Hi,
My two girlfriends and I are plan to splurge on a hotel for two nights on our trip in October. We are wondering if we should spend the two nights on Rambagh Palace or Amarvilas in Agra.

We also plan to stay at the Devi Gar in Udaipur. Has anyone stayed here? And, if so is it too far out? Just wondering if it will be inconvenient. Thank You!

I would splurge on Amarvilas - it is worth it for the view of the Taj alone. Both restaurants there are very good. Service is excellent.

We only ate dinner at Rambagh Palace, a disappointing experience. Others have fared better. I suspect that with the competition from Oberoi Rajvilas that they have improved.

I tend to mix "spluges" and "good deals" on my trips.

Amarvilas is definitely worth the splurge to me! I can't imagine staying anywhere else in Agra.

I enjoyed Samode Haveli in Jaipur. We had a lovely room, the neighborhood is very interesting, and it is quite an historic property. I considered it wa very good deal at about $115 (with breakfast) two years ago.

In Udaipur, I've only stayed at Udaivilas, which is my favorite hotel in India.

I've heard very mixed reviews of Rambagh Palace so I wouldn't risk it as my splurge.

I'd splurge on the Amarvilas in Agra. It's worth it for the view, the service, the meals and the pool. It was the only spurge we had while we were india and was highly memorable.

In Jaipur we stayed at a small private hotel caled the Jas Vilas, which had excellent staff, nice pool, clean rooms, and delightful meals served each day at the poolside. It only nhad about a dozen rooms and was away rom the noise and madness *lol* so it was a genuine oasis.

Can't help you with Udaipur.

The Raj Vilas luxury tented accomodation at Jaipur will be a great idea...it is something diffrent to the rest and is an oberoi property. The Rambagh is an excellant property, beautifully litup every day. The higher category rooms are delightful.
I would recommend Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur. They have great accomodation & excellant restaurants to go with. Taj Lake Palace is a wonderful heritage property approachable by a boat. Devigarh is about 20 miles, outside of the city.
Very best for your travels!

Hi tjk48,

I stayed four nights at the Udaivilas in Udaipur, but I drove to the Devi Garh for a tour of the property and to have lunch in their 'tres chic' dining room.

There were a number of people that we saw at the Devi Garh who we had also seen at the Udaivilas. They split their time between the two places. I was mixed on which I liked better. (note: I personally would not consider the Lake Palace, as the requirement of taking a boat anytime I want to go anywhere puts it immediately in the "no" column--but that's just me.)

Udaivilas:

If touring/palaces is your greatest desire, Udaivilas is lovely and is in Udaipur itself so it is also very convenient--although it is far enough away from the city center that you can't just walk out the door into town and if you do, the walk is not particularly pleasant (as oppose to the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur). There are interesting restaurants in the city and walking around the city is fun and colorful. The rooms in the Udaivilas are lovely and uniform.

DeviGarh:

From my four hour lunch/tour observation, I would say that the Devi Garh is more "hip" with a younger, quite gorgeous crowd and a very "Armani" feel.

If you like pools and sunbathing, I would say the pool at the Devi Garh is better than Udaivilas. Udaivilas has two pools, but the (seemingly) most desired and warmer is the small one by the spa--which is always crowded. At Devi Garh there is one pool and it is very large with lots of lounges, and high up in the fort with great vistas. The pool overlooks the mountains and the desert with the fort looming above. Pretty spectacular. Also, there are camel safaris and horseback riding offered nearby and lots of people were heading off to hike and fly kites. Every room at the Devi Garh is different. The two I saw were chic and fun and completely different.

Summary:

So, if you just want to luxuriate and relax in sumptuous surroundings, and tour the palace stay at the Udaivilas. If you want a younger crowd, more active pursuits, and a chic, minimalist environment with hiking, a great pool, and you don't mind being 20 miles away from town, stay at the Devi Garh. (Note: I did notice there were mostly couples at Devi Garh as it is a 'romantic getaway', but there were also families and some singles)

Either way, you really can't make a mistake (just don't make an
"tent" reservation at the Devi Garh--reviews on those aren't good). If you are going to be there a couple nights, maybe you could split the hotels like others seem to do. The ride out to the Devi Garh is quite lovely and the surprise of all the mountains after the flatness of the desert in Rajasthan was refreshing.

Agree that Amarvilas is wonderful. It was amazing in fact. A great place to feel close to everything while feeling like you are in a quiet, luxurious setting. Udaivilas is also very highly recommended but we decided to stay at Devi Garh both because it was priced so reasonably for the same level of luxury and because it was in the country but yet still close to Udaipur. 20km is not far and the roads around Udaipur are some of the easiest driving in India. I don't know if you are spending any part of your trip outside cities but it is a far different and very enjoyable experience. The pace, beauty of the countryside, and the openness of the people make it very worthwhile. Devi Garh is stunning, relaxing and sits atop a very small village. We wandered through the village on our own and had one of our best experiences (and best photos) in all of our trip in India by doing so. The drive there at the end of the day of touring was pleasant and arriving in this quiet oasis was also wonderful. Although the hustle and bustle are exciting, it's great to be able to escape it all for a bit too.

BTW... we visited Rajvilas and did not find it at all as interesting or luxurious looking as Amarvilas. It might also matter more to stay in Jaipur as opposed to nearby as the drives in and out are much more intense and tiring for that reason. And the road to Rajvilas is somewhat sad as right outside the resort is a very poor area.

Good luck.

Trip Report

This report is not so much as on the sights (as I am a frequently India traveler) but more on the flights, hotels, restaurants, etc. I’ve made some notes on historical sites that I feel have changed over my trips, however.


Continental CO 82 Nonstop Newark to Delhi:

Flight in BusinessFirst was very nice, we had the newer version of the 777-200ER that had new entertainment systems on. If you can stand a 12.5 hour flight, this is the way to go (nonstop), even in coach. It saves a lot of time instead of connecting through Europe. The continental presidents club is nice there, even if you are flying coach if you have an Amex platinum card you can get in.

Delhi Oberoi – Lobby, Restaurants, Pools and other public areas are very nice. The pool could use a few more chairs. The spa is smaller, with just one shower in the men’s locker area. The workout area is superb with excellent, brand new equipment.
Rooms: The rooms have a musty smell. While everything in the room is nice and updated, I think the carpet needs replaced. I viewed three rooms during our stay and they all have an odd smell. The views of the rooms that look at Humayan’s tomb were nice as were the pool/golf course views. The staff were not as nice as other Oberoi hotels. In addition, they were a little slow with requests for ironing board, room service, etc. Pool service was also slow. In addition, the drains in both of our rooms were broken and it took quite awhile for someone to come look. The restaurants were excellent in food and service. The lobby bar is not as nice as the 360 restaurant bar, use that one instead. The drinks there were top notch. Sunday brunch at 360 is excellent, as is all the food, including the Sushi. The internet is VERY expensive at 800 rupees per day ($20) and sometimes did not work. There were adapters in each room for foreign plugs. Overall, I would NOT stay at this hotel again, I would try the Taj Palace or Imperial.

I like the Cottage industries store for handicrafts. Soma Store at Connaught was nice, as well as FabIndia at Khan market. If you like small stores and haggling, try Janpath market near the Imperial hotel (right across from Cottage Industries).

Restaurants in Delhi to try: Chopsticks, Oriental Octopus, House of Ming (get the date pancakes). They were all excellent.

Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra, India – the hotel and restaurant were very nice. The rooms with a balcony overlooking Taj are amazingly close and beautiful. I recommend splurging the extra $50 in difference between the balcony rooms and non-balcony. Sunrise/Sunset on the balcony make for beautiful photos. The staff are wonderful here. Completely different than the Oberoi in Delhi. If you can afford it, stay here. They transport you via golfcart to the Taj right from the hotel and wait for you. Otherwise, the ITC and Taj View hotels are good as well at a cheaper price. The welcome to the hotel was amazing. Normally it is a 3 to 3.5 hour drive to Agra from Delhi but there was some construction this time on the four lane highway so the drive took 5 hours. I recommend driving (with a driver) though over the train. Taj looks great as always, I wish the fountains would be working though! The Agra fort has also been improved. I would stay at this hotel again.

Agra to Jaipur drive. This took 6 hours, very painstaking as they are building a new expressway. Please budget time appropriately. Toll entering Rajasthan was 500 rupees.

Fatehpur Sikri – 47 KM from Agra has gone down hill dramatically. Recent changes made it so you cannot drive to the top anymore, you have to park in a holding area and take an Auto Rickshaw to the top (50 rupees each way). Be warned: you will get swarmed with guides, salesmen, kids, beggars, autorickshaw drivers, etc. This is worse than any other site I can remember in India, including Taj, Old Delhi, etc. They make you take off your shoes to go inside, the place is filthy with urine, etc. It was not a pleasant experience. In addition, the salespeople are now allowed INSIDE the building (unlike other world heritage sites) and they follow you around the entire time you are in there. (Guide or Not – Multiple People). As well, when you enter the Salim Chisti tomb there is a religious man that screams at you if you do not give some rupees. Also, when leaving the man who held the shoes also screams at you if you do not tip him. Overall, it was not a pleasant experience overall has gone down hill a lot since my previous visits. I will not go again and my fellow traveler who was on her first trip said that was the worst part of her experience of the trip.

Jaipur

Oberoi Raj Vilas

Very nice hotel! Great service, though food is pricey. Both the premier rooms and the tents are worth trying. The pool is very nice and service there is excellent, each time you go there (the pool) you get two bottles of water, cold towels, sunscreen, fruit smoothies…and throughout the day they gave us different smoothies and different fruit snacks for free. The restaurant had great dinner…we had a great amuse bouche (veg bruschetta) at dinner one night and they gladly made it for us for lunch the next day. The spa is beautiful and the treatments we had were great. If you stay here, try the free cooking classes (offered by the exec chef). We had one to teach us to cook a simple Indian meal and it made the stay. (and was free!) Internet here was again very expensive, at 800 rupees per day. If you have a few minutes, walk around the Royal Vila where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie & Bill Clinton stayed when they visited. Also, in the early evenings I suggest visiting the temple, it is a very nice experience. I would stay at this hotel again, though I may split my time at the Rambaugh palace as well. If you are driving, be careful not to miss the hotel as all the signs are down because of the construction.

Other hotels to try if you can’t stay there, I’ve stayed at the Rambaugh palace a few times and that is very nice. We had dinner at the restaurant there (very good food) but they do not serve Chinese food there anymore! For those interested in taking Elephant rides due to new restrictions you need to get to Amber fort BY 9:30 AM, the ride was 285 rupees per person. On the way back to town I recommend stopping at the camel stop (you will see them) and getting your picture taken with them or taking a ride. Also, the cottage industries store (not the govt owned one) on the same road is a very nice store to visit that has everything and the prices are not too outrageous, and they will bargain on the bigger things.

City Palace is always nice but now they offer a private tour of the Maharaja’s current residence for addition $65 per person if you feel like spending it for the private tour.

Jaipur – Delhi drive was GREAT! The best highway in India, the four lane expressway made the trip a breeze and it did not take more than 4.5 hours.

Delhi Oberoi again: Our flight was not until 11 PM, they extended check out until 2 and offered to hold our bags until we were ready to go and let us use the facilities: Spa, pool, etc. until we were ready to leave. That was one plus of the hotel…

Flight home, the continental flight CO 83 was again great, though this plane had an older entertainment system and that was the only downside. The 14.5 hour flight arrives in at an empty Newark airport at 4:30 AM.

Let me know if you have any questions. I utilized this forum for alot of information prior to my trip, so I feel I definitely should post!