Peppermint is an Indian design hotel with a modern bent and an alluring price tag

In a bid to shake up the Indian hospitality sphere, Peppermint Hotels are offering the rather tempting package of design hotel with a modern bent and an alluring price tag - a combination which for visitors, especially in cities like Gurgaon and Jaipur, was previously simply not an option.

Built with the well-heeled yet wallet-discerning Indian traveller in mind, Peppermint's functional spaces cut out all the questionable fluff that comes with the traditional five star format - which means much-needed disposal of things like excessive drawers and countless operator numbers, but retaining a reassuringly edited offering of custom mattresses, iPod docks, WIFI and rainshowers in all rooms.

With pulse-raising details like themed restaurants (Indian-Chinese MingSingh being one of them), all-day dining spaces and even a rooftop pool to take in evening cocktails and DJ beats, Peppermint Gurgaon outpost plays on the idea of fun and function, even going one step further with its 'living room' retail concept, which allows guests to buy accommodation add-ons, Lavazza loose coffee pods, and even arrange for flower deliveries if a sudden urge of love takes hold.

Meanwhile, the brand's Jaipur outpost maximises on putting the control in guests' hands, with everything from a 'greed store' and a vending machine that dispenses dental kits, chocolates and quirky presents, to touch screen self-check-in kiosks programmed to allow guests to enter stay preferences, choose rooms and keep updated with hotel activities.

And before you despair at the thought of such affordability being relegated to locations in the north, fear not - apart from the existing Gurgaon, Jaipur and

Jodhpur hotels, the brand will be touching down on southern soil too, with the promise of 10 more location openings in the pipeline for the next year.