Bhanwar Vilas Palace

We were very warmly welcomed at Bhanwar Vilas Palace which is a lovely old palace. We only stayed 1 night during our tour of Rajasthan in December 2024, but enjoyed an excellent dinner and hearty breakfast in the large, richly decorated dining room. The service is really excellent. Our room was large, very clean and quiet, with rather old-fashioned bathroom fittings. We had the opportunity to chat with the prince in the evening around a brazier. It was a very pleasant moment. With a Bhanwar Vilas Palace employee, we visited the magnificent city palace, one of the oldest in the country, and the adjoining temple.

Just a one night stay here, as part of a group tour. Lovely old hotel but very dated The rooms are huge! Shower didn’t work, but we still had a nice time and the local town and temple was a very exciting experience The Maharaja and the prince made an appearance, but we didn’t get to speak to them

What a magnificent stay! I arrived to a welcoming staff, and a historical, welcome with a drink, flower garland and Bindi. My room was fantastic. It was the suite and originally the private suite of the current owners grandparents. Speaking of the owners, I was able to spend 20 minutes in conversation with Miss Singh, she spoke, the history made some offers as to additional visits that unfortunately, I was not able to participate in due to my schedule and she was genuinely interested in the details of my trip around Rajasthan. She provided information about some of the places that I was going to stay in on my tour. Additionally she was very visible, making sure that all of the guests were taken care of, and evening meal preparations. All while showing the family living room full of historic artifact, reviewing the homework of her daughter, and keeping a very young son out of mischief. I had hoped in all of my planning to visit historic properties such as this palace, and to meet with the owners many who are the current generation to live and work in a property like this, came to fruition in this particular stay stay. The grounds were beautiful, the meals perfect, and the staff skilled and attentive. It was fantastic.

We did a 3-week trip of North and South India 24th Jan to 16th Feb and stayed in numerous hotels. Our stay at Bhanwar Vilas Palace was our favourite. We loved the two nights we were here and enjoyed the history of this big estate. The initial welcome was warm and the service of the staff was excellent. They were very eager to ensure we had a good stay and were exceptionally friendly. We were given a tour of the estate and enjoyed seeing the animals, farmland, and the women's workshop. The charity are doing an excellent job of giving work to local women in the area. The horses were beautiful - magnificent, healthy, well-cared for animals. We stayed in The Maharajah's Suite which was a real treat. The food was good. Seeing the photos on the wall spoke of a bygone era. We enjoyed having a drink on the balcony and soaking up the sun. There were only two negatives - the first was the noise from a wedding in the early hours of the morning, but this was nothing to do with the hotel - we just happened to have done our trip during wedding season! The second, the plumbing was a bit of a challenge in trying to get a regular flow of water. That said, it wasn't until we got to our 4th or 5th hotel when a very helpful lady explained the Indian way of showering. As this was our first trip to India we didn't know! But these two minor things are pretty insignificant to the overall very positive experience of staying at this hotel.

Very nice restored rooms with views across the grounds. Poor first impression when we were told they hadn’t known when to expect us (we hadn’t been asked) and we should have booked directly (mentioned a couple of times). The building complex is very impressive with a small farm, horses and an organic kitchen garden. Lunch was good, we also opted for dinner due to no other local options, but unfortunately there is no menu - it is buffet based. This may suit groups well, however for 3 of us it didn’t suit our tastes, we would have much rather just ordered something we actually wanted, which would have also reduced a lot of waste. The price was also high. New bathroom was great, although shower started hot but soon ran cold. Upon leaving we hadn’t realised breakfast wasn’t included (our oversight on booking), which we would have not had, if we had known. This again was a buffet with many items we didn’t want, at a high cost, then added to our bill. As mentioned in other reviews, although a special setting and surroundings, we unfortunately left feeling unhappy with the lack of communication and taken advantage of. It would have been preferable to have been told options and costs upfront, or have some kind of paper work explaining this in the room as to what is included or not.

We stayed herein for one day and were the only guests at this Time. We got an incredible huge Suite full of original Art deco furniture. It was great! Because it was christmas Time the whole family of the Maharadscha was there. The were extremely friendly and welcoming and invited us to have dinner with them, so we had a wonderful evening. Of course, modern hotels with modern amendities have their advantages as well, but if you look for a really special place with authentic historical flair, this is the place to be! Beides, if you stay herein, they show you around the premises (fantastisch old cars) and give you a tour around their incredible City Palace in Karauli. After the supercrowed Jaipur Amber Fort it was just great to have a privat tour like this. In the end, you could Attendorn a service in the temple, weich was a real ceremony instand of the fake ceremonies you get in Puskhar. All in all: Amazing experience!