Raj Niwas Palace

The property was amazing, with great food and hospitality. The rooms were super-clean would love to visit again soon

The Raj Niwas Palace, Dholpur, is truly beautiful as a property. Dholpur is a very offbeat tourist destination but it is loaded with attractions, with my favourite being the National Chambal Sanctuary. We did love staying at the palace, which had a rich history and gorgeous architecture and gardens. The food was also great. However, we did have one unpleasant experience. We had booked both the private Chambal river safari by boat and the ravine safari by jeep for the two of us. The boat safari went extremely well, and we enjoyed watching the gharials, crocodiles, Indian skimmers, and other wildlife of the Chambal River. However, while planning the jeep safari, one of the hotel staff mentioned that we can start on it at 4:30 pm and end by 6:00 pm. I had, fortunately, gone through the website of the Raj Niwas Palace prior to booking and it was clearly mentioned there that the jeep safari was for five hours and also the sightseeing destinations during the safari were mentioned. They were also charging quite heftily for the same. So, after we spoke about what we saw on the website, they agreed and mentioned that we could do half the jeep safari in the evening and the remaining the next morning. Next day, while checking out, we were charged twice for the two jeep safaris on the bill. Again, I luckily noticed it, and told them to change it to one as our safaris were divided between morning and evening. So, please be very careful while going on these sightseeing tours at Raj Niwas Palace to ensure you get what you paid for.

At first site the pool cottages are lovely. On closer inspection not so good. Cobwebs in the shower, rusty bin, dirty in corners of room. Also, the restaurant manager was quite rude. Bringing drink bills to the table for payment whilst we were still eating and not taking no for an answer. We also could not access the main ‘palace’ which on the hotel adverts seems to be the main draw to this hotel. I was looking forward to seeing the murals and the state rooms, but feel this is false advertising on the part of the hotel, as there is no access to this part of the hotel.

Luxury accommodation with old world feel in garden setting. Tastefully decorated private courtyard suites with spacious bedroom, sitting room and marble bathroom tastefully appointed. Lovely dining area and roomy reception. Only downside is that wi-fi is only available at the reception area, but that could be considered a benefit to some! Peacocks, flowering trees, and swimming pool. A haven in busy Dholpur.

We had a courtyard room which was large and comfy. The bathroom was large and spectacularly beautiful, all white marble. The furniture in our room clashed with the beautiful structure of the room. We want to mention that mr Harendra Sharma was particularly helpfull and made our stay pleasant. He showed us around the grounds and around the heritage part of the hotel. Thank you.