This is our third trip to Udiapur, called the Venice of
India, because of its 5 lakes. One of the most famous hotels in the world
dominates Udiapur. It is the Taj Lake Palace Hotel. It sits in the middle of
the Lake Pichola and thus is only approachable via boat. It is 350 years old
and until the mid 60’s was the summer home of the Maharana
(term used for a Maharaja in Mewar) of Udiapur.
The palace because it was located on the water, was cool in
the very hot Indian summer. It is probably no more than 500 yards from the main
palace, but what the hell, if you are a Maharana you can say build me a Summer
Palace in the middle of the lake.
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| View of the Lake Palace Hotel from the Air |
We always wondered why we hadn’t stayed there, so this trip
we decided to give it a go. We have always heard that the service was
fantastic, but the rooms were small. We often stay at the Taj Hotels and they
always treat us wonderfully. We boarded the boat to take us across the water to
the hotel. After checking in (they knew everything about us, it was extremely
simple) one of the employees walked us around the hotel to familiarize us with
the facility. Lastly she took us to our room. It is an enormous suite. We have
a huge private patio on a floor above us. It is all quite amazing. We decided
we wouldn’t even leave the hotel today, we just enjoyed the facility including
a heritage walk around the property, a traditional Indian Dance performance
followed be Champagne.
One sad point about the hotel that we have never experienced
anywhere else. We thought since we were staying here, we could invite John over
for dinner (he is staying at a different hotel). It turns out that you cannot
bring guests. The hotel facilities are reserved for the guests only.
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