taj lake palace udaipur: rajasthan

The Taj Lake Palace Hotel is probably the most iconic palace hotel in the world, standing majestically on Lake Pichola, surrounded by water, "floating" mysteriously in front of the City Palace on the mainland.

Built between 1743 - 1746 by Maharana Jagat Singh as a romantic island for him to entertain various females, the Palace;s romantic theme continued in 1963 when Maharana Bhagwat Singhji turned it into the first luxury palace hotel in India. In 1971, the esteemed Indian hospitality group, Taj Hotels, took over the management and have been the caretakers of this jewel of Lake Pichola since, making guests' experiences ever more memorable through unriavlled service and innovative diversions for romance and cultural pleasure.

No travel to this part of India is complete without a stay at this most romantic of hotels.

 

Rooms:-

 

The 59 rooms and suites are very traditionally  styled in light pastels with a mock French regency feel to them. Some have richer darker colours with a more Indian flavour. From the bottom category up they are a decent size starting at c. 45m2 and most have a separate sitting area and all have a lake view.

 

They have 5 rooms types starting with the Luxury Rooms followed by the Palace Rooms, Royal Suites, Grand Royal Suites and the Grand Presidential Suite. We highly recommend the Palace rooms if you are on a budget but its worth upgrading to the Royal Suites to really get a flavour of how the Maharaja’s and Maharana would have lived.

 

Room amenities included air conditioning, lake views, plasma TV with SAT, DVD player, tea and coffee maker, high speed internet access and wi-fi (chargeable), mini bar and safe.

 

Dining:-

 

4 equisite restaurants give you the chance to taste Indian, Asian, Italian and contemporary Western cuisines at various locations around the hotel. Private tables can be arranged in different places around the hotel and that only enhances what is a gourmet dining experience with views over the lake to a variety of landmarks across the lake or on the mainland.

Other:-

 

The tranquil Jiva Spa offers guests top quality treatments with an extensive menu of east meets west. The treatment rooms are very quiet and the general scent of the place immediately relaxes you.

 

The swimming pool has view of the lake and is very quaint.

 

 

 

 

The Taj Lake Palace would form a 2/3 night stay as part of a 10 night + tour of Rajasthan which in similar heritage properties would cost c. £2,500 per person depending on  the season.