My husband and I stayed just 2 nights in Varanasi at the wonderful Taj Nadesar Palalce after previous stops in New Delhi (The Lodhi), Jodhpur (Umaid Bhawan Palace), and Udaipur (Oberoi Udaivilas). We wish we could have stayed an extra night or two in Varanasi, largely because the entire culture of the city simply blew us away. WIthout question, Varanasi was our favorite spot in all of India...and the Nadesar Palace is unquestionably the best hotel to enjoy Varanasi.

As there are only 10 rooms and suites at the Nadesar Palace, this was by far our most boutique experience in India--and we loved it. The hotel was originally a manor home for the British Viceroy, then turned into a palace by the local Maharajah after the end of colonial rule.

The famous horse and carriage that so many rave about (which didn't interest us, sorry to say!) that can take you on a ride around the grounds:

Walking into the lobby/reception area, seeing through to a reception area and the restaurant area in the back:

The view from the opposite direction of the first floor restaurant area, seeing through to the reception area and main lobby/front entry:

The stairway to the second floor (there is no elevator!):

The second floor:

You can see the door to our Royal Suite to the right of the desk and table:

It was a very beautiful property with great furnishings appropriate to colonial era India, modernized only as needed. We loved it.

Check In

Check in was easy and efficient, and very friendly. We were quickly shown to our Royal Suite on the second floor. 

Room

Our Royal Suite was slightly disappointing in that it felt vacuous when compared to the furnishing style for the rest of the hotel. Other than that gripe, however, we really enjoyed the Suite. It was extremely spacious--some may say too spacious--but it did lack any real view, being that it was on the side of the hotel. The best views would look onto the rear garden in our view.

You enter in the enormous living room:

It was strange that the living room had no natural light, but that was the design of the era, we guess.

The bedroom was lovely, if lacking any really impressive view:

Views from bedroom:

The bath was spacious and wonderful:

The air conditioning worked extremely well again, preset for our arrival to 18 C. There were 2 units in both the living room and bedroom, so plenty of power to properly cool even in the hottest conditions, it seemed:

All in all, despite the lack of natural light in the living room and lack of any nice view for the bedroom, we did really enjoy the Suite. We spent less time in the room here than at any hotel in India, unfortunately, but that is more a testament to how much we loved exploring Varanasi, I think!

Service

Service was, overall, outstanding. We did have one miscue with our room not being serviced our first morning--apparently my husband accidentally hit the button for do not disturb without realizing it on a very unique but cryptic control panel:

We didn't make that mistake again, and the error was quickly rectified by the housekeeping team--who couldn't have been more apologetic. 

Otherwise, service was outstanding. Food service for our meals, as with every hotel in India, was a bit on the slow side...but otherwise was wonderful.

Dining

Dining here was a suprising highlight. We really enjoyed our breakfasts and especially our dinners. Food really was delicious! Considering how small the kitchen and team are compared with the other luxury hotels where we stayed, there was a surprising diversity of options on the menu--and they even did go off-menu for me once. (The menu here was surprisingly more diverse than even that at Amanbagh! Not bad for 10 rooms!)

We ate only breakfasts and dinners here, as our lunches were in town. We had one very good lunch at the Brijrama Palace hotel at the ghats in Varanasi--perhap the next best hotel int town.

Some examples of our dining:

Location

The location of the property wasn't anything special, as it is a 15-20 minute drive and walk to the Ghats of Varanasi (along the Ganges river). But it was quite a wonderful retreat to return to this serene hotel after the epic chaos and sheer craziness of Varanasi. 

Adjacent to the Nadesar Palace is another much larger but less luxurious hotel, The Taj Gateway. You can also dine there if you wish and use any of their services, since that is another Taj hotel.

Seeing Varanasi

There is nothing quite like Varanasi IMO.

First, we spent our morning at Sarnath, about 9-10 km and a 20-30 minute drive from the Nadesar Palace. Sarnath is one of the four holy pilgramage sites of Buddhism, and it was amazing to see so many Buddhists here. The Dharmekh Stupa dates from 200 BC and is the site where the Buddha is said to have preached his first sermon.

Then we went into Varanasi. You just couldn't take a bad photo--there was so much to see and experience that was wildly different from anything in Western culture.

Cremation along the Ganges:

Life along the river:

Cows, of course:

Cremation and cows:

And not a hundred yards away, bathing in the Ganges:

Then just the surreal:

Overall

Varanasi is one of the most incredible places we've ever visited...and the Nadesar Palace is an amazing place to stay while there. We wish we could have stayed longer, even as we felt we got an incredible perspective on Indian life in just our one full day exploring there. 

The Nadesar Palace is an amazing boutique luxury hotel worthy of its reputation as the city's best. Go. Don't ask. Just go.