Stays Get Groovy

Hotels are not just about swanky rooms, but more about immersive and artisanal experiences.

- Neha S. Bajpai

LOADED WITH FOLKLORES, customised experiences and refreshing new designs, boutique hotels across the hinterlands of Rajasthan are redefining luxury hospitality in India. While ornate palace hotels have always been a magnet for the well-heeled, these nondescript havelis and hunting lodges sing a desert tune never heard before.

Away from the hustle and bustle of big cities, Narendra Bhawan in Bikaner and its two sister hotels, the Laxmi Niwas Palace in Bikaner and the Suryagarh in Jaisalmer, promise all the comforts of a five-star hotel but with a twist. Modelled around the life of the last reigning maharaja of Bikaner (Narendra Singh), Narendra Bhawan is one royal residence that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The art-deco styled hotel welcomes guests in a pretty verandah-cum-library, scattered with Penguin classics, and no protocols whatsoever. An electric red piano, named Edith, sits at one end of the lounge done up with tribal artwork, some modern Indian furniture and beautiful Portuguese tiles. “Before we took charge of this place, it was all set to become a hospital,” says Siddharth Yadav, vice president, MRS Hospitality. “It is a four-storey  haveli with no unending vistas or water bodies, so we decided to make it all cheery and vibrant by bringing in the touch of its last royal occupant, who was fond of animals, literature, good music and great food.”