A palace built in our own lifetime
Most Rajasthan palaces were built for kings and later opened to guests. Rajvilas was the other way round: built for guests, in the language of kings.
Jaipur before Rajvilas: when it opened in the late 1990s, most sources say 1997, the city's luxury hotels were nearly all converted royal houses.
The quirks of old buildings: beautiful and full of character, but with rooms of wildly different sizes, plumbing that sulked and sound that carried across courtyards.
At a glance
- Opened
- Late 1990s, most sources say 1997
- Built by
- The Oberoi group, as a new resort
- Inspired by
- Rajput villages, forts and noble estates
- Setting
- About 32 walled acres, east of Jaipur
- Oldest part
- A Shiva temple, about 280 years old
- Good for
- Couples, families, light sleepers
- Something new: the Oberoi group borrowed the forms of a Rajput village and fort, then designed every room, path and view around the guest.
- It changed Indian hospitality: Rajvilas became the model for a family of Oberoi resorts, among them The Oberoi Udaivilas on Lake Pichola, The Oberoi Vanyavilas at Ranthambore and The Oberoi Amarvilas facing the Taj Mahal.
- Each draws on its setting: in Jaipur the reference is the walled villages and noble estates of the old Dhundhar countryside.
- What it doesn't have: no maharaja's portraits, no darbar hall where a king once sat, no centuries of family history in the corridors.
- What it does have: craftsmanship in carved stone, painted walls, brass and wood made by Rajasthani artisans, and a design that makes the most of light, water and shade.
- Our honest summary: a love letter to the old architecture rather than a piece of it. There is one exception to all this newness, at the heart of the grounds, and we come to it below.
Inside the walls
Arrive in the late afternoon if you can. The light comes in low across the gardens, the fountains are running, and the pink walls turn the colour of the city at dusk.
From outside, a small fort: the estate is enclosed by high walls with bastions at the corners.
Inside: a gate leads to a forecourt, then the grounds open up: a main building around courtyards, lawns, reflecting pools, fountains, an orchard and long shaded walks between low buildings.
Nothing is tall: the scale is human, and the paths are designed for walking at an unhurried pace.
Facts to know
- Size
- About 32 acres
- Walls
- High, with bastions at the corners
- Buildings
- Low, spread out, human in scale
- Best walk
- Early morning, before breakfast
- Why it is so calm: in a city palace, guests, day visitors and wedding parties share the same lawns. Here the grounds are large and the buildings spread out, so even when the hotel is full you rarely feel it.
- Birds: peacocks wander the lawns, and the gardens hold parakeets, hoopoes, bulbuls and, in winter, migrants passing through.
- Borrowed from the past: domed pavilions like the chhatris of the royal cenotaphs, arched colonnades, and carved stone screens called jaali that let the breeze in and keep the sun out.
- Courtyards for the evening: built to catch the cool air as the day ends.
- Water everywhere: in channels, pools and fountains, as in the Mughal and Rajput gardens that inspired them. In the heat of May you will understand why.
- Low and inward-looking: no views of the city skyline or traffic. The walls frame the sky, the trees and, from some corners, the outline of the Aravalli hills. It is a closed world, and that is the point.
Local tip
Walk the grounds early, before breakfast, when the dew is still on the grass and the birds are loudest.
The old Shiva temple and the haveli
In the middle of a modern resort stands something genuinely old: a small Shiva temple that was on this land long before any hotel.
The temple was here first, and the resort grew up around it. At dusk, with the lamps lit and the water still, it is one of the most peaceful corners of Jaipur.
The temple: the land acquired for Rajvilas included an old temple to Shiva, which the hotel says is about two hundred and eighty years old.
- Kept, not removed: the builders restored it and made it part of the estate, with its own courtyard and a lotus pool in front.
- Why it matters: it is one of the details that makes Rajvilas feel rooted rather than imported.
- Visit quietly: take off your shoes, keep your voice low, and don't step inside the inner sanctum unless invited. Our guide to temple etiquette covers the small courtesies that matter.
- The haveli: the second old building is a restored traditional courtyard house, which now holds the spa.
- Its hush: thick walls and an inner court give it the feel of an old family home. Walking in from the gardens feels like stepping back a century.
- An anchor: between the temple and the haveli, Rajvilas has kept just enough of the past to anchor the new buildings.
What staying here is like
The surprise for many guests is the tents. You expect marble and find canvas, and then you step inside.
Three kinds of stay
Rooms: in low buildings around the courtyards, closest to the main building and the restaurants.
- Tents: with carved and painted furniture, on raised platforms in the gardens. Romantic and memorable, and proper rooms with excellent bathrooms, not camping.
- Villas: with their own walls, gardens and private pools, for families and couples who want complete privacy.
- No category games: we won't quote names, which change, or claim one is the best. They suit different people.
Comfort you can count on
Consistent in a way old palaces can't match: large bathrooms, quiet air conditioning, excellent beds and level paths.
- Worth a great deal: for guests travelling in the hot months, or anyone who sleeps lightly.
- How we plan the day: Jaipur sightseeing in the early mornings and late afternoons, and the middle of the day here, by the pool or in the shade.
The Oberoi style of service
- Attentive and quiet: staff learn your name quickly, notice what you order and remember it, and seem to appear just before you need them.
- A little formal for some: guests who prefer a casual, family-run heritage hotel may find it buttoned-up. Most find it a relief after a long day.
Evenings in the cool season
- The best time of day: fires are lit, the courtyards fill with candlelight, and there is often music.
- One night to plan: a private dinner in the gardens. It is one of the things Rajvilas does best, and we arrange it.
Eating at Rajvilas
After a day of street food in the old city, a quiet dinner at your own hotel can be exactly right. Here it usually is.
Where to eat: a main restaurant serving Indian and international food through the day, a more formal setting for dinner, a bar, and meals on terraces, by the pool and in the gardens.
Names change: restaurant names and menus change over the years, so we confirm what is running when you travel.
Order Rajasthani: the kitchen takes it seriously. Laal maas is the Rajput mutton curry in a red chilli sauce.
- Jungli maas: the hunting-camp dish of meat cooked simply with ghee, salt and chilli.
- For vegetarians: a full Rajasthani thali brings dal baati churma, gatte ki sabzi, ker sangri, millet breads and sweets in one sitting.
- The small occasions: breakfast on your own terrace before an early start at Amber, tea in a courtyard at four, or dinner for two by a pool with a single musician.
- Private evenings: our page on a private dinner in a palace describes the kind we plan.
- Eat out too: Rajvilas is outside the city, so most guests eat here more often than at a central hotel. Our food of Jaipur guide has the old city's great breakfasts and street-food stalls.
- Worth the drive: a sunset dinner on a rooftop in the walled city.
Local tip
If you would like a dish that is not on the menu, ask in the morning. Indian hotel kitchens are usually happy to cook a family dish with a little notice.
The spa in the old haveli
Of all the things guests tell us about Rajvilas when they get home, the spa comes first more often than anything else.
Where: The Oberoi Spa is set in the restored haveli, around its quiet inner courtyard.
The rooms and therapists: calm, private treatment rooms, with therapists trained in both Ayurvedic and Western traditions.
- The reason to come: the classic Indian therapies, warm herbal oil massage, rhythmic and long, and treatments that pour a slow stream of warm oil across the forehead.
- Menus change: so we won't list them. Ask the spa team what they recommend for the length of your stay.
- On arrival: a treatment the afternoon you arrive, after a flight or the drive from Delhi, resets you for the days ahead.
- After Amber Fort: when your legs know about the ramparts, another treatment is not an indulgence but common sense.
- Yoga and meditation: many guests join an early-morning session in the gardens. Ask what is offered when you are there.
- A wellness trip: Rajvilas anchors our wellness and slow travel journey, often paired with Udaivilas. Our page on spas and Ayurveda explains the therapies.
Using Rajvilas as a base for Jaipur
Rajvilas is east of the city, away from the traffic, so a good day here is planned around the drives. These are the outings we build from its gate.
Galtaji, at first light
Close by: the temple valley lies in the hills east of the city, on the same side as Rajvilas.
- Go early: pilgrims are bathing in the sacred tanks and the macaques are waking up.
- Climb on: to the Surya Mandir on the ridge for the view back over Jaipur. Carry nothing that looks like food.
The walled city and its bazaars
- One long morning: the old city is a drive away, so we make the most of it.
- The order: Hawa Mahal at sunrise, a guided walk through the bazaars, the City Palace as it opens, then back to Rajvilas for lunch and the pool.
Amber Fort and the ridge
Before dawn: we leave early so you reach the gates as they open.
- Afternoon: rest.
- Evening: drive up to Nahargarh for the sunset, when the whole city turns pink and gold below you.
Jantar Mantar, near midday
- The one sight for a high sun: at Jai Singh II's observatory, the shadows fall on the scales of the giant instruments.
- Pair it with: a late lunch in the city and a slow drive back.
A craft morning in Bagru or Sanganer
- What you do: spend a morning with a block-printing family and print a length of cotton yourself.
- Who it suits: a gentle, rewarding outing, especially for families.
A day off
- We mean it: in three nights at Rajvilas, keep one day free for the spa, the pool and a long lunch.
- Why: that is what you came for, and it makes the other two days better.
Who will love Rajvilas, and who won't
Rajvilas is one of the hotels we recommend most. It is also the one where we most often check that guests know what they are choosing.
Couples and honeymooners: they love the privacy, the tents and the evenings. Our honeymoon journeys and Rajasthan for Two often stay here.
Families with young children: space to run, level paths, pools and a calm that helps everyone sleep. See our page on family journeys.
Good for
- Best for
- Couples, honeymooners, young families
- Also good for
- Light sleepers, hot-month travellers
- Mobility
- Level paths, short distances
- Think twice
- If you want a real palace
- Light sleepers and hot-month travellers: they appreciate the quiet and the consistency of the rooms.
- Limited mobility: one of the easiest luxury hotels in Jaipur. Tell us in advance and we will choose a room close to the main building.
- History lovers: if you want to sleep inside a real palace, choose Rambagh Palace or The Raj Palace, or we split the stay.
- Bazaars at dawn: if you want to step out of your door into them, choose Samode Haveli inside the walled city instead.
- If you dislike formality: the polished Oberoi style may feel a little buttoned-up. Most guests find it simply lovely.
How Rajvilas fits our journeys
We think of Rajvilas as the place to recover in. That changes where we put it in a journey.
At the start: after a long-haul flight, a short drive from the airport, a spa treatment, a quiet dinner and a long sleep before the sightseeing starts.
At the end: after a week or more on the road, a soft landing before the flight home.
- Both ways: our Golden Triangle and Udaipur and Royal Rajputana journeys use it either way, depending on the guest.
- With a night in the walled city: three nights at Rajvilas with one in the middle at The Raj Palace or Samode Haveli gives you calm and the old city at dawn, without packing up twice.
- Compare the city: our Jaipur luxury hotels guide sets out every choice, and our guide to palace hotels explains heritage palaces versus new resorts built in palace style.
- On to the tigers: Ranthambore is about three to four hours south.
- Three Oberois: many guests go from Rajvilas to Vanyavilas and on to Udaivilas, three very different resorts, each tied to its landscape.
Rajvilas through the year
A walled garden changes with the seasons more than a city palace does. Each month here has its own reason to come.
October to March: warm, dry days, gardens green after the monsoon, and evenings of fires, shawls and dinners outdoors.
December and January: nights can be properly cold, and the tents are cosy rather than cool.
Facts to know
- Best months
- October to March
- Coldest nights
- December and January
- Hot season
- April to June, quieter
- Monsoon
- July to September, lush gardens
- Busiest
- Christmas to New Year, late January
- Book well ahead: for Christmas to New Year and the Jaipur Literature Festival in late January.
- April to June: very hot, and this is when a resort like Rajvilas earns its keep. Sightseeing in the first hours, then the pools, the spa and the shade until evening.
- The quieter months: in the hot season rates are usually lower and the hotel is quieter.
- The monsoon: short downpours, green hills and soft light. A lovely, unhurried time for a couple who want peace more than a long list of sights.
- Diwali: in October or November the courtyards and pools are lit with lamps, and we pair the evening with a drive through the illuminated bazaars. We confirm festival dates each year.
Getting there
Rajvilas is outside the city, but not far. The trick is timing the drives.
Where it is: on the eastern edge of Jaipur, away from the main traffic.
From the airport: usually around half an hour or a little more. We meet you at the aircraft door or the arrivals hall.
Getting there
- Nearest airport
- Jaipur International, at Sanganer
- From the airport
- Around half an hour or a little more
- Walled city
- Thirty to forty-five minutes
- From Delhi
- Four to five hours by road
- From Agra
- About four hours
- Into the city: the walled city is thirty to forty-five minutes depending on traffic, and Amer is further. We start early and come back for lunch.
- From Delhi and Agra: about four to five hours from Delhi by road, and about four from Agra, with a stop at the Abhaneri stepwell.
- Your chauffeur: stays with you all day. Our guide to getting around Rajasthan explains how we plan the drives.
- Book months ahead: for Christmas, New Year, the Jaipur Literature Festival and Diwali, when the best rooms go first.