Jaipur: suggestions for budget, but interesting, hotels.
 

Two of us will be staying for a couple of nights in Jaipur in late October. Our preference is for "traditional" (rather than international "chain") hotels or havelis, towards the low end of the market -- maybe $US15 - 20 a night, double. We'd also like to stay in the older (central)part of town, as we are coming in by train. Does anybody have any hot tips that would meet these guidelines? And what is the Kaiser-I-Hind like....the description sounds interesting and quite unique, which is what we're after.
Thanks for all suggestions!

Hotels that fall within your budget:

Madhuban and Umaid Bhawan in Bani Park. They have a mix of rooms to offer and their cheaper rooms are good value

Arya Niwas close to the city - Has grown very big but still remains the best managed hotel in the low-end category

Pearl Palace - very popular with the low end tourists

KaiserEHind needs a huge dollop of investment!

Alan,

Just stretch your budget a bit and try Jasvilas. As far as family hotels go, they don't come any better!

Good as it is, even the website does not do justice to them.

Thanks to both of you for this advice. I will check out all those names and reply more fully later. Looks like Kaiser-I-Hind is better forgotten -- pity, as it sounded interesting. However, one of the travel books did refer to it as "overpriced", so Rajhelp50's comment confirms this.

Next "stop" will be Jodhpur!

Hi, again, and I have now found all of these places on various websites -- many with pictures. The Jasvilas, Jerry, looks great, and I am grateful to you for alerting me to it -- but at $US40 for a double, it's about three times what we were hoping to pay, so I think I will have to regretfully set it aside, value though it may be. Thanks anyway!

Rajhelp50, all your suggestions are within our budget (Pearl Palace, 350R; Arya Niwas, 600R; the elegant Umaid Bhawan and the Madhuban both 700R with a common bath), so I guess the only deciding factor now is the proximity to the sights. All are better than we expected for the price. Thanks heaps!

Talking of "proximity to the sights", in looking for these, I came across one other that is actually IN the Pink City, which would be a great place to be, right in the heart of all the colour and bustle. It's the Kailash Hotel, with rooms for 240R with private bath. Sounds too good to be true... do you, Rajhelp50 (or anyone else) have any first-hand knowledge of this hotel?

Jerry-We're staying at (Lily's) Jas Vilas in December for 4 nights. So glad you recommended her. What room was their best? Tks again for your input on Rajasthan. We're going to train it most places and hire a car from Jaipur to Agra so we can see Fatehir Sikri on the way to Agra. We're off to Sth America Sep 1 so lots to do before then. Stay well and happy!

I stayed in one of the Second Floor rooms at Jasvilas, but I think the front rooms facing the lawn are equally good.

While you are in Jaipur, make sure you go for a drink at the Polo Bar, Rambagh Hotel. Awesome place.

We stayed at the jagat niwas palace hotel. Was a great little place! In a lovely part of the city on the banks of the lake. Had a great room with a view on the lake and the lake palace. Was walking distance to the city palace and had a great roof top restaurant.Staff were great too!

I suppose Christine is referring here to the lovely Jagat Niwas in Udaipur.

I guess you're right, Rajhelp50.... I will tuck this one away for when I get around to asking for Udaipur recommendations.

I have now decided on either the Umaid Bhawan or the Arya Niwas for Jaipur... both are virtually the same price, and both look great from the internet sites. The Arya Niwas is a bit closer to the Pink City, but the Umaid Bhawan's location in Bani Park is apparently a real plus... and its rooms are advertised as nearly all having balconies, which would be nice. I guess, overall, the differences between them are fairly miniscule, would you agree?

Oops sorry about that!!

Jerry-tks for Polo Bar recommendation. Will enjoy one for you!