Posted Monday, November 15, 2004; 21:00 HKT
The Green Hotel is a lesson in Karma. The staff are orphans, widows and untouchables. Rescued from a life of penury by the hotel's owners, Britain's Charities Advisory Trust, they also happen to be the most cheerful waiters, receptionists and bellboys you'll ever meet. The hotel also follows firm rules on conservation and ecology. As a result, this 100-year-old former retreat for Mysore's royal family retains a timeless peace that only the removal of television, generators and air conditioning can achieve.

The good vibes don't stop there. Rather than convert the best rooms into private suites, the trust leaves them and the balconies open to all. This friendly disposition extends to the rates, which run from $25 for a regular double to an extremely reasonable $105 for a "royal" bedroom, with all profits going to local charities. No surprise, then, that guests tend to fill the visitors' book with eulogies, often forgoing Mysore's other attractions to drift through the Green's drawing rooms and verandas in reverential rapture that one hotel can get it so right.

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