Khatu Haveli

I stayed for five nights on my way to the Riff Festival in Jodphur and based on the advice of my friend, stage and film actress Miriam Margolyes, who had spent 15 days at Khatu Haveli filming the BBC series The Real Marigold Hotel. Having travelled a lot of India I consider it one of the best places that I have ever stayed in the country. The rooms are spotlessly clean, food is freshly made to dietary need and is delicious, hotel staff will go above and beyond where nothing’s a problem. There’s a lovely history to enjoy about the hotel and its family who run it. Mannish the hotel manager is a credit to the establishment. He consistently ensures his guests are happy and has a range of contacts around the city to organises trips, currency exchange etc and pride in making sure his guests are not scammed. If you are lucky enough to be invited to a morning chai with him at his favourite tea stand then you will discover he’s one of the safest drivers in Jaipur! The water at the hotel is filtered, kitchen and chef rigorous in their hygiene. The hotel met me at the airport on time from a late flight and ready with sandwiches and drinks on arrival. There’s good air conditioning, television, Wi-Fi and lovely large roof terrace. Service is available when it is needed. Located in the heart of this vibrant city, if they are not sold out and you are lucky enough to get a room then you will not be disappointed. Enjoy! Richard Jordan - TONY, Olivier and EMMY award-winning Producer

We wanted to experience staying at a real Rajasthani haveli and Khatu Haveli worked pretty well for us. It is a old haveli built in 1860s, has multiple courtyards, very quiet despite the usual street noise outside the compound. The room comfort was good: very clean, with AC, free water bottle per day, kettle, shower with good hot water. The TV in the room has some English channels: 1 movie channel, 2 nature doc channels, and apparently some news channels (which we didn't watch). The food options are good: breakfasts were included and had several continental choices (eggs of any kind, toasted bread, butter/jam, juice) and a few Indian dishes; the menu for the latter changes daily. Buffet dinners are available at 8pm for an extra fee, and include: rice, lentils plus 3 Indian dishes (which also change daily). You would have to sign up for a buffet dinner ~3 hours in advance to give the staff the time to cook. Some dishes were excellent, others a tiny bit greasy but still quite tasty. There are about 4-5 staff working in the haveli, all very professional. The owner lady lives there and visits the dining area during breakfasts and dinners so you might have some interesting conversations. Apparently this haveli has been in the family for 6 generations. The neighborhood is OK. It's an easy 5-7 min walk to the Pink City street with its colorful bazaar shops; and then about 30 min walk to places like Hawa Mahal (you will need to brave crazy traffic at street crossings a few times).

An oasis in center of crowded, noisy Jaipur. Comfortable room, good food. This is a small hotel and Staff made us feel we were a “community” rather than strangers