My partner and I just returned from a wonderful three night stay at Rajvilas on our tour of India and can't say enough about this beautiful property. From the moment we arrived at the hotel entrance our every need/want was taken care of.

I had corresponded prior to our visit with the Front Desk Manager (Gurpreet Sahota) to arrange for private car/driver, guides and tours, as well as dinner reservations. Everything was taken care of; we did not encounter one problem during our stay. The extra touches we encountered by the staff went way beyond normal "service." One evening in the bar, the General Manager stopped by to inquire how our stay was progressing (addressing us by name) while we were in the process of ordering two glasses of wine from the waiter. When he heard our orders, he suggested another wine (Chinkara) from Australia, which was wonderful. After finishing the wine, and requesting the check, we were informed the wine had been taken care of by the General Manager. When we ordered a bottle at dinner that evening, we commented to the waiter how much we enjoyed the wine. He offered to contact our next hotel (The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai) to see if they served it in house. The following day our waiter indicated the Taj Palace did not carry the wine, but he would try to find a wine shop in Mumbai that we could find a bottle. Later in the day (at the pool), our waiter found us to let us know he was not having much success, but would continue to try to find the wine in Mumbai. Alas, the wine was not to be found. Upon checking out the following morning, we were informed at 6 AM by the General Manager (yes, he was there to wish us safe travels) that only through "connections" was he able to offer the wine at Rajvilas which came from a small vineyard in Victoria, Australia.

We had reserved a Luxury Tent for our stay and were quite pleased with the accommodations. Spacious sleeping area, large bathroom, well functioning air conditioning, private gardens surrounding the tent and even a peacock standing outside the glass patio doors on our first morning.

The 36 acres of the property were immaculately maintained. The staff knew our names immediately after arrival and greeted us by name whenever encountered on the grounds. The pool was beautiful as was the spa. The spa treatments we had one afternoon were wonderfully relaxing.

As we were celebrating an anniversary during our stay I had arranged for a private dinner overlooking the Hindu temple on the grounds. Just our attentive waiter, the stars and us. Though not a great fan of Indian food, the Thali Dinner Menu arranged for us (tasting menu of Rajistan foods) was well presented and the excellent Australian Cab/Merlot made for an absolutely wonderful and memorable evening. (The fireworks above the pool for the birthday of another guest only highlighted the wonderful evening).

The hotel concierge had arranged for half day tours during our three days which allowed us to visit the major sights (Amber Fort, Jaigarh Fort, City Palace, Jantar Mantar (The Observatory)) and still allowed for relaxing afternoons around the pool.

Though fairly expensive, India is certainly not the place to skimp on hotels and we are so glad we opted to stay at Rajvilas. On our last evening in Jaipur, the hotel had arranged for dinner at The Rambaugh Palace's Specialty Indian Restaurant (Fine Dining). The Rambaugh Palace’s grounds were beautiful, very "British" in style and formality, though we preferred the relaxed atmosphere of Rajvilas and even it's location outside of town, instead of in the hustle & bustle of downtown Jaipur.

I would highly recommend this property to anyone traveling to Jaipur. I can honestly say this is one of the finest hotels we have every visited and we more often than not cater high-end hotels around the world. You will not be disappointed with a stay at Rajvilas.

I had though the other hotels I had stayed in on my tour in Sth. Africa, Mauritius and India had been outstanding but this one is the most outstanding I have stayed in to date ever. The grounds alone are worth the stay. The hotel is set behind walls in 36 acres of manicured grass and coiffured trees. We stayed in a Premer room and it was outstanding. A very large bedroom/sitting room and a delightfully designed and set out bathroom with a private courtyard set outside the clear glass windows, very chic and spectacular as you walk in and see it. If you have visited the forts in Agra or here you will enjoy the architecture of the hotel as it is set out as a representation of the court yards and entries of the ancient forts. The dinning room particularly out side which is the only one I used is well set out and brings to life how the palaces must have looked in their hay day. The staff bend over backwards to be helpful and go to great lengths to make your stay as pleasant as possible. We made a small complaint to waiting of waiting half an hour for our toast at breakfast and got a signed card from all the dinning room staff apologising which made us feel a bit guilty, but goes to show the emphasis they place on service. Security is second to none as the entire complex is within a walled enclosure and there is only one way in and out so you feel perfectly safe and can walk the gardens in the evening with complete safety.

The Oberoi Rajvilas in Jaipur is located a fair bit out of town, which is a good thing for peace and quiet, but can be quite a drag if you want to make frequent forays into the city itself. The Rajvilas grounds are immaculately maintained and the overall service is impeccable. I stayed in one of the tents and it was Luxury Central all the way. The dinner at the restaurant, at which I ordered a traditional Rajasthani thali, was excellent, as was the ambience with traditional dancers and musicians. The Rajvilas lives up to its reputation as one of the world's great hotels. That said, I would rate Udaivilas in Udaipur higher than Rajvilas for the sheer romance of that property's location.

Intially I loved the Rajvillas, fabulous entrance, gorgeous grounds, its own temple (to Shiva) and wildlife all around. The staff were welcoming and our tent was superb. They aren't really tents but 4 walls with a canvas roof and very pretty they were too. A spacious living/ sleeping area and a large bathroom with access to a terrace made for very comfortable living quarters. The pool was small, but adequate and the staff happy to chat, altough we were at the end of the winter season and the hotel was quite.
It is some way out from Jaipur but we had brought our car and driver from Delhi so this was not an issue, but it did feel a little isolaed none the less, no evening strolls unless you wanted to do it in the grounds.
Breakfast was not "awful" as previously quoted but it was very mean. Compared to other Oberoi's where the buffet included cooked as well as chilled for 650Rs here you got only cereal, cold cuts and fruit - which seemed very exensive by Indian standards. Room service however was very dissapointing. My boyfriend was feeling delicate in the stomach and wanted something plain, we ordered a cheese sandwich on white bread, and as he was running a temperature some coconut sorbet. The sandwich was dry, was filled with salad cream and the coconut sorbet had chilli in it - I would have loved it - but we had explained he was unwell and I was anoid they told me it was plain coconut. It sounds petty but at 600 pounds per night you expect perfection! However dinner at the hotel was very good and the Rajistani dancers and music were delightful.
By day 2 the lack of choice in dining, the golf carts and the general remotness of the place was getting to me. I did begin to feel like The Prisoner and wasn't totally unhappy when we packed up and left for Agra.