Stranded On An Island In the Middle of A City - Our Stay Tt the Udaipur Lake Palace

Okay so we weren't really stranded.  There are boats constantly shuttling people back and forth to the city.  And it's not truly an island.  It's a palace built in the middle of a man-made lake.  One thing is for sure, if somebody wanted to 'rescue' me from this place, they will have to drag me kicking and screaming.

The first thing to realize about the Taj Lake Palace Hotel is that it is not a steal.  If the early seasons of the show Survivor had been filmed on this island, the castaways would have brought their credit card as their luxury item.  You will have to pay a lot for a room and even more on top of that to appreciate its amenities.  It is a place to go to splurge.  We decided to stay at the Lake Palace Hotel as a nice ending to our two week trip.

Currently, the palace is accessible only by boat.  But before getting there, security has their turn.  Passports are checked, metal detectors are used, and all the bags go through the X-ray machine.

The private dock where water taxi's bring visitors to the hotel

The views of the Lake Palace Hotel from the boat.

The boat takes a bit of a circuitous route.

Visitors are greeted at the dock by the hotel staff.

Namaste to you to.

Visitors are showered with rose petals at the entrance of the hotel.

It takes one man to make it rain.

It takes another man to sweep it all up.

A mango beverage is served during the check-in process.

We were shown to room 109 which has a nice view of the City Palace.  The room is as expected--elegant and roomy with all of the modern accouterments of a five-star hotel.

Opening the window is prohibited as it 
may let large yellow hornets inside.

One got into our room anyway.  They were going to spray down
the room, but one staffer found the intruder and took care of it.

The TV would annoyingly turn to the Taj channel when powered on.

This channel is an infomercial about their other hotel properties.

They serviced the room and changed the towels and toiletries twice a day.

The bathroom has vibrant blue tiles.

The service is impeccable.  There seems to be ten staff members for every guest.  The workers will greet guests with a little namaste whenever they walk by them.  The staff go out of their way to make sure everyone is satisfied.  They are omnipresent but, at the same time, invisible.  They are there for your beck and call.  It is as if the Raj never ended.

The hotel staff gives a tour every evening showing the palace's history.

The centerpiece is the lily pond which was prominently shown in the movie Octopussy.

The lily pond still looks like it did in the James Bond flick, except without all the hussies.

Unfortunately, many of the rooms were being renovated, and the Maharana's original chambers were off limits.  Unlike many of the palaces-turned-museums, the Lake Palace actually is small with monotonous hallways.  What decor they do have is usually ornate but subdued.

Decorative candleholder

Creepy life-sized statues

Ornate chair swing

This decoration was created with inlaid semi-precious stones.

Decorative weapons and shield

Marble elephant

Even with the lack of garish opulence, the staff does take care of the small details to make the hotel a five-star experience.

A flutist's music echoed throughout the corridors of the palace.

A small shrine sits just off of the lily pond.

There is a very comfortable bar (no, we did not order whatever Anthony Bourdain drank) in an area that was initially used to greet royal guests.  Aside from the guest rooms, there is a nice spa, overpriced shops, three restaurants, and a small "gym" that nobody used.

The door from the lobby leads to the ridiculously overpriced stores.

 Recreational room with backgammon and chess boards

Central courtyard where performances are held

Lounging area

Room off the bar where the Maharana used to greet visiting dignitaries

Hallway with an elephant statue

In the back, there is also a swimming pool with lounge chairs.  This one pales in comparison to that of the Amarvilas.  It is not heated; it has no underwater seating areas; and there is a giant tree that looms over it.  Nets cover the tree to prevent the leaves from getting into the pool.  I asked why they just didn't cut it down.  Apparently, the tree is over 270 years-old having been planted personally by Maharana Jagath Singh II who built the palace.

The centuries-old tree shades the hotel's swimming pool.  Most of the lounge
chairs face away from the pool, providing a nice view of Lake Pichola.

The tree epitomizes the design of the hotel.  Functionality and comfort are constrained by the need to preserve history.  While some renovations and additions have been made, most of the palace remains pristine.  Despite these limitations, the hotel was reportedly near capacity.  Another guest who had visited the nearby Oberoi Udaisvilas said it was empty despite it being rated higher in the travel magazines.  The lure of staying here is the beauty, the service, and most of all the history.  It was originally constructed in the mid 1700's as a summer palace.  Only in the last 40 years has it been a hotel.  The Lake Palace has served as an asylum for future Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (some say he got the inspiration for the Taj Mahal from nearby architecture).  English refugees were hidden here by the Majarana here during the Sepoy Mutiny.  Furthermore, it has been a popular vacation spot for multiple foreign dignitaries, celebrities, wealthy business men, and now Tennessee trash like me.

We ended up having four meals there.  Breakfast is mostly Western style with traditional fare such as Eggs Benedict, Belgium waffles, etc. in addition to their buffet of pastries, fruits, and cereals.

Lunch can be had poolside or in the informal dining room.  The service and prices are not informal.  On the first day, we started with their version of a chaat.  I had the rack of lamb which was a whopping 1700 rupees (~$37).  The taste was good, but cooked a little longer than the medium I asked for.  The Wife had the excellent butter-poached prawns for 1600 Rs.  For dessert we had the blueberry gelato and the saffron galub jamin.

Multi-grain bread served with a kidney beans puree and an apple chutney

Amuse-bouche containing zucchini, squash, red pepper, and balsamic vinegar

The kitchen accidentally brought out a beef tenderloin.  Although it looked really good, I sent it back.  I thought it would be disrespectful to eat beef in a country where it is taboo.

Papada chaat - pastry with tamarind chutney and mint.

 Beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes and vegetables

Rack of lamb

Butter-poached prawns

Pista galub jamun

Blueberry gelato

On the second day, The Wife insisted on Indian food since we had only tried the Hotel's continental fare.  The food was well prepared, but frankly all of the Indian dishes started to become interchangeable to me.

Papadum is given as an appetizer.

It's served with three varieties of chutneys

A watermelon and paneer amuse-bouche

Laal maas (Rajasthani spicy lamb curry)

Masledar tawa pomfret (fish with red chilli paste and ginger)

Yellow dal is served with the fish.

We had a delicate rais malai for dessert.

The ambiance of the hotel improved as the sun started going down.

Dinner on the top of the of the Lake Palace Hotel is considered the most picturesque and romantic spot in town.  It starts out in the courtyard outside the bar, musicians play traditional songs while a Rajasthani dancer performs just a few feet away from the crowd.  I honestly can't say that I enjoy traditional song and dance, but it is part of the culture that brings people halfway around the world to see.  I don't know why I videotaped the performance because I had a hard enough time watching it live.  I'm a total philistine.

Musicians play in the courtyard.

The dancer had an interesting move where she
contorted herself  backwards and picked
up two rings off the ground with her eyelids.

I ordered a vetiver iced tea, not knowing what 
it is. Only later did I learn that vetiver is 
essentially grass.  It did have a good, mild taste.

While we watched the performance, we dined on complimentary snacks of nuts, crudites, and bite-sized sandwiches.

We later walked to the top of the hotel where we dined alfresco (continental fare only) with the romantic view of the lake and city.  It was nice to see the opposing view of Lake Pichola as compared to our dinner the night before at the Jagat Niswas.  Many of the lake-front buildings are lit-up.  Otherwise from that, the whole dining experience was very dark.

The City Palace is illuminated during the early evening.  Most of the lights are shut off around midnight.

The menu can only be read with the aid of clip-on lights.

I ordered the foies gras two ways followed by a seafood soup.  The torchon was silky smooth and delicious.  The flavor for the seared foies gras was really good, but it was a little too cooked for my taste.  It didn't quite melt in my mouth, the way I like it.  The wife had a beet and goat cheese salad (good but uninspiring) followed by a pea soup with prawns.  We both agreed that her pea soup was better than my seafood soup.  We both had the signature entree, the sea bass with a Kalamata olive tapenade served with potatoes.  The fish was very well cooked and tasty.  However, flavor-wise, it was a little ordinary.  I think we prefer a sauce for sea bass rather than the olive tapenade.  We passed on the unexciting dessert options.

Assortment of breads

Watermelon amuse-bouche

The duo of foies gras--a pear panna cotta is nestled between
the torchon on the left and the pan-seared liver on the right.
At the far right is a Bailey's Irish creme and carrot-tomato compote.

Slow-roasted beet and goat cheese salad with a honey-pommery dressing.

English pea soup with mint and poached prawns

Essence of seafood soup infused with saffron, shaved fennel, and caviar

Sorbet as a palate cleanser

 Chilean sea bass on a potato confit, asparagus and olive
tampenade with a saffron and marscapone sauce

The most impressive thing about dining on the roof is that the chefs do all the cooking outside instead of in the main indoor kitchen.  As any Top Chef contestant can attest to, cooking under the elements is much more difficult even with the most modern ranges and equipment.

Kitchen setup on the roof

The next morning, we utilized their spa before we checked out.  Although the prices were very high for India, they were still better than in the U.S.  The wife had a 90 minute facial and a 75 minute pedicure.  They did a good job on both, comparable to what you get at a quality place back home.

Despite not being a spa type of person, I went ahead and booked the 90 minute "warrior" massage.  The only other massage I ever had was a 15 minute foot massage in the mountains of Yunnan, China.  A tribal lady gave my dirty feet a rub down with her even filthier hands.  The best $1.50 I had ever spent.  Therefore, I was kind of nervous about the whole formal spa thing.  They asked if I wanted a male or female masseuse.  In my line of work, I have to examine men in their more private areas.  As expected they can get pretty embarrassed and uncomfortable.  I have to reassure many of them that it is no big deal.  Well, I am a big hypocrite.  I don't want any dude touching me, so I went with the female masseuse.

The massage started out with a sauna.  Two minutes in there and I was done.  I would have never been a contestant for the World Sauna Championships (now defunct because somebody died last year).  Then the masseuse had me change into some disposable underwear that resembled a string bikini.  I had to ask the lady "Are you sure there isn't a men's version?"  If this is what the Rajput warriors used to wear, I am surprised their kingdom lasted so long.  The masseuse was very professional and respectful.  It was a very relaxing 90 minutes.  No painful contorting of the limbs in unnatural directions.  And no happy ending (This ain't Bangkok!).

After checking out, we lounged at the pool for the next four hours until we had to catch an evening flight back to Delhi.

The rose ice tea and the cardamom and saffron frou-frou drink will
lower your testosterone level.  Even more if they had little umbrellas.

It turned out that most of the other people using the pool that afternoon were also on that flight.  We checked back into the Hotel Palace Heights which seemed much noisier than before.  It's hard to come back to civilization after being stranded in paradise.