Luxury Hotels

FORT RAJWADA 
No. 1 Hotel Complex, Jodhpur-Barmer Link Road
Tel: 253233, 253533; Fax: 253733

The population in this desert fortress is 170,000. Which makes it the greenest hotel in Jaisalmer. (And they had to buy a whole nursery in Jaipur to bring it about.) The faunal variety is only one of the distinguishing features. Standing on a rise about 3 km along the Jodhpur road and built like a fortress it rivals the majesty of illustrious Sonar Kila. The interior décor has been conceptualised by famous opera set designer, Ms. Stephanie Engeln, which is noticeable at your first introduction to the hotel. The lobby studded with intricately carved original balconies and jalis as old as 450 years and the bust of a noted musician. The large colonnaded bar, seating about 85 guests, glowing in gold is not the only one in that hue. The Gold Suite is done up in the same shade with walls decorated in contrasting shades of green.

It is not only the riggings that make it stand out in Jaisalmer. There is a variety in choices for dining and entertainment facilities too, whatever your mood or interest.

• Multicuisine restaurant, poolside barbecue, swimming pool, health club, ayurvedic massages, billiard room, conference hall, beauty parlour, massage centre, village jeep and camel desert safaris, theme evenings, cultural show.

GORBANDH PALACE
1, Tourist Complex, Sam Road 
Tel: 253801-9; Fax: 253811 

It is another one of the green hotels in town. In fact, entering Gorbandh Palace is like finding an oasis in a parched land. The thick foliage of trees shades the front lawn and within, too, there is an abundance of green, velvety grass. Located on the Sam Road just 2 km from Gandhi Chowk, the hotel rises in terraces backed by a low hill. All the facilities are spaced out on these terraces that enhances the feeling of space. Like the lobby, restaurant, bar, conference hall, suites, are all placed in the front block. The swimming pool comes next. The guestrooms, again, are grouped in five blocks, each named after gems – Pearl, Coral, Aquamarine, Amber and Jade. While three of the blocks comprise of 16 rooms each, at two levels, Aquamarine and Amber have just eight and each block of rooms is widely spaced out along interconnecting corridors.

The spaciousness extends even to guestrooms. For example, each of the three suites – Suryodaya, Chandrodaya and Sandhya – is composed of four chambers, besides two bathrooms, a large drawing room, a sleeping chamber, a dressing area and an office room. And you get a different view of the surroundings from all of these. There are other ways, too, the hotel makes a statement. The range of toiletries include six herbal face and body lotions, including one for the tender skin of infants, a weighing machine and a complimentary supply of mineral water. The hotel also keeps a wheel chair for disabled guests! It all says, ‘We care’.

• Coffee shop, multi-cuisine restaurant, bar, poolside restaurant, swimming pool, conference hall, bakery, travel desk, credit cards.

HERITAGE INN
Sam Road
Tel: 250901-4; Fax: 251638

Spread over three acres, Heritage Inn is again built for you to enjoy the desert winter. While inside the only thing that reminds you of the desert is the low, long rocky hill at the back and the yellow sandstone that is the hallmark of all construction in Jaisalmer. The hotel is built around a central plaza of lush green lawns with rooms placed at the sides in two-room cottages. In the centre of the plaza stands Bageecha, the octagonal garden restaurant, with large plate-glass windows for clear view of the surroundings. In the cool evenings you also have the option of an open-air barbecue and buffet dinner just beside the restaurant.

For the health conscious, the seclusion of the swimming pool (just 4 feet deep) at the farthest end of the hotel is most inviting. Or you may want to choose the poolside Ayurvedic massage centre.

• Restaurant, bar, conference hall, swimming pool, credit cards.

Narain Niwas Palace
Malka Pol 
Tel: 252408, 251901; Fax: 252101 

• Two restaurants, bar, indoor swimming pool, sauna, gymnasium and credit cards.

HIMMATGARH PALACE
1, Ramgarh Road  
Tel: 252002-4; Fax: 252005

You can not beat the views from Himmatgarh Palace. Perched on a high shelf about a kilometre from the old city wall and just opposite the Vyas Chhatri (the royal cenotaphs), also called the sunset point, for the best sun set is seen from here. And the hotel has exploited its location very well. Be it the swimming pool, the sunset point terrace, or even, the restaurant, you have a grandstand view of Jaisalmer city and the fort. The Sunset Terrace is the venue for evening barbecue with the spectacle of sparking city in front of you.

The hotel blends admirably with the surroundings, the low sandstone structure partly resembling a desert fortress sprinkled with bougainvillea bushes. The luxury rooms (20) are built like turrets of a fort. Ten of these face the fort they emulate and the others the setting sun. Each comes with a marble bed on a white marble floor. All deluxe rooms also face the fort, though the two corner rooms (Nos. 208 and 220) have extra space for an additional sofa and table.

• Restaurant, bar. swimming pool, travel counter, credit cards.

Rang Mahal
Hotel Complex 5, Sam Road 
Tel: 250907-09; Fax: 251305, 251514

• Money exchange, credit cards, swimming pool, travel counter, camel rides, jeep safaris, banquets and conference, puppet show, e-mail and Internet.

Samdhani (RTDC)
Sam Sand Dunes

• Dining, desert experience.

Note: There is no electricity.

Moomal (RTDC)
Sam Road 
Tel: 252392; Fax: 256036

• Dining hall, bar, conference hall, safaris.

Heritage Hotels

JAWAHAR NIWAS PALACE 
Tel: 252208, 253540; Fax: 252288 

With sundown, Jawahar Niwas starts to glow like a single gem lying on a velvet sheet. Once the royal guesthouse standing amidst large grounds that was built at the turn of the 19th century, it has hosted a multitude of royalty and men of station. It still retains much of its regal charm – the three-arched durbar hall dominated by the large portrait of Maharawal Shalivahansingh (and other rulers), the luxury of the fine apartments of Narendra Mandal or the Chamber of Princes with uninterrupted view of the fort. The main building houses 14 original guestrooms, to which 8 more have been added. These too, however, retain the exotic ambience. Another addition to the facilities is a large dining hall and a swimming pool. A special feature of the hotel is the exotic traditional meal that can be arranged for at any of the exotic locations – Moolraj Sagar, Bada Bagh, Kannoi sand dunes, Deva Fort, Fort Palace in earlier Jaisalmer, Amar Sagar – accompanied by folk music and cultural shows.

• Restaurant, swimming pool, theme dinners, horse and camel carriage rides, travel counter, credit cards.

Rawal-Kot
Jodhpur-Jaisalmer Road
Tel: 251874, 252638; Fax: 250444

It is one of the latest entrants to the Taj group stable. Placed on top of a rise, a shade above and close to Fort Rajwada, it follows closely the style of old havelis of Rajasthan. So, you have a number of courtyards around which everything moves. And unlike peripheral landscape of the hotel each courtyard is aflush with soothing greenery of flowering plants and carpet grass. Elsewhere too, the period and ethnic atmosphere is created with old furniture placed strategically in corridors and the lobby, and fittings and furnishings of the rooms.

The recently constructed swimming pool presents another attractive aspect. Just a step below the restaurant, it provides a panoramic view of the Sonar Kila. And come sundown, you enjoy a stellar display created by the city and the fort which creditably rivals the one of the heavens from the same perch. That is why the restaurant also extends its seating to poolside, especially in the evening. The hotel carries its ethnic appeal a bit further with Chef Rakesh and Raju Singh in the kitchen serving some local delights, like mirchi-ke-tapole, palak patta papri (a starter), mans-ke-buthe (mutton tikka marinated in fruit), bajre-ka-sogra (sorghum bread), to name just a few.

• Restaurant cum bar, swimming pool, car hire, currency exchange, credit cards, folk music and dances, camel and jeep safari, tents for sand dunes on request.