Rajasthan, India

Dev Shree

Rates per night from$285.14

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (INR20,468.75), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Dev Shree Photos

Style

Lady of the lake

Setting

Lake-toting gardens

Explore

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Dev Shree – a Mewar marvel in the Rajasthan hills – is owned by the royal family of the Deogarh thikana (estate), so stays here are truly regal. This new-build haveli delivers bygone glamour minus the dust and fuss: it’s relaxed, refined and unabashedly friendly. View-graced verandahs, marble floors, perfumed gardens and gem-bright colours add up to a hotel that’s as noble as its owners. Forget formality: guests are cooked for, taken for tea by the lake, taught about the local flora and fauna and encouraged to treat Dev Shree as their home (boy, what a home).

Smith Extra

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A couple’s massage with local therapists

Facilities

Photos Dev Shree facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Seven suites.

Check–Out

12.30pm, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 1pm.

Rates

Double rooms from $285.14 (INR20,469), excluding tax at 28 per cent.

More details

Rates usually include all meals and soft drinks.

Also

If you’d like a yoga session on the rooftop or by the lake, just let the owners know. Massages with local therapists can be arranged on request.

At the hotel

Gardens; verandah overlooking Ragho Sagar lake; central courtyard designed for socialising; kitchen gardens; kitchen; free WiFi throughout. In rooms: local bath products.

Our favourite rooms

All of Dev Shree’s rooms were born equal – there are seven suites to pick from – but if you like the idea of direct access to the garden, opt for room 2, 4, 5 or 6; rooms 1, 3 and 7 have cosy little gokhras (alcoves).

Poolside

There’s a peaceful pool shaded by palm trees, abutting the lake and spying on Gokul Fort. It’s large enough to notch up laps, should you be so inclined.

Packing tips

Don’t weigh your case down with shoes – you’ll want to pad around barefoot on those sun-warmed marble floors. Dev Shree doesn’t serve alcohol, but guests can bring their own.

Also

In the winter evenings, a bonfire is hosted in the central courtyard.

Children

Over-5s are welcome (though the hotel is really designed for adults). Free cots are on-loan if you need them.

Food and Drink

Photos Dev Shree food and drink

Top Table

It’s a sociable, family-style set up – the elegant dining room has a large, central dining table and six small tables that seat four apiece. Two of these small tables are tucked away in an alcove, if you prefer privacy.

Dress Code

If you’ve ever fancied sporting a kurta, now’s your chance. Anything goes really, but it’s nice to spruce up a bit at night, given the dining room’s sparkling chandeliers and traditional elegance. Come pashmina-clad in winter.

Hotel restaurant

Dev Shree’s dining arrangement continues its home-from-home philosophy: meals are included in rates and designed around guests’ tastes. Instead of a formal menu, expect daily-changing dishes that highlight home-grown produce and showcase local flavours. The local chef – Mitha Lal – has been trained in Indian cookery by the owner’s mum; there’s also a tandoor specialist on hand. We loved the Rajasthan dal, baati (unleavened bread), laal maas mutton (a fiery meat curry, traditional to the region) and sugary carrot halwa. Lunch includes western options; dinner is local-style (thalis a–go–go). On hot summer nights, dinner is held on the roof terrace under the twinkling stars, in sight of the shimmering lake.

 

Hotel bar

Dev Shree doesn’t have a liquor license, so boozehounds will want to come equipped with their favourite poisons (there’s no corkage fee). With a bit of notice, the hotel can source local wine, spirits and beer. Pipe up any time you fancy an on-the-house soft drink (a zingy lime soda, perhaps), tea or coffee – you can enjoy it in the grounds, in one of the squashy sofas or in the cosy dining room.

Last orders

Timings aren’t strict, but breakfast is usually on offer between 7.30am and 10.30am, lunch is 12.30pm–2.30pm and dinner kicks off with soft drinks and little bites served sociably around 7.30pm.

Room service

None, but guests are considered family, so don’t be shy to ask if you’d like a little snack between meals.

Location

Photos Dev Shree location
Address
Dev Shree
Palla Bagh
Rajasthan
India

Planes

Udaipur Airport is 95 miles away (a two-hour drive). Hotel transfers can be arranged (INR8,000).

Automobiles

Udaipur city is a two-hour drive. The hotel has onsite parking (you might be more relaxed if you leave the driving to the locals, mind).

Worth getting out of bed for

If you ask nicely, a member of the family will take you to a local cave temple or a pretty lake, where you can have tea together while the sun sets. Back at boutique base camp, borrow bikes and wheel around the gardens, keeping your eyes peeled for the bountiful birdlife. Splash around the swimming pool and perfect your downward dog by the lake, or watch the chef preparing one of his dishes in the kitchen. Go on a breathtaking rural train ride through the countryside, or hop on a Jeep safari and spot leopards in the wilderness. Take a daytrip to the Jain temples at Ranakpur, or the mighty forts at Kumbhalgarh and Chittorgarh. Closer to ‘home’, explore the beautiful village of Deogarh, making sure to spend some time with the welcoming locals.

Local restaurants

Dev Shree is a remote rural property, with a dearth of near neighbours. On request, the hotel can arrange meals of local cuisine cooked in the nearby village. 

Reviews

Photos Dev Shree reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this hillside hotel near Deogarh and unpacked their Rajputana paintings and Jaipur jewellery, a full account of their rural break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Dev Shree in Rajasthan…

Dev Shree means ‘divine blessing’. That’s quite a name to live up to, but this heavenly haveli definitely doesn’t disappoint. Its owners – the ruling royal family of the Deogarh thikana – built the hotel under the guidance of their guru. The family have been hoteliers for years and it shows: the architecture and interiors are beautiful; the hospitality, heartfelt. Not many places take their guests out on trips to the local lakes and temples to enjoy a cup of steaming tea (and an impromptu lesson in the area’s diverse flora and fauna) at sunset; not many hotels treat guests to lime sodas and delicious, home-style Indian cuisine. But Dev Shree is special. Each of its seven rooms is decorated with gem-bright splashes of colour; there are airy courtyards with cane and Campaign-style furniture; the glittering dining room combines contemporary style with traditional, regional flourishes. You’re encouraged to treat Dev Shree like your home; you’ll leave wishing it was.

The Guestbook

Whenever you book a stay at a Smith hotel or villa, we’ll invite you to review it when you get back. Read what other Smith members had to say in Dev Shree’s Guestbook below.
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