We stayed one night at the Samode Palace, part of a large party, towards the end of a 5 day tour of India. Stunningly beautiful hotel, with rooms that appear at first sight to be really luxurious. Friendly, polite and helpful staff. But overall the hotel was disappointing. Service at lunchtime was excruciatingly slow - 45 minutes to produce a banana lassi! Our room had no hot water, nor was any hot water forthcoming after we told the reception desk about this, despite a promise that we would have it within 10/15 minutes. Moreover, over half our party ended up with serious stomach problems following dinner, which made for a very uncomfortable 5 hour return journey to Delhi the next day- all right, this is difficult to avoid in India, but a hotel of Samode's standard should make more effort to ensure the hygiene of its food.

Fabulous Heritage palace hotel. The original palace rooms remain stunning to visit, a tour was freely offered. The decorations (gold/mirrors/colours) were the best we had seen in the Golden Triangle. Really jaw-dropping. The staff clearly enjoy working there and serve you well. It is beautifully maintained. Food is perfectly good with plenty of choice. Our suite was very good, large and stunning bathroom. We were actually offered an upgrade as we originally tried to book here but they were full. So we booked into the sister hotel Samode Bahg (Garden) which is a tented complex surrounding beautiful gardens and waterways. Lovely though it was, with equally welcoming staff, we were delighted by the upgrade and it lived up to its promise. It is perhaps a place to only stay one or two nights as there isn't a lot going on but it is a worthy oasis.

As we arrived at Samode Palace we were happy to be getting away from the hustle and bustle of Delhi a small village gives way to a large and beautiful set in the mountains. At check in we were informed that both swimming pools were out of service. Given that we were about 60km from Jaipur this was not welcome news.

We were offered free transfers to the Samode Bagh a sister hotel 15 minutes away to use their pool. We negotiated a discount on our room rate until the pool was fixed however the food nor the pool at the Samode Bagh are worth the trip. The main pool at the Samode is great when working. We did not have an opportunity to use the rooftop infinity pool as it was out of service.

We had booked a Deluxe Suite for the first two nights and a Royal Suite for the third night. The deluxe suites were nice with a nice bed, a seating area, a balcony and a nice bathroom. The Royal Suite was of a very high standard and included multiple rooms and a large plasma TV.

Food at the restaurant was good and after speaking with the chef we were able to negotiate off menu meals covering local specialities. Otherwise, there is the standard buffet option for breakfast and dinner. Some of the staff in the restaurant are great and went well out of their way to ensure that we enjoyed ourselves.

To mirror some of the other comments on the site the some of the best parts of the hotel are off limits to paying guests and instead are solely for the use of tour groups who are shipped in each evening. The hotel is decorated in flowers for them, they are each given a traditional welcome. Much entertainment is put on for these tour groups whilst the paying guests are left with a small restaurant area to eat in and a small balcony from which to catch a glimpse of the fireworks.

This very much gives the impression of being treated as a second class citizen and is the sole reason that would prevent me from returning. This hotel needs to appreciate the paying guests at least as much as the coach loads of tour groups.

Stayed here 2 days after the Samode Haveli, and our expectation were at the maximum level as we had such a great experience at the Haveli that we were afraid of being disappointed... no need to worry, this property is astonishing!

We have been going from surprise to surprise during the 2 days, our room -deluxe suite- was huge and absolutely fabulous (we had a fountain inside the room and direct access to one of the huge terraces of the palace).

There are 2 pool (the old, mosaic one -which was under restauration when we were there and a new "infinity" one, that seems to fall into the mountains) the restaurant is very good and has a very insteresting "barbecue" selection, breakfast was delicious... everything is perfect!!!

We had a massage at the SPA, that was very good too (purely ayurvedic)

Finally, the palace itself can be visited in every corner and is much more interesting and well preserved that many things we have seen (definitely more interesting that the Amber fort in Jaipur!)

Looking forward to go back...