Umaid Bhawan Palace
There’s no shortage of palace hotels in India but Jodhpur’s Umaid Bhawan Palace is one of the finest – extravagant even by maharaja standards and unique for its Art Deco details.
Hovering above the desert capital of Jodhpur, Umaid Bhawan Palace is a grand yet stylish sandstone monument. Stay in what once was, and in part still is, a royal residence, with period furniture, priceless antiques and artefacts throughout. Meander through the landscaped gardens, dip in the cool blue retreat of the pools or reinvigorate in the J Wellness Circle spa.
The palace’s pink buff sandstone was chiselled and interlocked without the use of mortar – something to ponder when standing beneath its lofty 135-foot-high central dome.