Utter Bliss. Review on Samode Haveli, Jaipur

Stayed at the Samode Havelli back end of August last year (2003) we made two separate visits with in the space of 6 odd days ? With me where my wife and two children (8 & 5). Check In/Out We arrived after a rather long car journey from Agra check in was efficient on both occasions staff very helpful and generated genuine warmth. Check out was the same as check quick and efficient.

General Appearance.

The hotel itself used to be a merchants villa which must have been 150 �� years old and located within the pink city and the drive through the pink city is lovely, although most of the pink city could do with another coat of pink paint. The hotel is reached by going up a few side roads where you see the hustle and bustle of Indian life.

The entrance looked a bit daunting a rather steep incline which didn?t consist of steps but a ramp which had ripples in it similar to rumble strips you find on road in the UK (where I live). The ramp had to be climbed with care, and with extreme care in wet conditions ? I didn?t notice any disabled entrances. Once at the top of the ramp you go through a short corridor that is decorated with Rajastani type ornaments etc.

This leads you to a square with a lawn in the centre directly in front of you on the other side of the square is a beautiful veranda type are which just oozed old world charm days of the raj etc we spent quite a lot of time in this veranda just relaxing with a cup of tea or the odd beer, in the evenings a puppet show is set up. reception was a little cramped but once again it oozed old world charm.

The pool area was excellent a large sized pool with a smaller children?s pool attached to it with a jaqcuzi sandwiched in-between. One side of the pool there were large king-size bed sized area under cover for you to relax festooned with pillows etc beats your pool side recliners for sure there were 3 of these beds on that side of the pool.

The locker rooms that are located on one side of the pool were excellent much better than my local health clubs! The other side of the pool had a collection of tables and chairs, behind the tables and chairs was a large garden with seating for you to relax in and take in the tranquillity.

Rooms On our first stay we were put in a double room that had 2 double four-poster type beds and were nice and comfy. A decent sized TV with access to satellite channels. Wardrobe space was ok, there was a relaxer type chair which you could recline right back in very comfy indeed and a desk and chair. The room had a ceiling fan and a ho-le in the wall type AC unit which looked a little out of place and spoilt some of the old world charm the room had. The bathroom was ok the only down side was it had no bathtub even tough there was plenty of space for one.

Our second stay we were put in a suite absolutely superb as with the other room two double four-poster type beds a coffee table, couple of armchairs a desk and chair, same type of TV set as before and disappointly another ugly ho-le in the wall type AC unit which I feel was quite up to cooling a room of that size, once again celling fans in both portions of the room and in the main area there was a beautiful old style pedestal type fan. The bathroom was well a pointed and really big which had me a little puzzled why there wasn?t a bathtub. Both rooms really oozed the old world type charm you could have thought you really was back in the early 18th century had you taken away the TV set and the rather ugly looking AC units.

Room Service / Housekeeping. Housekeeping was fine everything was cleaned and tidied to a very good standard. Room service was quick and efficient food arrived in good time and was tasty. The waiters were super. Restaurant / Waiters etc There is only one restaurant in the hotel which caters for all meals, I keep harping on about the old world charm but the dining room had it in spades ornately decorated walls and ceilings with old style ornaments lamps etc I?m no antique expert so I couldn?t tell the difference if they were reproductions or the real thing.

Breakfast was buffet style, but what ever we needed the waiters brought over to us, it consisted of the usual fare you would find in most hotels. But us being Punjabis we enjoyed Paranthas (chapattis stuffed with vegetables cooked with generous helpings of ghee) for breakfast, we asked if we could have paranthas but were told they weren?t on the menu but the waiter had a word with the chef and we enjoyed lovely paranthas with a beautiful tasting masala tea yummy! We had one evening meal in the hotel that consisted of barbecued items of meat and vegetables, made a pleasant change from the pizzas we had on the children?s insistence at the local pizza hut.

We also had drinks and snacks in the veranda and poolside, which was very relaxing and tranquil utter bliss coupled with the waiters who were superb and who I can only think were senior management or the owners who took time to sit with you to ask if things were ok and engage in pleasant conversation with you, when we arrive for the second of our stays we were welcomed like old friends, We had a fantastic relaxing stays with them.