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 Jiva Grande 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.