Mr & Mrs Smith

Mihir Garh

Jodhpur, India

Picture a sandcastle on the grandest scale and you're half way to imagining Mihir Garh boutique hotel, a fairytale fortress in Jodhpur's rugged Thar desert. Meaning 'Fort of the Sun', Mihir Garh dazzles with its lavish oversized suites, private plunge pools and pinch-me-quick wildlife encounters.

Need to know

• Rooms Nine suites.
• Rates Double rooms from $261.87 (INR14,500), excluding tax at 15.15 per cent.
  Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency (INR14,500), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
• More details Rates include all meals and soft drinks.
• Facilities Gardens, library with books and DVDs, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen TV, DVD player, minibar, Mountain Valley toiletries.
• Poolside The shapely infinity pool is surrounded by deep couches and cushioned sunloungers on a slate-tiled terrace. Desert-defying grounds flaunt fragrant champar (frangipani), bougainvillia and improbably lush lawns.
• Check-out 10am. Check-in, noon. Both are flexible subject to availability.
• Children Kids of all ages are welcome at Mihir Garh. Baby cots and beds for under fives are free. More...
• Eco-friendly Mihir Garh is smack-bang in the desert, so rainwater is harvested and those gardens are kept green with recycled water; the sun is put to good use too, with solar panels for electricity.
• Hotel closed As the summer months are scorchers here, Mihir Garh closes its doors during May and June.
• Also Smoking is allowed outside. Pets aren't permitted, so get your animal fix from the stables of mighty Marwari horses, safari-ready camels, wild deer and prancing gazelles that call this neighbourhood home.

Food and drink at Mihir Garh

• Hotel restaurant

  Lamp-lit by night, sun-filled by day, the elegant restaurant is decked out with high-backed rattan chairs, fresh-cut flowers and objets d'art. Chef Bahadur is a dab hand at regional Rajasthani, Indian and European cuisines, and he'll happily create a bespoke menu for you given a few hours' notice. Specialities include raan (spiced-crusted roast lamb), chicken pilaf and gatta, a luscious yoghurt-based curry with chickpea dumplings.

• Dress code Pared-back classics are the way to go. Throw a wrap around your shoulders for mid-winter meals.
• Top table Climb the winding staircase to the rooftop terrace for sunset drinks followed by a private dinner à deux.
• Last orders The kitchen stays open until 11pm; the bar keeps pouring until the last guest heads to bed.
• Room service Crowd-pleasing Indian and western snacks are available 24 hours a day.
• Hotel bar

  Sip on a Kingfisher beer, Indian sauvignon blanc or ice-cold gin and tonic on the poolside terrace while you take in the nightly performance of live folk music.

Mihir Garh Mali Nathji ka Dhora, Thar Desert, Jodhpur, 306421