Now partnering with Christie’s –whose charming Chairman, Lord David Linley will be attending this year with a group of VIP collectors –the India Art Fair will serve as a barometer of whether or not the market for the interesting and often contentious work being done by hot young contemporary Indian artists is in “bubble-speculative” mode, stabilizing, or on the wane.

This year, the India Art Fair is offering VIPs a special deal at the lovely Le Meridien Hotel. A member of the prestigious Starwood Group, Le Meridien, centrally located and kitted out for business travelers, will be the place where dealers, academics, artists and collectors will huddle and gossip; do deals, and pronounce the fate of this exceedingly interesting part of the international commercial art market.

Le Meridien’s cavernous uber-modern white lobby is a perfect foil for the “attitude” and style of many contemporary art lovers –bringing to mind the “white cube” zeitgeist of most international galleries today.

Le Meridien, New Delhi

The guest rooms are beautifully appointed, decorated in soothing beige and white — a welcome respite from the exciting — but sometimes overwhelming sensory overload of the smells of competing spices, the fuschia, saffron and indigo saris, the blaring taxis and the cacophony of billboards cramming the bustling Indian metropolis.

If one wants to explore Dehli, however, Le Méridien is ideally located. Situated two kilometers from Rashtrapati Bhawan – the home of the President of India, the Presidential Palace, Parliament House, and Connaught Place, the hotel is also dangerously set amidst the most alluring shopping and entertainment districts in Delhi.

However, if one’s preference is a bit of solitude and pampering, Le Meridien boasts a uniquely Indian spa called: Three Graces by Amatrra.

Three Graces focuses on the time-tested ancient Indian science of Ayurveda and Astroscience (“Astroveda”) with global 21st-century technology and equipment, according to the Hotel, designed to, “create, harmonise, and balance individual energy”. Wouldn’t that be wonderful!

As this is India, the spa is not wholly a physical experience of course.  Its goal is described as a facility that provides preventive and curative methods of healing and well-being through diagnosis by an expert panel — including an Astroscience expert, proficient in body element analysis, an Ayurveda expert, a fitness training expert, and a yoga expert.

Wait! Art Fair? Forgotten all about it.

Spa facilities include two Ayurveda Therapy Rooms, three International Therapy Rooms, one Chakra Therapy room with Vichy Shower, one International Therapy Suite for couples, a private Meditation Room, Lifestyle Room for consultation, and separate wet areas for men and women with steam room and Jacuzzi. The spa also includes a gym and an outdoor swimming pool.

Le Meridien is also a perfect place to entertain VIP clients, or dine with art world friends as it boasts a terrific selection of restaurants and bars — ranging from Monsoon –the best one could hope for in haute Indian dining and design; to the futuristic Cafe e Chocolart, enough said! And if one can’t “do” Curry every evening, one can nibble at the tres chic black marble, glass and silver and aptly named Nero Bar.