Some general points first:

1. We absolutely loved India. I think it was one of our favourite ever trips (and we travel a lot!). We were prepared for the poverty and craziness and, in some ways, it was less extreme than I expected. I felt more comfortable than in some other third world countries I have been to and it obviously helped that we didn’t get ill at all.

2. All of the hotels we stayed at, other than Amanbagh, seemed to struggle with their email communications prior to our arrival. Questions were often not answered fully, or we would receive multiple replies to the same question. Fortunately, with one exception, this did not reflect the levels of service once we arrived.

3. We arrived in Delhi in mid Feb. For me this was slightly too early as the nights were really quite cold and it took almost until lunch time for it to feel warm. By the end of February the weather in Rajasthan was perfect (high teens at night and around 30 in the day). Mumbai was already very hot early March.


Taj Palace Hotel Delhi

Unfortunately this was the real low point of our trip. We were staying in a club room, which was a fairly standard corporate type hotel room with a nice view over the pool and gardens. We had access to the club lounge, which we used for pre-dinner drinks one night. I’ve realised that I actually find club lounges quite depressing – like sitting in an airport lounge. In future I don’t think I will bother. The real draw of this hotel is the leafy location and the large outdoor pool. Unfortunately for us it was cold and rained (actually poured) for the entire time we were there. When it rains in Delhi the city is not the easiest to navigate and the location of the Taj is not idea for sightseeing in any event (although it is very convenient for the airport). So, feeling jetlagged and a bit sorry for ourselves due to the awful weather, we decided to go to the (very nice) gym for a work out and then had excellent massages in the spa. Dinner at Masala Art was delicious (although dated décor) and I really like the Blue Bar, which was very popular with locals at the weekend.

The wheels really came off on our final morning. The hotel had bought train tickets to Agra for us, but arranging a transfer to the station required lots of prompting and felt as though we were the first people ever to request this service. We asked if we could settle our bill the night before in the club lounge because we had to get up very early the next day. We were told that was fine and ordered coffee in our room at the same time. The next morning when we were leaving the hotel we were chased through the lobby and told very rudely that we still had to pay for our morning coffee. If you are really going to charge us for that (when breakfast was included in our rate) then why not add it to the bill the evening before? So we left the hotel feeling annoyed. It got worse when the driver dropped us at Delhi station and drove off. We had requested to be accompanied to the train and that had been confirmed by email. Delhi station is total chaos with all sorts of scammers trying to tell us the train was cancelled, we needed a boarding pass etc etc. When we finally made it on to the train (we were waiting around for a long time because our pick up was far too early) we saw guests from other hotels being helped with their bags on to the train. Reading this back I know this all makes me sound overly high maintenance, but if you are charging for a service then you should be able to provide it. Yes, we probably would have had a better time if the sun had been shining, but considering this hotel charges similar rates to the excellent Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, I felt ripped off. There must be better alternatives in Delhi. 5 out of 10.

The train itself was OK. In no way luxurious, but the journey takes little over 2 hours and the views are nice.

Oberoi Amarvilas Agra

Agra station is, again, total chaos. You have to fight through crowds of people with your bags as the Oberoi reps meet you outside of the station. It is then only a short drive to the hotel. I was not expecting to love this hotel, but was very pleasantly surprised. Service was excellent . We arrived around 8.30am and our room was ready. We had booked a room with a balcony (actually quite a large terrace with a table and chairs) and were offered a virtuoso upgrade to a suite with no balcony. We opted not to take the upgrade and that turned out to be a great decision as we later enjoyed a fantastic sunset over the Taj sipping a chilled bottle of wine on our terrace – one of my favourite memories of the holiday. The room itself was nicely decorated and comfortable. We had originally planned to wait until sunset to go and see the Taj, but once we saw it we wanted to go straight away! The hotel called our guide and he arrived within half an hour. The trip to the Taj on buggies is very easy and I would highly recommend hiring a guide. We spent about 3 hours at the Taj then came back to the hotel for lunch by the very nice pool. In the afternoon we went to the red fort with our guide, which is also very impressive. In the evening we had dinner in the Indian restaurant, which we thought was very good. I understand they have changed chefs recently. We set our alarm early the next morning to go and see the Taj at sunrise. Unfortunately it was so foggy that we couldn’t even see to the end of our balcony. Instead we had a delicious leisurely breakfast. The driver from Amanbagh picked us up at around 10am. For me 1 night was enough in Agra. If you want to go and see Fatehpur Sikri then the ideal time to do this is on the way to Amanbagh as you drive right past it. 8 out of 10.

Amanbagh

I was not looking forward to driving on Indian roads, but the journey to Amanbagh was totally fine. Our driver was excellent. We had some traffic leaving Agra meaning that it took us 4 hours door to door. It’s a very pretty drive, particularly as you get to the small country roads near Amanbagh. So much has been said about this resort, which I will not repeat, but we really loved our time here. Excellent service, the best food of the trip with delicious dinners next to the wood burning fireplace and truly stellar service. I was a little disappointed with our first room, which was a garden room on the right side of the pool looking away from reception. The interior was large and beautiful, but the garden was backed by dense shrubs (I think to mask the road) meaning that there is no view and it is a little dark. When a family from Mumbai arrived with their screaming baby that we could hear quite loudly in our suite, we complained and were moved to a room on the other side of the resort. This was also a garden suite, but was much nicer as we had a view of the hills and it was considerably lighter.

We went on different guided treks each morning, which was the high point of the entire trip. The countryside is so beautiful and we felt incredibly privileged to see such an unspoilt area of the world. It felt like going back hundreds of years in time. We also went to see Bhangarh and did the cow dust tour – both highly recommended. Massages in the spa were all superb and reasonably priced. Staff are excellent, including the new F&B manager who arranged for lots of different local specialities to be prepared for us. Aman at its best. We thought about doing one of the private dinners, but felt it was just too cold at night to be away from the wood fire!

A couple of niggles:

1. The pool is much, much too cold. We were told it was heated, but in mid February it was not usable at all, which was a real shame.
2. The wine list is fairly limited and expensive and has some questionable choices.
3. No coffee maker in the room and no snacks. Very limited fruit basket. I mentioned the coffee maker and we were told they did not have any. Instead they brought complementary coffee to the room every morning, which worked well.

We stayed for 5 nights and it was, perhaps, one night too many. If the pool had been heated we may have been happier with a final day spent relaxing poolside. 9 out of 10.

Rambagh Palace Jaipur

The 2 hour drive to Jaipur was beautiful and, although the roads were rough at times, we did not feel unsafe at all. It was a bit of a shock to be back on the tourist circuit in Jaipur. The hotel was very busy with lots of people coming and going on tours, much like in Agra. We were upgraded to an Historical Suite, which was very large and very comfortable. The décor is the most traditional of all of the hotels, in keeping with the hotel’s origins. Despite being less peaceful at times than we had been used to at Amanbagh, the service was excellent everywhere and we felt very pampered. The gardens are incredible considering the harsh climate and you really do not feel as though you are in the middle of the city. The guides organised for us were excellent. Food was great, although perhaps less authentic than at Amanbagh. I felt that the fine dining Indian restaurant was a bit too formal to be much fun, but the food was good. The other restaurant is better. We spent some time by the (heated) pool which was very relaxing. It’s a shame that the pool area is hidden away at the very edge of the site as there is no view and it gets quite busy in the afternoon. I had a superb massage in the spa. We stayed for 3 nights, which was nice. I think 2 nights would also work if you are pushed for time. 8.5 out of 10.

We had booked flights from Jaipur to Jodhpur via Mumbai (this was the fastest connection now that there are no longer any direct flights). After much deliberation we decided to drive instead as the flight times were far from ideal. Taj organised an excellent driver for us. We left Jaipur at 7am and arrived in Jodhpur in under 5 hours, so this was much quicker than flying. The traffic wasn’t too bad at all and the scenery was beautiful, so I would definitely do that again.

Umaid Bhawan Palace Jodhpur

Within 5 minutes of arriving we called reception to ask if we could extend our 3 night stay to 4 nights. We were totally blown away by this place and it is one of my all time favourites. We were upgraded to a Grand Royal Suite which was absolutely enormous. If anything too large as the main bedroom/living area felt slightly village hall-esque! Our dressing room was larger than an average hotel room. The grounds are stunning with huge bougainvillea plants contrasting against the bright blue desert sky. The pool area looks over the blue city and service there and everywhere else in the hotel is exemplary. We ate in all of the restaurants and they were all good. The highlight was dinner at the sunset pavilion, which is the highest point in Jodhpur, with only one other couple. Absolutely delicious food. I had an excellent treatment in the spa. Unfortunately not a single ayurveda slot was available for our entire stay, which seemed a bit odd, given that I had requested this a couple of weeks in advance.

I thought Jodhpur was a beautiful city and perhaps the least stressful to navigate. As well as visiting the Mehrangahr fort, the guide also took us to the local markets. We were the only westerners there, but were not bothered at all by beggars. Unfortunately we were unable to extend our stay due to the hotel hosting a huge and celebrity filled wedding, but I could spend a week there. 10 out of 10

It is a ten minute drive from Umaid Bhawan to Jodhpur airport, from which we flew to Mumbai.

Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai

A Taj driver met us at the domestic airport and it took around 45 minutes to get to the hotel, but traffic was light and we were told it can often take much longer. The main drawback of this hotel is that the surrounding area is extremely busy and full of tourists and beggars. It is quite stressful to walk around outside. I can see the appeal of staying in the wealthy beach suburbs further north once you have seen the sights of South Mumbai and that is probably what I would do next time. We had booked a club sea view room and were offered, and accepted, an upgrade to an Executive suite. This was much larger and very comfortable, but did not have the view of the sea and the Gateway to India. In fact there was a partial sea view in the other direction from the bedroom. I am not entirely sure about the aubergine colour scheme on some of the walls, but overall we liked our suite a lot. We did not use the club lounge at all. We tried on the first evening, but it was totally full. We were offered drinks in the upstairs Sea Lounge instead, which IMO is a nicer space. We had breakfast outside by the pool, which is included in the club rate. The pool area is very nice indeed, but you need to get there early. After 10am there is very little space left. We saw lots of people having to lie on towels on the grass.

We had one dinner at Masala Kraft which was excellent. For our second night we went around the corner to Indigo, which I would highly recommend. A great example of modern Mumbai dining. Generally excellent service. Security is, as you can imagine, very tight. There were guards with guns standing on each floor. Not sure if this was due to a heightened threat shortly after the Hyderabad attacks. Traffic was light on our way to the airport and it took an hour to get to the International terminal . Our driver had to dodge kids playing cricket on the 10 lane highway! 8 out of 10.

NB there are early afternoon flights leaving Mumbai arriving in London the same evening (I think to elsewhere in Europe and the States too). This makes leaving Mumbai more civilized than the middle-of –the-night departures from Delhi. We left India feeling as though we had seen lots of amazing things, but had enough time in each place that the schedule did not exhaust us.