Udaipur, India
 

As you can see, we are still wrestling with our India itinerary for February 2014. It looks like we can possibly come up with 3 nights (1 taken from Varanasi, 1 from Jaipur, and the night at Samode), and then go to Udaipur for 3 nights. We will drive from Jaipur to Udaipur. We are of course not thrilled with the very long drive; but seeing Fodorites describe Udaipur as "fabulous", is convincing!

Does anyone have a hotel in Udaipur to recommend highly? If so, please tell us why it's a good one.... We are open to all your suggestions and we appreciate your help as always!

Just to make your life more complicated I recommend staying 1 night at Devi Garh on the way to Udaipur. It is actually right outside of town. But it is a very special place. Google it.
The are interesting temples nearby.

Udaivilas is my favorite. Very pricey, but it you check 'special offer" on the Oberoi site there are often good deals.

Loved Udaivillas. We had a tour agency in India-Gem Tours- book it for us and it was much cheaper.

Undoubtedly Udai Vilas fabulous hotel .ideal for couple looking for great time.

Cheers

Shanu agra

while not in the middle of town, we loved the sheraton palace...

we had a wonderful stay at fateh garh. highly recommended!

Jaipur >> Udaipur is a good 265miles, on a road that has nothing much to offer in the way of scenery. As mentioned by Elainee, Devigarh indeed is a special place.If you do decide on it, start early from Jaipur.
However, Shahpura Bagh also is a nice luxury hotel, for a night. Will give you insight into rural India...you will love talking to Maya Singh, your hostess at Shahpura Bagh and you could be sure to have an interesting intellectual evening with them, something you will miss in the other cities.
Enjoy your travels!

Thank you all for your advice. We are still considering our options. I appreciate your responses as always.

Udaipur is indeed a beauty. What kind of budget are you on? if its flexible and since you are going in february I would recommend the following:
Taj Lake Palace Udaipur: Starts at $299, situate between a lake its a must stay place! super guest services, food!
Udaivillas definitely wins in luxury hotels, even if you dont stay here you must visit it to see the hotel lit up at night extremely romantic and gives a feel of true Indian Royalty.
the Trident is more mid ranged at $ 71 and extremely apt for a family visit
The Lalit: Laxmi Vilas Palace is also a good hotel.
If you could tell more about your budget I could help with better suggestions.

Devigarh is definitely a must see but again could be pricey to stay, I just went there to check out the hotel and for lunch. But dream to stay there at some time!

Let me know if you need any more info.

Ruagr
Travel Enthusiast and Travel Blogger

1) Taj Lake Palace 2) Devigarh 3) Leela Palace

Many thanks to all. We are considering splitting our nights between Jagat Niwas (b/c of the numerous good reviews of it on this forum), and either Taj Lake Palace or Udaivillas (same reason).

Ruagr:
We couldn't find any rate at about $299 at Taj Lake Palace. Rates we see are about $800's and up. So what do you mean by "since we are going in February...."? Of course a lower rate there or at Oberoi would be attractive. Thank you for your help.

I don't think you should split your time between 2 places for 3 night's total stay - you'll wind up not having the time to enjoy either of them (plus you'll need to move from one to the other). Jagat Niwas has a great location and a fine restaurant but it is quite basic compared to Lake Palace or Udaivillas. I would only stay there if one of the better rooms (with a view of the Lake) is available.

I was very happy with Jagat Niwas, but I agree with Craig that it's not the luxury hotel the other two are. I did have a lake view with a large window seat (large enough for naps!) and it was wonderful. I do recommend it, but don't have expectations of high end luxury. Still it has a class and simple elegance.

Progol,
At Jagat Niwas, were you in a lake view suite? Do you remember the room number? If it was a regular room, was it large enough, and comfortable? Thank you.

Hi, wk,
I was in a Raj lake-facing room on the main floor. After entering, there are a few steps up into the room. It was a spacious room with a small nook off the entrance where the luggage was kept. I LOVED the view and found it a very comfortable hotel to stay in. What made the room so very special was the large window seat. I could really stretch out and nap! Excellent service, too, and very gracious staff. Nice amenities. Good restaurant.

One thing that you might want to know is that we had an open shower in the bathroom, which I know many people don't like. It's on the far end of the bathroom, so it's really not a problem as far as flooding the room. It did have a curtain, and I believe the floor was angled slightly so the water ran down the drain, but maybe that's my imagination! I don't know if any other rooms have regular tubs or showers, though. For us, it wasn't a problem, but you might just want to be aware of it if you do go to Jagat Niwas.

Hi progol,
Thanks so much for your very prompt response; I appreciate your advice and detailed info. We think that we are going to stay 2 nights in Jagat Niwas. Now I can't decide which type of room to take. Your description of your room, especially the large window seat, plus the fact that you LOVED the view, tip the scale toward that room, instead of a suite. My husband and I have to discuss it, so we can make our final decisions for this trip. It certainly sounds like it was spacious and comfortable, and that the staff and service were quite good too. Again, many thanks.

Hi, wk,
Any room with a view of the lake will be superb, so if your husband wants a suite, go for it! The view will be the same! I'd ask them if the suites came with window seats - I wouldn't be surprised if most rooms facing the lake have them.

Enjoy! I'm glad your adding Udaipur to your trip!

We also stayed there and loved it. The hotel is in a great location and we spent a great deal of time on the terrace dining room which has magnificant views of the lake. We didn't have a lake view (regrettably), but still enjoyed the hotel. The food there was delicious.

Thank you very much for all your responses. It seems that the Pichola suites (of which there are 5) have window seats. (They are called jharokhas). The lake view rooms have them also, and there are some in other areas of the property. I think that we may take a suite there for the 2 nights. I appreciate your details about the Jagat Niwas, very helpful. Yes, we are glad that we are planning to include Udaipur in our itinerary after all. Again, many thanks to all!

Wonderful, I'm sure you will enjoy it!

By the way, attached to the hotel is a travel agent. We used their driver, a very nice young man and another day his uncle - to do some trips outside the city. We were extremely pleased with both of them.

Again, thank you progol and dgunbug!

The Leela Palace was an absolutely WONDERFUL hotel. We were taken by boat across the lake to the hotel in the most lovely manner...I won't give details beacause it's such a nice surprise!
The service was top notch. The hotel is decorated beautifully and the grounds are gorgeous. There is also an entrance only 5 minutes walk to the market.
This hotel gets my highest recommendation.

My second favorite hotel during my November 2012 trip to India was in Jodhpur at Ratan Vilas. It's a Heritage Hotel, and a completely different experience than the Leela. The family that owns it and runs it is lovely.

Enjoy your trip to India!

Jagat Niwas Palace is a fine choice. Both the Lake Facing Suites & the Raj Rooms Lake Facing are good, ethnic and the former having better furnishings. The public areas of the hotel are small. The rooftop restaurant is quite romantic with fine views of the Lake Palace Hotel, Jagmandir Islands. The food is ok.

Thank you for your additional support and recommendation of Jagat Niwas. We plan to stay there for 2 of our nights in Udaipur. We are just about ready to commit to our India trip, after much consideration and advice from this forum. Planning a trip is always a large part of the fun for me. Thanks so much for all your help during our planning process.

That is really a beautiful city....

We stayed at the top room at Jagat Niwas and loved the hotel. Any room facing the water would be great IMO. The food is good there too.

Hanuman ghat has the best views,absolutely unbeatable IMO,look for addresses with Hanuman ghat,a lot of new places have come up.

Thank you everyone. We are finally all set with our arrangements and have committed to our India trip. We will be staying 2 nights at Jagat Niwas in a Pichola suite, and then for our last night we'll be at Udaivilas, where we plan on pretty much staying put that day and enjoying the amenities. We understand that a hotel change involves some time; but we have requested an early check-in time to maximize our time there. This will be a treat (R & R) for us, a lovely ending to our journey in India. Again, many thanks to all.

Dinner on the patio with entertainment was lovely.

Sounds wonderful, wk! I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay in Udaipur! I'm so glad you included it.

Hello,
In context of this discussion, does anyone here have a view of the Shiv Niwas Palace hotel? Seems to get positive write-ups in various places and they offer a pretty good deal for January. I am looking for civilized comfort (4-star vs 5, maybe), but not necessarily Taj-level luxury. Thanks.