Amanbagh
Style Modern Mughal palace
Setting Rural Rajasthan
With a name that means 'peaceful garden', Amanbagh boutique hotel is a whisper-quiet retreat on the outskirts of Jaipur, Rajasthan's flamboyant capital. Rose-tinted walls, domed cupolas and shaded courtyards echo the majesty of the Mughal era, offering a present-day palace stay that'll make you feel like royalty.
Need to know
- Rooms 39 suites, including 16 Pool Pavilions.
-
Rates
Double rooms from $600.00, excluding tax at 10 per cent.
Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency ($600), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
- More details Breakfast is an extra US$21 a person, but Smith members get it for free.
- Facilities Day spa, gym, boutique, free WiFi throughout, well-stocked library of books, CDs and board games. In rooms: CD/DVD player, minibar, Forest Essentials toiletries. TVs and iPod docks are available on request.
- Poolside At the heart of the hotel is a 33-metre sea-green marble pool and a separate wading pool. The water temperature is kept cool in summer and warm in winter for blissful swims year round. Take a dip, then flop onto one of the eucalypt-shaded sunloungers.
- Check-out Noon, but flexible subject to availability and a charge of 50 per cent of the room tariff. Check-in, 12pm.
- Children All ages are welcome. Baby cots are available for free and extra beds for older children cost US$100 a night. More...
- Hotel closed The hotel is closed each year from sweltering mid-May to mid-July.
- Also Unwind with Amanbagh's signature full-body massage – the Maharani for Mrs Smith and the Maharaja for Mr Smith – in the calm couple's treatment room. Healing therapies and traditional henna body art are also on offer.
Food and drink at Amanbagh
-
Hotel restaurant
The effortlessly elegant restaurant is located on the ground floor of the main building, and features double-height ceilings and Mughal-inspired arched windows. Seating overflows onto a breezy terrace that looks across the lawns and pool. The innovative multi-culti menu offers a fresh take on Indian and Western dishes, with much of the produce sourced from the hotel's organic kitchen garden.
- Dress code Anything goes, but cool and floaty cotton and linens are your best bet for beating the heat. A pashmina or cashmere throw for the cooler months (December–March) won't go astray.
- Top table For all-out romance, bypass the restaurant tables and ask to have a private candlelit dinner served in the gardens, on the Roof Terrace, or in the ruins of an old chhatri (elevated domed pavilion).
- Last orders 11pm; beyond that, a 24-hour menu caters to any midnight cravings.
- Room service Available around the clock, so you can dial up breakfast, mains, desserts and everything in between.
-
Hotel bar
With its graceful emerald-green marble bar and mesmerising Rajasthani musicians, the Salon Bar opposite the restaurant is a stylish spot for pre- and post-prandial sips.
Also worth knowing
- Weddings This property is suitable for weddings. More...
Amanbagh Ajabgarh, Alwar, Jaipur
Join us – it's free!
Sign up now for exclusive hotel offers, money back on every booking, and Smith extras (like the one below) whenever you book with us. more
Smith extra at Amanbagh
Daily breakfast for two
In the know
Our favourite rooms
The Aman brief of understated, handsome furnishings is offset with refined Indian flourishes, including marble floors, carved wood panels, silver lanterns and intricate archways. All of the suites have king-size beds, private terraces, vaulted ceilings and enormous bathtubs (they take almost half-an-hour to fill) carved from a single slab of Udaipur green marble. We love Terrace Haveli Suite 38 for its regal balcony and generous terrace overlooking the pool and gardens, and Pool Pavilion 20 for its private marble pool, lush gardens and river views.
Packing tips
With walking tours, camel treks and village jaunts galore, a pair of decent shoes are a must, but your runners ain't going to cut it come cocktail hour, so pack something suitably slinky, too. Be sure to leave plenty of room for your Jaipur loot, including silver jewellery, lavish fabrics and vivid blue pottery.
Also
Roll up your yoga mat for an early morning sun salutation or meditation session at the ruins of Bhangarh. According to local folklore, this eery ancient city was abandoned after being cursed by the court magician.
