Samode Haveli Jaipur

A surprisingly secluded and quiet hotel in the bustle of Jaipur. Our room was beautifully decorated and very clean and comfortable.

I was a bit worried about this hotel when I saw it lying at number six on Trip Advisor listings. I am glad to say though all my concerns were blown away when we arrived.

There was building work going on but we were told it stops at 17.00 and it did on the dot. Our room was large & comfortable with a fantastic refurbished bathroom. Bed was not too hard certainly not as bricks as another reviewer stated. Two problems with the room:

1) How many light switches do you actually need, lost count of which did what.

2) I would like to have seen a safe in the room rather than having to go back to reception each time.

Food nothing exceptional but certainly nothing to make you want to shout out 'that was awful'

Pool was one of the nicest in India - even better than The Imperial's pool in Delhi.

One tip if you go into the tea & spice shop 50 metres from the hotel entrance pay in rupees. You get a sob story about the visa machine & a poor rate (about 30% difference to a bank) if you pay in your own currency which he is happy to take.

The Samode Haveli is on the right track with their refurbishment programme & will be a cracker of a hotel when it is done.

I would recommend this hotel to others

The Sheesh Mahal room we stayed in at the Samode Haveli was perhaps the most amazing hotel room I had ever stayed. OK you don't get the facilities or service like you do in a Suite @ the Oberois Amar Vilas in Agra [which will cost you over a £1000pn], but what you get is a real sense of history. I won't go on to describe it, the room is literally beyond words.

If you are going to stay at this Hotel [The food and the service is OK too] you have to stay in one of the two Sheesh Mahal's. They are more expensive than the others, but they are worth it.

Arrival at the beautiful courtyard via the Elephant steps/ramp, this quiet and peaceful area is a direct contrast to the hustle and bustle of the steets of Jaipur. Booked in and shown our rooms, very colonial with four poster bed, painted murals, deep marble bath. Service at the courtyard resturant and rooms excellent, though the evening menue was lacking in a choise of Indian food. (We do not travel all the way to India just to eat Continental food). The outside gardens and pool area we well mainiained, quiet and relaxing.

Would recommend staying at this small quiet city centre Hertiage Hotel.

We stayed at the Samode Haveli for two nights in mid October. When we arrived we were greeted by a middle aged (male) surly receptionist. His attitude appeared to be that he was doing us a favour by letting us stay in his hotel. We had booked a deluxe suite - all I can say was that the room was large - but the bed was extremely uncomfortable (like a brick) and the fittings basic to say the least.

The service was haphazard - food was brought out from the kitchen and a group of waiters then spent at least ten minutes looking at it before it was brought to the table. More importantly the waiters didn't appear to change their shirts all the time we were there and many of them had stains down the front.

I don't doubt that if you are assigned a better room then you would have a different view of the hotel. We asked to change rooms but were told that this wasn't possible and that other people had been perfectly happy with the room so we should be too.

All in all definitely not somewhere to recommend

HI readers i m an exporter from usa and i come to india very often this year i visited the pink city the city was beutifull but the hotel was terrible no fecilites wat so ever.

We stayed for 3 nights at the Samode Haveli in July 2005. Everything about this hotel was perfect: the rooms are beautiful (the maharadjah's portrait hangs over your bed), the swimming pool is pure heaven, especially after a hot, tiring day of visits, great for laps, and has a jacuzzi in the middle, but most of all, the food is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE, the best we've had in our 3 weeks trip in India. We had planned to go to other places to eat but once we tried the hotel restaurant, we just could not go anywhere else.

Service is OK, although they absolutely want you to pay in Euros, even if all you have is Rupees (we've had to pay with Credit card), and the hotel is a little pricey by Indian standards.

All in all though, it is well worth the extra Euros for a little heaven in the midst of the Indian chaos. Probably our best hotel tip among our 3 weeks in India!

This was a delightful hotel, with beautiful rooms and a very peaceful atmosphere. However we were violently ill there and had to call a doctor who prescribed 5 different medicines and told us to eat only bananas and yoghurt which we did for the rest of our 'holiday'. Now home, I have still not recovered and will not visit India again. We know the problem was at the hotel because we did not eat anything anywhere else. I would advise people to avoid rice and anything which could have been reheated.

Tired from the train my husband and I arrived at teh Samode Haveli. Our room was charming - made out of a former courtyard. As it was January we were delighted that a heater had been provided as it was colder inside than out. WE had lunch by the pool and peeked into the dining room which was most beautfully decorated. Fantastic hot luxurious shower as well

All in all, we very much hope to be able to return when the weather is a bit warmer and we can enjoy the outdoor facilities a bit more

This was an absolutely delightful surprise a beautiful charming well kept hotel located inside the walls of the pink city. All of the hustle and bustle of the city is right outside the gates, but inside a peaceful garden and pool area. We visited in January 2003 and this is one place we plan on returning too in June 2005 for a more extened stay to enjoy the peace and quiet and charm of this hotel.