✦ Privately set on the banks of Lake Pichola with uninterrupted views of the City Palace and Jag Mandir
✦ Built in the style of a Rajput palace – domed cupolas, carved jharokhas and hand-inlaid marble throughout
✦ 75 rooms and suites, many with private balconies and lake panoramas that will rearrange your understanding of beauty
✦ The Spa by Leela: signature treatments inspired by the ancient healing traditions of Mewar
✦ Boat rides to the Lake Palace and Jag Mandir available directly from the hotel’s private jetty
✦ Winner of Condé Nast Traveller’s Best Hotel in India on multiple occasions
To stay here is to understand why Udaipur is called the Venice of the East. The 75 rooms and suites at The Leela Palace are wrapped in a language of white marble, hand-painted miniatures, silk-covered walls and antique furniture sourced from Rajasthani havelis. It is, in every sense, a palace – not a hotel with palace ambitions.
Royal Rooms and Deluxe Rooms are the entry point, and even these manage to feel like something extraordinary – carved wooden beds, embroidered cushions, deep marble baths and Leela’s signature toiletries. The suites, particularly the Royal Lake Suites and the two-bedroom Royal Suites, offer private balconies that face directly onto Lake Pichola. Watching the City Palace emerge from morning mist from your own terrace is the kind of moment that ruins all future hotel balconies for you permanently.
The Spa by Leela is a sanctuary within a sanctuary drawing on the ancient Mewar tradition of healing with herbs, oils and ritual. The signature “Ananta Bliss” treatment, a four-hand synchronised massage using warm sesame oils, is a particular highlight. The spa also offers Ayurvedic consultations, yoga sessions on a private terrace with lake views, and a hydrotherapy pool.
Dining options range from Sheesh Mahal, the hotel’s formal restaurant serving elevated Rajasthani cuisine, to Mosaic for international bites by the pool, and the rooftop bar – where the view of Lake Pichola at twilight, with the illuminated City Palace reflected in the water, is worth the entire trip on its own.
The experiences available through The Leela Palace turn a hotel stay into something closer to a private Rajput adventure. Sunrise boat rides across Lake Pichola gliding past the white marble domes of the Lake Palace Hotel and the islet of Jag Mandir – are available from the hotel’s own jetty.
The City Palace, a vast complex of courtyards, galleries and royal apartments built over three centuries, is a ten-minute boat ride or short drive away. Vintage car tours of the old city, visits to the living havelis of Udaipur’s nobility, classical Rajasthani dance performances at Bagore-ki-Haveli, and sundowner horseback rides on the Aravalli Hills are all arrangeable through the concierge team. The hotel also works with local artisans to offer private miniature painting workshops – one of the most uniquely Udaipuri things you can do.
Udaipur is one of India’s most romantic cities, but The Leela Palace accommodates families beautifully. Dedicated children’s menus, supervised activity sessions including traditional Rajasthani art classes and cooking demonstrations, and spacious interconnecting suite configurations mean that families are genuinely well catered for rather than merely tolerated.
The outdoor pool is a highlight for younger guests, and the hotel’s concierge team is expert at arranging family-friendly city tours – the City Palace’s museums and puppet shows in the old city are perennial favourites. Private boat rides across the lake, with a picnic arranged by the hotel, make for unforgettable family memories.
Expertise
Quality trips honestly priced
Environmentally friendly trips
Freedom and choice
Go beyond ordinary
