Taj Lake Palace (A Taj Hotel)

This is an iconic hotel that you have to stay at when in Udaipur. Beautiful location and excellent views. They have the Bond film Octopus*sy playing nonstop on one of the hotel TV channels in case you forget where you are! We stayed in one of the suites and it really was a special experience. Lots of luxury and fine details. I will however rate the restaurants and bars separately which weren't so good.....

We booked for a royal honeymoon offer and were delighted with evverything that we experienced within the property. Hospitality was outstanding and it definitely made us feel like true royals at various occasions during our stay. I would like to make special mention of Bagh from pool area, Neemisha from reception and Manish from jharoka were the people who kept us gud company and were sheer professionals when it came to hospitality/service. The only thing that annoyed me a bit was 'during our check in, I was asked and briefed about my entire package/ arrangements in front of my partner which included spa, special dinning, flowers etc which I thought would come as surprise for her one after another ather then letting her know everything at one GO.

Have just returned from India, and stayed two nights at the divine Taj Lakes Palace. The setting is perfect set in the background of the Aravali Hills. When we arrived we were ferried across to Palace with welcome drink. The room or Suite blew my mind did not want to leave huge canopied bed in golden yellow every facility to hand and stupendous views from the balcony. We were a small group travelling with Travel Scope India. The hotel staff are amazing so friendly and nothing too much trouble. Coffee and choice of teas in room which I always appreciate, as so many do not give this complimentary. Lake Pichola so pretty with old palaces surrounding the hills. This Palace was built in 1754 and has a feeling so serene, can not fault and hope to return Namaste

OK -- So, this is the Taj Lake Palace, right? A pretty iconic hotel, with one heck of a reputation to live up to. Here are some of my experiences... some good... others, not so much. Firstly, Udaipur was the most anticipated stop during my nearly one-month visit to India. I was there for approximately a week, which was split between Devi Garh, on the outskirts, and the city itself. The evening before checking-in, my driver took me up to the Monsoon Palace for a view -- a beautiful one -- over the entirety of Udaipur. Pretty impressive and my first glimpse of the Lady of the Lake. It was a stirring introduction, to say the least. We got off to a perhaps too-early start the following morning and arrived at the jetty at approx 11A. Reception at the jetty -- and again, at the Lake Palace, itself -- was pretty impressive, as expected. The check-in staff was courteous and professional. Now, I know most attitudes/opinions about smoking. And, being one of the "scorned minority" I am ENTIRELY UNDERSTANDING... sensitive to them... and, conscientious. I also know that smoking rooms are not as readily available as those that are carbon-neutral ;-) Therefore, given my somewhat early arrival and desire for a room that I, personally, would be comfortable in, I was fully prepared for a short wait for reception to accommodate me. The desk manager, at the time, informed me that my agent had not requested a smoking room... and, in fact, repeated it a few times... which made me feel as if I was at fault for their difficulty in locating an acceptable room, quickly. I believe I was extremely patient and nice... insisted that there was no hurry... and was more than happy to wait things out in the lobby. After not too much time had passed, reception indicated that they had found a room -- an upgrade actually -- and escorted me to it. I was delighted upon entering and was especially happy with the fact that it opened onto a nice balcony. Only shortly after occupying the room, things became a little strange. I poured a drink and stepped outside for a look. The room (#143 if I recall correctly) was on the second floor on the backside (sunset side) of the hotel, which was fine. However, immediately next to it, was another room used strictly for storage -- unused deck/patio furniture stuffed in the room and on its own balcony. Pretty unsightly. That really would not have been an issue, had I not noticed that this particular area of the hotel was also used as a staff entrance and for the GARBAGE boats to arrive/depart! Now -- I know many of you non-smokers are probably laughing and saying he got what he deserved -- But, I fully disagree. The Lake Palace is not an inexpensive option and I believe that if the property offers smoking rooms, all should be of the same standard / quality. I called the front desk and they promptly showed me 3 alternative rooms. One of which, worked out just fine, and I was relocated. It bears mentioning that I am not complainer, and I can't recall any time in the past 15 years when I have asked for a room-switch, anywhere, least of all at a property like the Lake Palace. I was happy to just let the experience go, but was sort of shocked to discover, later in the day, that seemingly EVERYONE knew about my room change... from the front desk staff... to the jetty attendants... to the GM for God's sake, who I shared a boat ride with, and was under the assumption that I changed rooms TWICE!! Very peculiar and a little disturbing to have such a little thing -- that I made no fuss over -- broadcast to and known by everyone -- And, yes -- Embarrassing too. A part from this, the experience was fine. The hotel is lovely, the common areas are gorgeous, service was prompt and the food was very good. But to be totally honest, it wasn't measurably more so than what one would expect or would be delivered by a rank-in-file Ritz Carlton or 4 Seasons. The history is nice, and the location in the lake is most definitely unique, but I just wasn't blown away, as I expected to be. In my personal opinion,Taj Lake Palace's much smaller and intimate sister-property (Taj Nadesar Palace) in Varanasi was FAR superior. See my review -- Different folks -- Different strokes, I guess. Udaipur itself is a mixed bag. I found the portion of the city around Fateh Sagar Lake to be much more interesting than the extremely tourist-oriented district on Lake Pichola with endless touts -- and I mean ENDLESS! Boy, that wears one down. The City Palace is lovely, but nothing much else of cultural significance that I could find to enjoy. So net/net -- a very good experience. But for me, not exceptional -- with some unfortunate occurrences that likely colored my opinion. Such is life...

From boarding at the dock, getting on the boat to get to the hotel, we were welcomed with love red rose petals as we entered the lobby. It so wonderful that they actually allowed me to have the roses again. There is something very magical about this palace and you can go back in time and truly imagine what it must have been like to live like royalty. We were very lucky that the lake was high. I've heard that there are times when the lake is low and you can't travel to the hotel. It was so beautiful and sumptuous inside. I didn't want to leave. We even had a private massage on a boat. It was grand. The restaurant was wonderful as well.