How a maharaja's house became a hotel
Our own family remembers the change from the other side. Cousins who had served in the old households found work in the new hotels, often in the same rooms, and some taught a generation of hotel staff how a royal table had been laid.
Independence: in 1947 the princely states of Rajputana were folded, one by one, into the new state of Rajasthan, a process largely complete by 1949.
What the rulers kept: their titles, their private properties and an annual allowance called the privy purse.
- First palace hotel
- Rambagh Palace, 1957
- Lake Palace and Umaid Bhawan
- Taj and guests from 1971
- Privy purses abolished
- 1971
- Three kinds
- Royal palace, noble house, new palace
- Good for
- Two nights in each, never one
- Best months
- October to March
- What they lost: the revenue of a kingdom. A palace built for a court of hundreds now fell to a single family, and roofs, gardens and staff grew no cheaper.
- The first to see a way: Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur. Rambagh Palace, his principal residence, where he had lived with Maharani Gayatri Devi, opened as a hotel in 1957.
- Taj arrives: the group took over Rambagh's management in 1972.
- Udaipur: the island summer palace of Jag Niwas became a hotel in the 1960s and came under Taj management in 1971.
- Jodhpur: part of Umaid Bhawan Palace began welcoming guests in the same year.
- 1971: a constitutional amendment abolished the privy purses and official recognition of the rulers' titles, and many families who had held out opened their doors.
- Two ways of doing it: some leased whole palaces to hotel companies. Others, especially the smaller noble estates, restored a wing at a time and cooked for guests from the family kitchen.
- Why they feel so different: some run with the precision of an international group, others by a family who will show you their grandfather's polo team over dinner.
Royal palace, noble fort or palace-style resort
The royal palace: a residence built by a ruling house, often in the last hundred and fifty years of princely rule, when maharajas built new homes outside their old fortified cities.
Examples: Rambagh, Umaid Bhawan and Laxmi Niwas, Jai Mahal and the lake palaces of Udaipur.
What they are like: grand in scale, with durbar halls, long verandahs and gardens laid out for receptions. Many still house members of the family, a museum or both.
- Royal palace
- Built by a ruling house
- Noble house
- Garh, rawla or mahal of a thikana
- New palace
- Built for guests since the late 1990s
- Choose old for
- Sleeping where history happened
- Choose new for
- Level floors and modern comfort
- The noble house: the seat of a thikana, an estate granted by a ruler to a chief who owed him soldiers and loyalty.
- Its names: garh (fort), rawla (country house) or mahal (palace), from hilltop citadels to modest manor houses at the head of a village.
- Examples: Deogarh Mahal, Samode Palace and Khimsar Fort, and many travellers find them warmer for it.
- The old system: our journal piece on rawlas and thikanas explains it.
- The new palace: built from the ground up since the late 1990s in the language of a Rajput or Mughal palace, with domes, courtyards, fountains and arcades.
- The standard-setters: the Oberoi resorts in Jaipur and Udaipur. Never lived in by a king, but modern rooms, large spas and service that runs like clockwork.
- None is better: they suit different people. If you want the feeling of a palace without uneven floors and narrow stairs, the new kind will make you happier, and there is no shame in saying so.
The palaces of Jaipur and the Kachwaha country
South of the walls: most of Jaipur's royal palaces stand there, garden residences the Kachwaha rulers built in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
- In the hills: the noble families of the Jaipur court had their own forts and country palaces in the Aravallis, several now among our favourite stays.
- City hotels in detail: our guide to luxury hotels in Jaipur.
Rambagh Palace
Its growth: a garden house in 1835, then in stages a hunting lodge, a royal guest house and the home of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II, who took up full ruling powers in 1931.
Its architect: Samuel Swinton Jacob shaped much of the exterior.
- Early morning: walk the verandahs before day visitors arrive, to peacocks on the lawns and the soft sweep of brooms on marble.
- Who it suits: anyone who wants royal Jaipur in its purest form. It remains the city's grandest address.
- Ask us: for a room facing the gardens rather than the drive.
Jai Mahal Palace
Where: a few minutes from Rambagh, the Taj's second Jaipur palace.
- Its age: the middle of the eighteenth century, set in formal Mughal gardens of fountains, walkways and pavilions.
- Its feel: smaller and calmer than Rambagh, which is why many of our repeat guests prefer it.
- A practical plus: an easy drive north to Amer before dawn, which matters more than people think.
Samode Palace
Where: about an hour north-west of Jaipur, rising in terraces at the head of its village, with a fort on the hill above.
- Its treasures: a painted Durbar Hall and mirrored Sheesh Mahal as rich as anything in the city.
- A hotel since: 1987, opened and still run by the Rawals of Samode.
- How we use it: a last night after the city, or a first night on the road to Shekhawati, paired with the family's townhouse, Samode Haveli, inside the walls.
Alila Fort Bishangarh
Where: north of Jaipur, near the Delhi road, on a granite hill.
- What it is: an eighteenth-century warrior fort restored as a contemporary hotel, with rooms set into walls of enormous thickness.
- Its feel: a fort rather than a palace. Dramatic, a little austere and very romantic.
- How we use it: rest at the start or end of a journey, or a quiet base for Amer away from the city.
Neemrana Fort-Palace
Where: halfway between Delhi and Jaipur, climbing a hillside in terraces.
- Its dates: built from 1464, abandoned after 1947, bought for restoration in 1986 and opened as a hotel in 1991.
- Why it matters: its restorers helped start the movement to save Rajasthan's ruined forts as places to stay.
- How we use it: to break the drive from Delhi. The sunset from the upper terraces is worth the climb.
Mewar, where the palaces stand in water
The kingdom: Mewar, the old realm of the Sisodia Rajputs.
- The range: from an island in Lake Pichola to hill palaces of great noble families an hour or two away.
- Our pattern: two nights in the city and one or two in the hills. Our guide to luxury hotels in Udaipur has more.
Taj Lake Palace
Its story: Jag Niwas, built between 1743 and 1746 as a summer palace for Maharana Jagat Singh II. A hotel in the 1960s, managed by Taj since 1971.
Arriving: only by the hotel's boats, and only guests and diners with a reservation may land.
- After dark: when the last boat has crossed, the whole palace falls quiet.
- Who it suits: couples above all, and anyone who wants the hotel to be the high point of the trip.
- Ask us: rooms differ a great deal, so we ask for one facing the lake.
Shiv Niwas Palace
Where: inside the City Palace complex, a crescent of rooms around a marble courtyard and pool.
- Its history: completed under Maharana Fateh Singh in the early twentieth century as a guest house for visitors of the House of Mewar.
- A hotel since: the early 1980s, run by the HRH Group of Hotels.
- Its feel: gracious and old-world, with period furniture and coloured glass, and an easy walk into the old city.
Fateh Prakash Palace
Where: also within the City Palace.
- Its treasures: the old Durbar Hall and, above it, the Crystal Gallery of English crystal furniture ordered by Maharana Sajjan Singh.
- Its feel: more intimate than Shiv Niwas. The terrace over the lake is one of Udaipur's loveliest places for late-afternoon tea.
- A caution: some rooms are compact, so we choose carefully.
Deogarh Mahal
Where: above the small market town of Deogarh, about three hours north of Udaipur.
Its builders: the Rawats of Deogarh, one of the great noble houses of Mewar, in 1670.
- Inside: rooms full of murals, mirror work and old furniture. The family still runs it.
- Its painters: the Deogarh court had its own school of miniature painting.
- How we use it: on the road between Jaipur and Udaipur. Read about the town in our Deogarh guide.
RAAS Devigarh
Where: the village of Delwara, about 30 kilometres north of Udaipur.
- What it is: an eighteenth-century hill palace of the local nobles, restored and opened as a hotel in 1999.
- Inside: pale marble and clean lines within the old walls, the most contemporary of Rajasthan's true palaces.
- Who it suits: design lovers, and travellers heading on to Eklingji, Nathdwara or Kumbhalgarh.
Udai Bilas Palace, Dungarpur
Where: about two hours south of Udaipur, on the shore of Gaib Sagar.
- Its builder: Maharawal Udai Singh II, in the mid-nineteenth century. The former royal family still lives here.
- Its masterpiece: the Ek Thambiya Mahal, the palace of a single pillar, one of the finest pieces of carved stone in southern Rajasthan.
- Its charm: few travellers make it this far. Our Dungarpur guide tells the family story.
Castle Bijaipur
Where: about 40 kilometres from Chittorgarh, with the low Vindhyan hills behind.
- What it is: a sixteenth-century castle of a Mewar noble family, open to guests since 1991, with the family still living in the grounds.
- Its feel: simple and colourful rather than polished, with a courtyard garden and a pool.
- How we use it: to see Chittorgarh Fort at dawn and come back to calm.
Marwar and Bikaner, the desert palaces
- Two Rathore kingdoms: Jodhpur and Bikaner built two of the last great palaces of princely India in the twentieth century.
- A ring of forts: their nobles left country forts across the desert. These are the royal houses we use most.
Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur
Built: on Chittar Hill from 1929 to 1943, by Maharaja Umaid Singh, partly as famine relief.
The design: Henry Lanchester mixed Art Deco with Indian domes in golden sandstone from the hill itself.
- Three parts: a Taj hotel since 1971, the royal family's home in another wing, and a museum in a third.
- Rare: few hotels anywhere let you sleep in a working royal home.
- Ask us: about rooms with a view of Mehrangarh across the city.
Bal Samand Lake Palace
Where: about five kilometres north of Jodhpur on the road to Mandore.
- What it is: a red sandstone summer palace over one of the oldest reservoirs around the city, with gardens and orchards running to the water.
- Run by: the royal family's own hotel company.
- Who it suits: families who want space and quiet within easy reach of town.
Ajit Bhawan, Jodhpur
Built for: Maharaj Ajit Singh, a younger brother of Maharaja Umaid Singh, near the city centre.
- A pioneer: one of the first heritage hotels in Rajasthan, still run by the family.
- Its feel: less formal than Umaid Bhawan, with gardens, a pool and conversation at dinner.
Khimsar Fort
Built: in 1523 by Rao Karamsji, the eighth son of Jodhpur's founder Rao Jodha, between Jodhpur and Nagaur.
- Today: part family home, part hotel, with a walled garden, a pool and a dune village a short drive away.
- How we use it: a night on the way to Bikaner or Nagaur.
Laxmi Niwas Palace, Bikaner
What it is: the oldest wing of Lalgarh Palace, designed for Maharaja Ganga Singh by Samuel Swinton Jacob and completed in 1902.
Its guests: viceroys and visiting royalty stayed here.
- Its stone: red sandstone carved into screens, balconies and arcades, inside and out.
- After dark: the lit courtyard is one of the great dining settings of the desert.
- Rooms vary: tell us what matters. Our Lalgarh Palace guide explains the building.
Narendra Bhawan, Bikaner
What it was: the last home of Maharaja Narendra Singh of Bikaner, who lived here until his death in 2003.
- What it is: a boutique hotel with a strong personality, designed around the stages and passions of his life.
- Who it suits: travellers who have stayed in grand palaces already and want wit and design rather than gravitas.
Castle Mandawa, Shekhawati
Built: in 1755 by Thakur Nawal Singh, to guard a caravan town.
- A hotel since: around 1980, one of the first heritage hotels in Rajasthan.
- Its setting: a town of painted havelis. Walk out of the gate into the frescoed lanes.
- The houses around it: our page on heritage havelis covers them.
The new palaces, built for guests
Less real? It depends what you came for. These hotels were never homes, and the history in them is borrowed.
- Old craft: they were built by craftsmen trained in the old ways, with carved stone, inlaid marble and painted ceilings.
- What old buildings can't give: level floors, large bathrooms, quiet air-conditioning, lifts and purpose-built spas.
- Often the wiser choice: for families with small children, anyone with limited mobility and light sleepers.
The Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur
Opened: in the late 1990s, on 32 acres east of the city.
- Its plan: like a fortified village, with pink walls, courtyards, fountains and a restored eighteenth-century Shiva temple in the grounds.
- Its spa: set in a restored haveli.
- The trade-off: the drive to the old city and Amer, which we plan around.
The Oberoi Udaivilas
Opened: in the early 2000s on the shore of Lake Pichola, on land once part of the Maharanas' hunting grounds.
- Its language: a Mewar palace of domes, courtyards and long arcades, with rooms in low wings.
- Its service: famously attentive. Choose it to retreat completely between outings.
The Leela Palace Udaipur
Where: next to Udaivilas on the Pichola shore.
- Its style: grander and more formal, with marble, chandeliers and silver in its public rooms.
- Its view: lake-facing rooms look straight across at the City Palace.
- Who it suits: travellers who like a hotel to feel like an occasion.
Raffles Udaipur
Opened: in 2021, on a private island in Udai Sagar, east of the city.
- Its feel: a grand country house with formal gardens and a long pool.
- Who it suits: couples who have seen the City Palace before. The most secluded of Udaipur's great hotels.
The Leela Palace Jaipur and Fairmont Jaipur
Both: large modern palaces outside the city, with domes, mirrored halls, big pools and space for families and celebrations.
- The Leela: reopened under its own name in 2021. Read about The Leela Palace Jaipur.
- The Fairmont: on the Delhi road north of Amer, which makes early starts at the fort easy. Read about Fairmont Jaipur.
Palaces just over the border
Gwalior: in Gwalior, the Taj Usha Kiran Palace was built as a guest house for visitors of the Scindia court, in gardens beside Jai Vilas Palace.
For Orchha and Khajuraho: we use it because Orchha itself has no hotel of that standard.
- Varanasi, in gardens: Taj Nadesar Palace is a late eighteenth-century house that later served the Maharajas of Banaras as a guest house, away from the crowds.
- Varanasi, on the ghats: BrijRama Palace is a mansion completed in 1812 that rises straight from the river steps.
- Delhi, modern: The Leela Palace, New Delhi is a new palace in the diplomatic quarter.
- Delhi, 1930s: The Imperial was built as part of the new imperial capital.
- First or last night: neither Delhi hotel was a royal home, but both make a gracious start or end to a journey.
- How they fit: our page on beyond Rajasthan explains.
Smaller royal houses we love
- Fame isn't the point: smaller royal and noble families across Rajasthan run their old homes as heritage hotels, with simpler comforts and a great deal of character.
- An honest caution: standards vary more than in the big names and service can be slow, so we only book the ones we have seen recently.
Gajner Palace, near Bikaner
Where: about 30 kilometres west of Bikaner.
- Its story: a royal pleasure garden and lake expanded by Maharaja Ganga Singh into a palace and hunting lodge, where viceroys came for winter shoots.
- Today: the old hunting reserve is a sanctuary, and the red pavilions stand on a lake full of waterbirds.
- How we use it: a night of pure calm after Bikaner. Our guide to luxury hotels in Bikaner has more.
Umed Bhawan Palace, Kota
Built: in the early twentieth century for Maharao Umed Singh II of Kota.
- What it is: an Indo-Saracenic palace in gardens, partly a family home and partly a heritage hotel.
- How we use it: a comfortable base for Bundi, about forty minutes away, for guests who would rather not climb a haveli's stairs. Read our Kota guide.
Phool Mahal Palace, Kishangarh
Where: on the shore of Gundolav lake, looking across to the old fort-palace.
- What it is: the flower palace of the Kishangarh rulers, a heritage stay rather than a polished hotel.
- Pair it with: a morning in a painter's studio. See our Kishangarh guide.
Mandir Palace, Jaisalmer
Where: below the fort, the later residence of Jaisalmer's rulers.
- Its tower: Badal Vilas, tall and carved.
- Today: part heritage hotel, while members of the family still live in another part.
- Who it suits: travellers who want to walk into the old town from the gate. Our guide to luxury hotels in Jaisalmer compares it with the desert hotels.
Which palace suits which traveller
Couples and honeymooners
Udaipur and beyond: Taj Lake Palace for the boat crossing and the stillness after dark, Devigarh for quiet design, Raffles for privacy, and Udai Bilas for something almost nobody else has done.
- In Jaipur: Jai Mahal's gardens are more romantic than Rambagh's grandeur.
- Our journey: Rajasthan for two is built around places like these.
Families with children
What children love: space, a pool and something to explore.
- Good choices: the new palaces, Umaid Bhawan with its museum and vintage cars, Bal Samand's orchards and Khimsar's dune village.
- Harder work: narrow stairs and fragile antiques in some smaller palaces.
- More ideas: our page on family journeys.
History lovers
- Where the family still lives: Umaid Bhawan, Shiv Niwas, Laxmi Niwas, Deogarh and Samode.
- A quiet privilege: where families host guests, we arrange an evening with one of them. Our page on meeting Rajasthan's royal families explains how.
Several generations together
What works: large palaces with lifts, gardens and room to spread out, such as Rambagh, Umaid Bhawan and the Oberoi and Leela resorts.
- What we avoid: hill forts with long climbs for grandparents.
- Rooms close together: in a historic building this takes planning. Our multi-generation journey shows how we pace it.
Repeat visitors
- Done Rambagh and the Lake Palace? Go to the noble houses: Deogarh, Bijaipur, Dungarpur, Gajner and the forts of Marwar.
- Why: there Rajasthan still feels like a set of small kingdoms. Our offbeat Rajasthan route strings several together.
Rooms, wings and the art of asking
Built for a court: a palace's best rooms were the ruler's apartments and state guest suites. The rest were for officials, women of the household, staff and stores.
What money can't change: every room was made comfortable, but no budget makes a back corridor look over a lake.
- Never blind: we know which wings have the views, which rooms are up a narrow staircase and which catch the sound of a wedding on the lawn.
- Tell us what matters: a view, a bathtub, a ground floor, a quiet corner or a room near the pool for the children.
- Old building or new wing: original rooms often have more character and less light. Newer wings are brighter and easier to live in.
- Honest advice: we explain the choice and ask for the right room by name where the hotel allows it.
- A terrace table: ask for one on a warm evening, rather than the dining room.
- A private dinner: on a rooftop, in a courtyard or by a stepwell. Our page on a private palace dinner describes the evenings we like best.
What staying in a palace is really like
A palace hotel is a place to slow down. Our families used to say that a guest who rushes through a house insults the host. Give each palace two nights, take tea on the terrace, walk the gardens at dawn and let one afternoon pass with nothing planned.
Long walks: between your room and breakfast, under high ceilings, past heavy doors and corridors of portraits, tiger shoots and polo teams.
Day visitors: Rambagh, Umaid Bhawan and the City Palace in Udaipur are great monuments too. Hotel areas are kept separate, but you will be glad of the quiet hours early and late.
- Old patterns of service: many staff come from families who served the households for generations, and take quiet pride in the house.
- One greeting: a khamma ghani, the respectful Rajasthani greeting, returned with a smile, opens doors.
- Dress for dinner: at least smart casual in the grander houses. The dining rooms were built for durbar evenings.
- Smaller bathrooms: sometimes, in historic rooms.
- Weaker Wi-Fi: behind walls a metre thick.
- Summer closures: a few smaller palaces close parts of the house in the hot months.
- If that would spoil it: we choose a new palace instead, or mix the two.
Seasons, weddings and when to book
October to March: the palace season, with warm days and cool nights.
December and January: the busiest months. The most famous palaces can be full six to nine months ahead for those weeks.
February and early March: our favourite time. The weather is lovely and the rush has eased.
- Palace season
- October to March
- Busiest
- December and January
- Book ahead
- Six to nine months for peak weeks
- Our favourite
- February and early March
- Monsoon magic
- Udaipur, July to September
- Diwali: in October or November, magical in the old cities. We plan palace nights around it with care.
- Each month explained: our guide to the best time to visit Rajasthan.
- Wedding season: the palaces are India's favourite wedding venues, and auspicious dates fall mostly in the cool months.
- Big weddings: several hundred guests can be wonderful to watch and hard to sleep through. We check the calendar and steer you away from the big nights.
- Your own celebration: our page on destination weddings explains how it works.
- April to June: the desert palaces are very hot, but the quieter months bring calmer palaces and gentler rates.
- The monsoon: from July to September, Udaipur and the Mewar hills turn green and the lakes fill. Our monsoon in Mewar journey is built around it.
Building palaces into a journey
A first journey: three great royal houses, one each in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur, with a night in a noble family's fort between them so the drives stay short.
The fullest version: our Royal Rajputana, over fifteen nights.
- Noble houses first: our forts and palaces grand tour.
- With tigers: palaces and tigers pairs royal hotels with a Ranthambore lodge. Our page on wildlife lodges explains those.
- A different night between: a haveli in an old city lane, a desert camp under the stars, or a farm fort where the family cooks dinner.
- Those stays: our pages on heritage havelis and luxury desert camps describe them, and the stays hub brings every style together.
- No published prices: every journey is different. After one conversation we draw a route and quote it, room by room.