We did a 3-week tour of Rajasthan in February - happy to share a few random notes below. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. For my in laws (early 70s) it was their first and only trip outside of Europe. After some pre-departure anxiety, they had the trip of a lifetime and keep bugging us constantly about when we'll return to India
Oberoi Udaivilas
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This property was exactly as we expected, which was a lot. Gorgeous to look at and almost flawless service. Yet in some ways it felt almost too sleek and while we had an excellent time, I am not sure this is the property that will leave the longest lasting impression.
* Welcome ceremony with fake Maharadja hats felt a bit tacky to us, though I appreciate some might enjoy it.
* Beautiful extensive gardens and views. It’s hard to just go for a pleasant little stroll in India, so I am very glad we chose Udaivilas over the much smaller Lake Palace.
* The fake Mughal Architecture felt stunning most of the time, at other times it felt a bit too much like a Disney theme park. This being our first stop, the admiration definitely took a hit once we realized that every other roadside Motel in Rajasthan makes an attempt at the same architecure (albeit with varyiing success).
* Pre-arrival communication was a bit confusing, but the service on property was very polished with excellent English skills. The staff sometimes felt like well-trained service drones though, and we would have loved for them to show a bit more character. Dealing with different staff everytime, I could not quite shake the feeling of this being a bit of a luxury factory.
* F&B quality was excellent. Sadly, no food is being served at the outdoor spa pool.
* As it was wedding season, we had some music spilling over from neighbouring hotels. This might be one area where the Lake Palace has a natural advantage.
* The Pool view rooms are definitely the way to go. We stayed in #108 which was a perfect blend of views and decent privacy. Noise isolation from the corridors is not great though, but that probably goes for all the rooms.
RAAS Devigarh, Delwara
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Every one in our group instantly fell in love with this property. Highly recommended and so glad we discovered this gem on FT!
* The team provided truly heartfelt service and you could tell they truly enjoyed working here and with each other. Just a great vibe overall.
* Food was excellent with a wide choice and decently prepared western dishes.
* Stunning location wiIthin a small village, featuring beautful 360°C views. Impeccably tasteful renovations done throughout.
* Rooms in the actual palace feature much better views and are worth the premium over the Garden Suites. Individual rooms vary highly though: Our Aravali Suite #33 had plenty of windows and a lovely corner balcony with stunnings views while Aravali Suite #32 has no balcony, no separate living room and much fewer windows.
* The spa was good, no great. Treatments were fine but the spa design felt a bit cramped and AC was quite loud.
* Great village and palace tour with a guide from a local charity.
* Again, quite a bit of noise in the village at night tiime due to wedding season.
Taj Umaid Bhawan, Jodhpur
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Sadly, this hotel felt a bit short of our (admittedly high) expectations. While there were a few excellent members of staff, somehow the thing did not quite come together as a whole for us. Would recommend 1-2 nights just to experience the stunning architecture.
* Our stay was off to a bad start. We were led to our rooms by a most unenthusiastic young man, whom we saw chewing his nails when we met him again at the main entrance the next day. Can only assume someone got him the job because his place is most certainly not in hospitality… Restaurant service on our first night also felt quite rushed and chaotic.
* To be fair, service at the restaurant notably improved over the next few days and Manisha in particular made a great effort to build a relationship with us. Two of the waiters appeard to have a cold though, which made us feel uneasy.
* Stunning Art Deco indoor pool and lovely spa treatment rooms. Massage from Rina was excellent. Was a bit irritated though when the friendly pool assistant kept insisting that 50° Celsius was the perfect temperature for the Finnish dry sauna…
* Food quality was very good, both Indian and Western. Breakfast buffet was quite limited, but good a la carte selection.
* Breakfast on the terrace is accompanied by Indian live music and we would have much preferred some peace and quiet in the morning. The number of heaters did not cover all the tables.
* Restaurant menus were only available via QR code. They did also have a single iPad, though it was rarely available when we needed it and badly smudged. On the second day, they were finally able to provide a single printed menu. I find this baffling, even more so for a palace hotel.
* Trophy bar was disappointing: No vibe, drinks are being mixed behind closed curtains, food smell drifitng in from the kitchen. Ordered a Negroni which was abysmal.
* Ordered a glass of wine via in-room dining but were sent a whole bottle. As it was late, we accepted without complaint. The next day, we received a call saying they realized a mistake had been made and if they could charge the whole bottle. I do not mind paying for what we received, but feel that true excellence would have been to apologize for the mistake and inform us they will only be charging a glass nevertheless.
* Received confirmation for a tennis hitting partner, then were told on the day that he was on vacation. The friendly pool boy offered to help fill in though as best he could.
* Housekeeping was excellent. However, the single use hotel brand toiletries really need to go. Frequent power cuts, even by for Indian standards.
RAAS Chhatrassagar
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While there is not much around, this peaceful property was a very welcome opportunity to recharge our batteries after days of hustle and bustle. Would highly recommend 1-2 nights to break your journey if you are travelling between Jodhpur and Jaipur.
* Quiet, finally! No street noise, no trains no weddings in a closeby village - just the wind rustling in the trees. Thankfully the hotel managers had the good sense not to disturb this setting with music, live or otherwise.
* Very much enjoyed birdwatching from our terrace and taking easy nature walks with and without the guide.
* Large food variety with excellent fresh produce from their organic gardens.
* Spa tent and treatment were average, but no complaints here.
* Privacy in the tents could be improved. Currently, there is no do not disturb option and housekeeping tends to pass the tents in close proximity instead of approaching each one from its own staircase.
RAAS Rajmahal Palace, Jaipur
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This is a tricky one. On the one hand, the building and the stunning staff uniforms look utterly beautiful. With its bold and vibrant design, we felt this hotel really added a new facette to our itinerary. On the other hand, the property does no quite fulfill its promise of palacial luxury. Would recommed if part of the RAAS Hopper package, else consider other options.
* Big suprise at check-in: One of our two Palace Suites did not have any windows whatsoever! Suites are described as having „courtyard view“ on website and at no time were we made aware of the shortcoming in advance. Felt quite claustrophobic for two nights, after which they were able to move us to a Palace Room with windows. This was technically a downgrade and no compensation was offered. Nevertheless, it felt like the lesser evil to us.
* Hotel is in need of a refresh, with some furniture, cutlery, food menus, etc. showing signs of wear.
* Pool is beautiful but lots of pigeons around and the pool boy was semi-diligent about keeping them at bay.
* Service was well-intentioned and mostly delivered, albeit with less polish than at the Taj/Oberoi. Front Desk was good though.
* Being asked to write a Tripadvisor review felt cheap. Being encouraged to write it there and now, during breakfast, felt completely inappropriate.
Aman-I-khas, Ranthambore National Park
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* Loved the batman concept. Krish had a calming demanor, was very attentive to our needs and a joy to have a conversation with - a true host.
* Finally a property that got dinner music right: A few minutes of live performance, followed by long pauses. Perfect to set the ambience, but never overwhelming.
* Unfortunately, the villagers took a different approach to music. Loud music three nights in a row - one time until 5 am. Aman does provide earplugs but modern Indian dance music is quite visceral. Obviously, not much can be done, except maybe avoid wedding season.
* Did two safaris and not see a tiger, except for wounded one taking her last breaths. Nevertheless enjoyed ourselves very much as the landscape feels so enchanted. Naturalist was okay, not excellent. Do not blame him for the lack of tigers, but he offered very little information on the other flora and fauna when the tigers did not materialize.
* F&B quite good for a remote Aman and really impressed by the organic gardens and zero waste concept.
* Surprisingly, I though this guest room to Spa conversion to be one of the better ones. Very much enjoyed the water fountain instead of ambient music. Massage was excellent.
* Beautiful, serene outdoor yoga spot - had an antilope passing through during our session.
* Would suggest they find a way to offer 1-2 cardio devices on the property. India was so unsuitable to walking that we really felt the urge to get a few steps in.
Amanbagh
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This was our last stop and, much as we wanted to love this, it fell a bit short. The architecture is stunning and was a soothing distillation of all the splendor we had seen in the previous three weeks. And yet the service felt stuck in that Rajasthani stereotype of being made to „feel like royalty“ instead of being made to feel like family, as per the Aman promise.
* Hands down the best welcome ceremony in a long time. Very subtle yet supremely beautiful, it gave me goose bumps.
* After that, arrival day turned into a piece of work for us. When being shown to our rooms, every last detail was explained to us („these are two oranges“) even though two of us are Aman regulars and the other two barely understand any English. It took some insisting on our part until the finally relented.
* At lunch, our waiter kept hovering over us, watching our every single move. We were then interrupted by the very smooth ayurvedic doctor peddling his services. At dinner then followed the even smoother F&B manager reciting the activities list, followed by the head of housekeeping checking in on us. Whatever happend to the GM passing by the dinner table once a day?
* Overall, we saw few team members showing any real character or warmth. They tried very hard to please, taking all the apparent effortlessness out of excellent service. We’ve been to Amans where kindness and authenticity went a long way in compensating for a lack of professional and English skills. Here, they have both of the latter and it seems to me management needs to encourage the staff to stand tall and deliver service from the heart.
* F&B was very good, with beautiful presentation. Felt they strayed a bit too far from the Aman concept with the amuse bouche described by the chef as „molecular cusine“, but appreciated the effort. Were charged for a lunch box for depature day which we found a bit petty.
* Definitely one of the weirder Aman Spa layouts. Massage was good, not great.
* Received no housekeeping on departure day, which is something we usually enjoy about Amans. Beautiful flower decorations for the last night though.
* Rooftop Chattri dinner on our last evening was sublime. Our hostess, Neha, was incredibly warm and gracious - the type of person that makes an Aman shine.
* Just to be sure, we did very much enjoy our stay at Amanbagh and I think it’s a lovely ending to any Rajasthan itinerary. With a few management tweaks though, they could be outstanding.