Rambagh Palace, the Jaipur home of a polo-playing maharaja

From a garden house to a palace

• A guest house and hunting lodge: later in the nineteenth century the house grew, and the Jaipur maharajas used it for shooting parties when the land beyond was still scrub and open country.
• Out of town, once: our grandparents' generation could remember when the road out to Rambagh felt like leaving town. Today the city wraps all the way round the garden walls.
• The great transformation: in the early twentieth century the lodge was enlarged into a full palace in the Indo-Saracenic style, the blend of Rajput, Mughal and European ideas that British-era architects loved.
• The architect: Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, the engineer and architect who also shaped the Albert Hall Museum, is credited with much of the design.
• Read it from the lawns: cusped arches and deep verandahs for the heat, chhatris (small domed pavilions) along the roofline, and long arcades that throw shade across the floors through the afternoon.
• Never a fortress: no ramparts, no elephant gates and no battle stories. Its scale and softness set it apart from most palaces.
• Built for living well: breakfasts on the terrace, tennis and polo, and evenings when the gardens filled with guests. That is exactly why it works so well as a hotel.

Man Singh II, Gayatri Devi and the polo years

• The polo team: the Jaipur team he led was famous in India and in England, and the ground beside Rambagh is still one of the homes of the game in Rajasthan. Our page on polo and horses tells that story.
• Gayatri Devi: a princess of Cooch Behar, married to him in 1940, and one of the most photographed women of the twentieth century.
• More than a society figure: a superb rider, a keen shot and later a member of parliament for Jaipur.
• Her school: she founded a girls' school in the city that still carries her name. Many Jaipur families remember her for arguing for girls' education when it was not fashionable.
• The stage for their public life: royal weddings, polo dinners, balls and state visits all happened here, and the house filled with guests from India and abroad.
• The photographs on the walls: in the bar and corridors, from those years: teams in white with their ponies, trophies, hunting parties and family portraits. They are the best guide to the house.
• The family today: the former royal family still lives in the Chandra Mahal at the City Palace and remains part of the city's public life.
• Public history only: our journal piece on the Jaipur royal family covers it, and we keep to that. At Rambagh you are a guest in a house the family once lived in, not in their present home.

1957, and the idea of the palace hotel

• 1972: management passed to the Taj group, which has run the palace ever since.
• Modernised, not remade: plumbing, air conditioning and comfort were brought up to date over the following decades, while the public rooms kept their old character.
• A model for others: a royal house run by a professional hotel company became the pattern other palaces across Rajasthan later followed. Our piece on heritage hotels explained traces how.
• What that means for you: not a family home where a cousin may join you for dinner, as at some smaller heritage hotels, and not a new building dressed up as a palace.
• The balance: a real royal residence, run with the polish and consistency of a large hotel group. If you want the history without the quirks of a lived-in house, it is the right choice.
• Why it is busy: it is among the most famous hotels in India, and many visitors come for lunch, tea or dinner without staying. The gardens are large enough to absorb them.

What staying at Rambagh is like

• The public rooms: grand without being heavy, with marble floors, arched windows, chandeliers, old furniture and the portraits and photographs of the polo years.
• Long corridors: the building is large enough that you will get a little lost on the first day.
• The staff: used to guiding guests and proud of the house. Many will tell you its stories if you ask.
• No two rooms alike: in a palace built in stages over a century, some face the gardens, some inner courts or the drive. Some have high ceilings and old furniture, others feel more modern.
• Booking names say little: the category names on a booking page tell you little about the view or the light.
• How we choose: we know the house well and ask for specific rooms, usually on the garden side. If the view from your window matters, tell us.
• November to February: the gardens are at their best, evenings are cool enough for a shawl, and the palace is full.
• The wedding season: it falls in the same months. A celebration on the lawns can be wonderful to glimpse and loud to sleep beside, so we check the calendar before booking.
• April to June: quieter, the days slow down, and life moves indoors and into the pool until the sun drops.

Dining under gilded ceilings

The spa, the pool and the slow hours

• Timing: after a morning climbing Amber Fort or walking the bazaars, a treatment in the early afternoon is the sensible thing to do, not an indulgence.
• Yoga on the lawn: in the cool months a morning class, with the peacocks for company, is a fine way to start the day. Ask the hotel what is running.
• Going further: our page on spas and Ayurveda builds a few slower days into a journey, and our wellness journeys do so across the whole state.
• Long walks without leaving the walls: the gardens are big enough, and early morning is the time, when the dew is on the grass and the birds are loud.
• Birds: as well as the peafowl, the old trees hold parakeets, mynas, sunbirds and, in winter, visiting migrants. Bring binoculars.
• Doing very little: then find a chair on a verandah and stay there.

What to do from Rambagh

Who will love Rambagh, and who won't

• Multi-generation families: grandparents sit on the verandahs while younger travellers explore, and older children love the peacocks and the polo photographs.
• Light sleepers: talk to us first. From about November to February, celebrations on the lawns can run late. We check dates and choose rooms away from them.
• If you want an intimate house: where you know every member of staff by the second day, Samode Haveli or the gardens of Jai Mahal Palace may suit you better.
• If you want a modern resort: identical rooms, level paths everywhere and absolute silence point to The Oberoi Rajvilas.
• Limited mobility: tell us in advance. The palace is large and some paths are long, so we ask for rooms that keep walking to a minimum.

How Rambagh fits our journeys

• Split your nights: two at Rambagh for the sights, then one or two in the countryside at Samode Palace or Alila Fort Bishangarh, especially on the way north to Shekhawati.
• Going south: Rambagh is about three to four hours from Ranthambore, a fine start to our Palaces and Tigers route.
• If you love Rambagh: you will probably love Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur and the Lake Palace in Udaipur. Our guide to palace hotels compares them.
• Every choice in the city: our Jaipur luxury hotels guide sets Rambagh beside the rest.

Getting there and getting around

• From Agra: about four hours, with a stop at the Abhaneri stepwell if you like.
• Around the city: the walled city is about ten minutes away, Amer about forty minutes in the early morning, and the Albert Hall a few minutes' drive.
• Your chauffeur: waits for you throughout the day. In the old city we often switch to walking or a cycle rickshaw. Our guide to getting around Rajasthan explains how we plan the drives.
• Book early: for Christmas, New Year, the Jaipur Literature Festival in January and Diwali. The palace fills months ahead in those weeks.