Umaid Bhawan Palace

There are palaces and then there are palaces. By which we mean, there’s no shortage in India of palace-style hotels, whose entire object is to convey the illusion that you’re an aristocrat’s guest. But Umaid Bhawan, as it happens, is still occupied by what remains of Jodphur’s old royal family.

You won’t find the Maharaja himself taking drink orders, however. The palace’s hotel wing is under the direction of a little hotel concern called Taj. In this wing you’ll find sixty-four rooms and suites, which, though only a fraction of the larger palace, proves to be quite enough space. And where some palace hotels come off a bit stagy, attempting to stand in for some Platonic idea of an Indian palace, Umaid Bhawan has a character all its own — it’s of a more recent vintage than many of its counterparts, and seventy years on it’s staying true to its Art Deco self.

As for the luxury of the place, it’s got as much of whatever they award stars for as any of India’s other top hotels — meaning, quite a lot. The difference is personality. If you’re a box-ticker and a square-foot-counter then you’ve probably got your own formula, but if it’s romance that floats your boat then this place has to be somewhere near the top of the list.