stimpy

Not that I rely on TA, but I just got this email from Taj....

Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur - Best Hotel in the World
First Indian hotel to be named Best in the World in the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2016. Thank you for your unstinted support and appreciation.

bhrubin

I don't like it, but the opportunity cost of including Amanbagh means I'd give up seeing some of the sites I'd prefer to see. As much as I'd love to see a tiger, the frequency of sightings is so bad as to make it seem worthless to try--especially since I'd have to visit India during winter, the worst season for tiger sightings as it were. There's no way I'd visit India during summer--and experience the horrendous heat--just for a not-so-good chance at a tiger sighting.

bhrubin

Yes, Amritsar's Golden Temple (and the border crossing to a lesser extent) and Varanasi are absolutes for me, as well as Agra and the Taj Mahal, obviously. I've wanted to visit all 3 ever since India came on my radar as a teenager.

I don't mind missing a place like touristy Jaipur that every American tourist seems to visit...in order to include another place like Jaisalmer or somewhere more remote (but with a luxury hotel!) that is less visited by Americans.

I did only 3 nights in Beijing (and spent 1 day visiting the Great Wall and another the Forbidden City)...and that was plenty! I did only 2 nights in both Shanghai and Hong Kong, and that also was plenty for me. Much as I love fine dining and great hotels, I just don't care so much for big cities. So we likely would stay only 1-2 nights TOP in either Delhi or Mumbai as it were on either end of our trip (barring a transit stop if necessary).

All sounds wonderful...and thanks for the tip about the SpiceJet flight. If schedule permitted, we might consider Jaipur. But I'm more inclined to sacrifice Jaipur for extra nights at other stops for a less hectic pace and a chance to soak it all in when possible in the other destinations.

Londonjetsetter

Leave out Jaipur if you must, but really don't miss Amanbagh. The countryside is so beautiful and very unspoilt. Lots of interesting sites to see nearby with very few foreign tourists. It was our best experience in India (with Umaid Bhawan Palace and Jodhpur a close second).

bhrubin

Well, lesson learned. I normally would never avoid a "remote locale" Aman property for exactly the reasons you share. I just showed my husband the photos, and the distances/time involved in including Amanbagh, and he concurs: totally worth it.

So Amanbagh is now in.

bhrubin

OK friends, now I'd love some feedback on the best room types we should consider at the following properties, as well as how many nights people think is best to stay at each property. Cost/benefit is important to us:

Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra: Premier Room vs Premier with Balcony vs Deluxe Suite vs Deluxe Suite with Balcony? I'm assuming 1 or 2 nights.

Taj Nadesar Palace, Varanasi: Historical Suite vs Royal Suite? I'm assuming 1 or 2 nights.

Suryagarh, Jaisalmer: Suryagarh Suite (w pool!) vs Thar Haveli? I'm assuming 2-3 nights.

Amanbagh, Jaipur: Pool Pavilion vs one of Haveli Suites? I'm assuming 3 nights.

Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodphur: Historical Suite vs Royal Suite vs Grand Royal Suite? I'm assuming 3 nights.

Taj Lake Palace Udaipur VS Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur: Lake Palace Historical or Royal Suite vs Oberoi Udaivilas Premier Room w Semi-private Pool or Luxury Suite w private pool? I'm assuming 2-3 nights...depending on how long we stay at Amanbagh?

These would be the priorities for us. We gladly would downgrade our city hotel or accommodation type in Delhi (Lodhi or Trident Gurgaon seems our style) or Mumbai (Oberoi or even StR on points) as needed to spend more on the above hotels.

Last question: is it worth sacrificing any of the above to include a night or two in Aurangabad in order to visit the Ajanta and/or Ellora Caves? Or are those best left for a second trip to India when we might visit the more southern sites of interest?

MacMyDay

I agree - we absolutely loved it there, along with Aman-i-khas. The local scenery was stunning and I really enjoyed the tour of the nearby abandoned city.

Glad to see you're adding it back to your list, bhrubin. Regarding room type, they had a promotion last year that was "Terrace Haveli Suite with a guaranteed upgrade to Pool Pavilion", so I booked this room type for myself and girlfriend and another for my dad. It's worth seeing if they'll run another promotion that covers this.

Here's some photos from our trip in April '15: https://www.flickr.com/photos/132880...57662470156766

Of course, as you are Mr. Air Conditioning, I am Mr. Pool-Must-Be-Warm-Damnit, so as it was not heated I spent all of about 5 seconds in it.

bhrubin

Thanks. I noticed the pool pavilion pools are heated only in winter, so we should be fine...though I do love a cold, refreshing pool dip. My hubby, OTOH, will need it warmed like you.

KI-NRT

You might be right, but after doing an ungodly amount of research, we've decided to give it a go this coming December/January, where we'll visit Tadoba National Park (we're going with the Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge) as well as Pench (Taj/@Beyond's Banjaar Tola.)

It looks like Tadoba has really come on strong the past few years, and from reading many reviews, 3 full days of game drives will offer a very high likelihood of seeing a Tiger - in fact, much higher odds of seeing multiples than none. There is no Aman or Taj in Tadoba, but the Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge just opened 3 months ago and is so far reviewing very well (it's on TripAdvisor, mind you.) Tadoba is not the most picturesque of the Tiger reserves (not like Corbett, Ranthambore or even Pench), and it's not well known to people outside of India, but Indians seem to know it well. As a consequence, it can get quite busy and hectic. But our sole mission is to see Tigers in their natural habitat, so we're going to grin & bear it.

Kanha is prettier and is apparently less crowded (at least feels that way to people who've been there, primarily due to it being much larger than Tadoba.) It's about a 5 hour drive from Tadoba, which isn't too bad, so we've decided to squeeze it into the itinerary. If we've already seen Tigers in Tadoba by the time we get to Kanha, we can slow up the pace and enjoy Banjaar Tola, so it won't be a complete waste of time for us

By the way, there's a good message board for safaris in general (and India ones in particular) called safaritalk.com. Two comprehensive and informative (and very recent) reviews stand out:

http://safaritalk.net/topic/14359-st...of-wild-india/ - This dude seems to have hit the jackpot. A lot of good info about each of the 3 parks he visited, too.

http://safaritalk.net/topic/15652-cr...r-hidden-cubs/ - Not quite as awesome as the first guy's report, but she did see Tigers in both reserves, and she went in December.

Fingers crossed!

P.S. - We'll also be staying at Amanbagh and Umaid Bhawan on the same trip. Would be awesome to see you guys there!

bhrubin

I wish you guys nothing but the best on the tiger hunt. I am just too impatient to divert 3-4 days for too little of a chance to see a single tiger.

I'm working on dates now for mid to late Jan/early Feb 2017. It would be great fun to overlap! Probably at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur...though this could be tricky. And we now are considering dropping Amanbagh again--gasp--so that we can be certain to include Jaisalmer and Amritsar. Everyone has their priorities.

I'll keep you posted when I get a sense of our dates. PM me your dates at Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur so we can make the attempt!

KI-NRT

We'll be there from mid-Dec. through the New Year, so I guess it's not meant to be this time. Bummer.

We also intend to check out Jaisalmer and Amritsar; just not this trip. Want to mix up the Tiger safaris with a slower-placed experience as well, which is the main reason why we're sticking with Amanbagh for this one. In any case, I suspect that we'll be going to India quite a few times in the future!

UnitedConnection

Have been reading this and other incredibly helpful threads as I try to plan a trip to India for my honeymoon. Intense choice for a honeymoon, I know, but rare is it that we are able to get away from work for 2+ weeks, and having at least that amount of time seems like table stakes to really get anything out of a trip to India. Add to that the fact that we are just not the type of people to sit on a beach for 2 weeks and enjoy it (longest we every stayed in one place was 5 nights in the Maldives...felt to us like we lived there by the end), and India has become the lead destination for our trip.

A few questions I'm curious to get viewpoints on:

- Our trip will be during the first 2 weeks of September. I understand this is the tail end of monsoon season- is weather a significant factor we should be concerned about?

- How would folks recommend modifying some of the itins that have been discussed in this thread for a couple of complete first-timers to India that have ~11 nights to spend there? As it stands I am planning on flying into DEL and leaving from BOM (in order to experience both cities, but also to keep as much of our flying in SQ suites / EY apartments as possible ) I am intrigued by some of the off-the-beaten path places such as Amritsar/Varanasi, and would also be inclined to include one of the safari tent resorts for a couple days, but not sure how this would work logistically given I think we also want to get some of the main golden triangle sights in along the way.

- I have seen conflicting recommendations in this thread regarding working with the Peirce and Leslie's of the world vs. booking guides through the hotels directly. What are the main advantages of going one way vs. the other? Traditionally I am the type to plan and book everything myself (with the exception of when I need a V agent to get V benefits), but this feels like a serious (and perhaps daunting) undertaking when it comes to India (where I would be lucky if i could locate even the Taj Mahal on a map).

Appreciate any input folks might have.

stimpy

My advice UnitedConnection is to not stress too much about the locations. You could write down a list of the top 15 cities/sites on the wall and throw 2 or 3 darts to make your choices of which to visit and you will have a great time. However...

I think one of the most difficult things for Americans and Europeans is dealing with the different bacteria in the food/water. If you don't do a lot of travel outside of your home country, your stomach will be unprepared and you may get Delhi-belly and have an unpleasant time starting on your 3rd or 4th day. I experience India through my stomach and would hate to have to avoid all the wonderful food there. Lucky for me I travel all over the world and my stomach is adapted to all the different bacteria types. But I have heard enough nightmare stories from people who take all kinds of steps to avoid coming into contact with the local water/bacteria and it rarely works. Some people are more affected than others though. It's not a guarantee that you will fall ill. But if you can swing by Malaysia or some such place on your way to India it may help you to get adjusted. Personally I would counsel young newlyweds to avoid India. The risk of spending your honeymoon bowing before the porcelain goddess is too great. There will be time later in life for India and you should thoroughly enjoy your honeymoon.

MacMyDay

Sage advice. When we went to the Indian Aman's last year, it was all of our first time in India. My father is well traveled and has been all around the world (including Malaysia), yet still got very ill during there, to the point we needed a doctor and he didn't eat for 3 days. I also got ill, but nowhere near as badly, whereas my girlfriend was absolutely fine. She claimed it was proof that men are wimps and the inferior species, whereas I saw it more as her stomach being used to the food, seeing that she is Peruvian and grew up there.

I would emphasis though that I very much enjoyed it and would go back

Londonjetsetter

Did you get ill at the Amans? That really surprises me. We were absolutely fine.