second-largest palace. It is run by Jungle Lodges and Resorts, with 54 rooms and suites, a weekend buffet lunch, banquet lawns for up to 5,000 guests and a helipad.

What Lalitha Mahal actually is

It sits on a low rise at the foot of Chamundi Hill. Besides the rooms there is a restaurant, a bar with a century-old billiards table, a swimming pool, a tennis court, banquet lawns and a helipad. People know it from the movies too: it has stood in for grand houses in films across four languages, and a new generation of visitors arrives asking for "Rocky Bhai's house" from KGF.

The history behind the white palace

Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV commissioned the building so the Viceroy of India would have somewhere suitably grand to stay in Mysore. The foundation was laid on 18 November 1921. It was designed by E.W. Fritchley, who also worked on the main Mysore Palace, and built by contractor B. Munivenkatappa for around ₹13 lakh, serious money at the time.

Fritchley modelled the elevation on St Paul's Cathedral in London: two storeys, twin Ionic columns, a projecting porch, spherical domes with lanterns and a central dome above the entrance hall. Inside are Belgian crystal chandeliers, Persian carpets, marble floors and a marble staircase that is by far the most photographed thing on the property. There is even a hand-operated lift imported from England in 1921, still in place.

In 1973 the state leased it to the India Tourism Development Corporation, which ran it as an Ashok Group hotel, expanded it from 22 to 54 rooms, and hosted guests including Prince Charles and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2018 it returned to the Karnataka government, which handed it to Jungle Lodges and Resorts.

Timings

There are no palace visiting hours, because there is no palace admission. What there are, are restaurant and hotel hours.

The kitchen closes around 11 PM, though on quiet nights the property can wind down by 10:30. If you are driving out for dinner, call ahead on +91 821 2526100.

Rooms and what a stay costs

Rooms are spread across the Palace Wing in the main building, the Grand Suites, and the Pool Wing, a separate block by the swimming pool. Categories run from Deluxe rooms (usually in the Pool Wing), through Heritage and Heritage Classic rooms and suites in the palace, to the two-level Duplex Suite and, at the top, the Viceroy Suite.

Rates move a lot with season and booking channel. Across platforms in 2026, entry-level rooms have appeared from about ₹4,300 a night, mid-range doubles around ₹9,000 to ₹11,000, and the largest suites up to about ₹30,000. This is one of very few places in India where you can sleep inside a real Maharaja's palace for the price of a mid-tier business hotel. What you trade for that is polish.

How to book

1. The hotel's own booking engine at lalithamahalpalace.co.in, best for checking what actually exists.
2. By phone: central reservations on +91 80 40554055, or the hotel on +91 821 2526100 or +91 821 2470444.
3. By email: info@junglelodges.com.
4. Booking sites for price comparison, though their room descriptions are often out of date.

For a heritage room or suite, call. Booking-site category names do not map cleanly onto the hotel's own, and people regularly expect the palace wing and land in the Pool Wing.

Dining and buffet cost

The restaurant, The Sapphire, sits in the old ballroom under the dome, with live flute and tabla at lunch and dinner and alfresco seating. The lobby bar is known locally as the Cue Bar for its antique billiards table, and the first-floor Royal Terrace hosts candlelit set dinners with a view over the city.

The hotel does not publish a buffet price. Guest reports put the buffet lunch around ₹800 to ₹1,000 per person, so confirm when you call. Opinions on value are split: some call the spread limited for the price, others rate the food and especially the breakfast highly. Either way, you are paying partly for the room you are eating in.

Banquets, weddings and pre-wedding shoots

The event spaces are the royal ballroom, The Emerald, the conference room, The Coral, and the front lawns, together hosting anywhere from 20 to 5,000 guests, with AV support and in-house wedding planners. The hotel publishes its rental card (updated May 2026, 18% GST extra):

Every booking also carries a refundable ₹1,00,000 security deposit and a non-refundable ₹5,000 cleaning and security charge. The pre-wedding rate is hourly, so budget for a half-day accordingly, and get written permission before arriving with a photographer, lights and a tripod.

The helipad

The Lalitha Mahal helipad is Mysuru's main one, where visiting Chief Ministers and dignitaries land. In some Dasara seasons it has hosted ten-minute helicopter rides over the palace, Chamundi Hill and the lakes, priced at ₹2,399 per person in 2018. These rides are not a year-round service, so do not plan a trip around one unless it is advertised for that Dasara.

Facilities

The hotel lists a swimming pool, tennis court, royal buggy, business centre, Wi-Fi in public areas, laundry, money changer and in-room dining. Several booking sites also list a spa, but the hotel's own site does not, so confirm by phone if that matters to you.

Planning a visit

• Late morning: walk the portico, the entrance hall and the marble staircase, and slow down for the royal portraits in the central hall.
• 12:30 PM: lunch in the ballroom, which on weekends is the buffet. This is effectively your entry fee.
• Afternoon: walk the gardens and pool lawn for the classic shot of the white facade with Chamundi Hill behind it.
• Combine it with Chamundi Hills, Karanji Lake or the Sand Sculpture Museum, all close by.

Visitors are generally welcome in the public areas as diners. Some report a small entry or parking charge at the gate, and staff discretion varies, so booking a table removes any doubt.

What the reviews say

The praise is about scale and atmosphere: enormous rooms, high ceilings, deep balconies, antique furniture, the staircase, the gardens and live music at dinner. The criticism is about upkeep and service: peeling paint, damp walls, tired bathrooms and uneven housekeeping. Both are true at once. Book it if the building itself is the point, not for a reliably polished five-star stay.

Address and how to get there

Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel, Lalitha Mahal Palace Road, Siddhartha Layout, Mysuru 570028. It is about 8 km from Mysore Railway Station and 15 km from Mysore Airport, a 15 to 20 minute drive from central Mysuru, and about three hours from Bengaluru.

What happens next: the 30-year lease

The building needs serious work, with an expert committee estimating restoration at around ₹50 crore. The Karnataka government is leasing it to a private operator for 30 years, who must restore it first and then run it under heritage supervision. As of July 2026, Jungle Lodges expected the tender to close within about two months. The operator, rates, rooms and access are all likely to change within the next year, so if your plans are more than a few months away, confirm again closer to the date.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Lalitha Mahal timings?

There are no monument hours, because it is a hotel. The restaurant serves 6:00 to 10:30 AM, 12:30 to 3:00 PM and 7:30 to 11:00 PM, and the front desk runs 24 hours.

Is there an entry fee?

There is no formal ticket. Visitors are generally welcome in public areas, and the most reliable way in is to book lunch or dinner.

How much does a stay cost?

From about ₹4,300 a night for entry-level rooms, around ₹9,000 to ₹11,000 for mid-range doubles, and up to about ₹30,000 for the largest suites. Rates vary widely by season.

What is the buffet cost?

Not published. Guest reports put it around ₹800 to ₹1,000 per person. Call +91 821 2526100 to confirm.

Can I do a pre-wedding shoot?

Yes, with paid permission: ₹10,000 plus GST per hour, plus a refundable ₹1,00,000 deposit and a ₹5,000 non-refundable charge.

Was KGF shot at Lalitha Mahal?

It has been widely identified as a location for films including KGF and Muthu, and the hotel formally rents itself out for film shoots.

The verdict

Lalitha Mahal is one of the most interesting buildings in India you can simply walk into, and one of the more frustrating hotels you can book. Go for the architecture and for lunch under the dome, the best-value way to experience it. Go reasonably soon, because once the restoration begins it will become something else: probably better kept, almost certainly more expensive.

Continue the Mysuru road trip, and take home a box of fresh Mysore Pak.