Staying in Udaipur? Stay here (if only for a couple of nights) (Udai Kothi Hotel (Udaipur, India))

Member Name: whiskmite

Product:	Udai Kothi Hotel (Udaipur, India)
Date:	11/02/09 (160 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful hotel, breathtaking rooftop pool

Disadvantages: Not many

We had planned our holiday to India to coincide with my birthday, and I really fancied the idea of staying in boutique hotel, and as my birthday was when we were in Udaipur, I started looking into slightly different hotels in Udaipur.

I looked around, in the Lonely Planet, Rough Guide etc, and I found a great website with lots of hotels that looked amazing - some pricier than others - in India, Thailand, and lots of other places. Udai Kothi caught my eye as the rooftop pool looked spectacular on the photos on its website. After reading a mixed bag of reviews on tripadvisor (some reviews said the food was average and that it wasn't worth the price. I thought that it looked amazing and decided we'd risk it!) I decided that £70-£80 wasn't a bad price to pay for a pretty amazing-looking hotel as a bit of a treat, as every other hotel we stayed in was priced between £3-£15.

The booking process wasn't too difficult - I emailed them, they replied saying they'd hold my booking for a week while I sent my credit card details and they would take a deposit (I think it was one night's stay). No problems. I printed the confirmation they sent me off, and also printed my credit card statement off online in case there was any problem, which there wasn't. Just to be safe I emailed again to confirm a week before we were due to arrive.

We arrived at approximately 10 am after getting a night train from Delhi (an experience I mentioned in my review of Udaipur - click on my profile if you want to read it!) and I wasn't feeling great. The hotel was about a 10-15 minute auto rickshaw ride from Udaipur train station. I still remember the immense feeling of relief when I walked into the air-cooled foyer to check in. The hotel is really beautiful. They have gorgeous antique furnishings, tiled floors, dark wood chairs, brightly coloured rugs, wall hangings and cushions. As you walk into reception you can see the gardens, which the owners are rightly proud of. The grass is a beautiful deep green - the grass I usually saw in India was a slightly burnt brown due to the hot climate and sensible desire to preserve water. However, when you see grass as green as this it is hard not to admire it! There were lovely chairs and tables to sit at outside as well as beautiful brightly coloured flowers. I was feeling ill, tired and dirty when I walked in, and I immediately felt better (although I had the inevitable embarrassment of being unshowered, slept-on-night train and wearing yesterday's clothes in a beautiful place with immaculately dressed clean people!).

Unfortunately our room wasn't ready. This was our fault as they did tell us check in was from 12 am, and we were two hours early. They did let us leave our luggage in a safe room, grab some clothes and use the pool showers and rooftop pool. I was still feeling ill but this sounded lovely, so up we went. As we came out of the stairs onto the pool area, I can genuinely say that the view took my breath away. The pool area was immaculate, there were gorgeous cushioned, shaded window seats all around (one corner one in particular caught my eye!) and you had amazing views of Lake Pichola and the landmarks of Udaipur. The waiter service was great, despite us being the only people using the pool area. They didn't crowd us but always seemed to be there as we needed something.

When we were told our room was ready, they lead us down to the first floor to a beautiful, huge room. The decor was really pretty - not necessarily how I'd decorate my bedroom, but very in keeping with the style of the hotel. The bed was a four poster with curtains, and all the other furniture was dark wood. Our room had two window seats, perfect for reading! We really were very impressed indeed although I suppose our accommodation in India up to then had consisted of a very very scummy double room in a hostel in Delhi, where the corridors didn't even have floors - they had gutter-type grilles, (in fairness we only paid £3 so what could we expect??!) and a bunk each in an overnight train. The bathroom attached was OK - fairly standard. I had read some people had water trouble but we didn't - everything worked OK.

We thought that for our two days here we would take it easy, and eat at the restaurant on the roof. To be honest, I can't really comment on the food - I was still feeling ill and hardly ate any. I managed some of the tandoori chicken, and some of my boyfriend's lamb karachi, both of which were very nice! The beers were nice too! The ambience was lovely - you could hear a call to prayer from a Mosque as well as a Hindu temple.

The bed was nice and comfy, and we slept well during our time there. I didn't hear much road noise despite being on the road side of the hotel. All in all Udaipur was a much quieter city than Delhi and Hanuman Ghat (where Udai Kothi is situated) was a nice quiet area. It wouldn't have been far to walk into the centre but we didn't bother, we thought we'd do the city when we were in our second hotel, we thought we'd just enjoy being at Udai Kothi.

We spent the entire day there on my birthday, just chilling out by the pool and enjoying the beautiful surroundings with cold beers and hot sun. I can honestly say that it was one of the best birthdays I've had, and a lot of that was due to the lovely hotel we were staying at.

Summary: A great place to stay for a bit of luxury without paying through the roof