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Excellent Hotel!!!
I am from Boston, Massachusetts and this was my first time ever visiting India. I honestly could not have booked a better hotel!
While some of the reviews about the Umaid Mahal complain about the staff, I would like to say those reviews are absolute RUBBISH. They were courteous, respectful, and hardworking. These gentlemen (all of the workers are young men) work every single day from the early morning until late midnight, and will be willing to help you in any way they can if you treat them with RESPECT. Also, please remember to tip the staff 50 or 100 rupees (barely U.S.$2, 1 English Pound, or 1.3 Euro) after they serve your meal, clean your room, or do any favors for you. While I realize tipping is not common in many countries, it is TREMENDOUSLY appreciated by the staff at this hotel (and any hotel in India, for that matter). If you do this for the staff, they will make sure your stay at the Umaid Mahal will be excellent and assist you with absolutely anything you want. Honestly, for all of the difficult work they do at the Umaid Mahal, they truly deserve to be tipped.
With all that being said, I thought this hotel was a true gem among all the hotels in Jaipur. The rooms are a great size and the lighting and walls are decorated in true Rajasthani fashion.
The bed was big enough for two adults (I am a tall and heavy guy, and the bed was plenty spacious for both my wife and I) and had a comfortable matress. The bed sheets and towels are refreshed daily, and the linens were better than many American hotels I have stayed in.
The bathrooms are also beautifully designed, our restroom was in green marble and was immaculately cleaned every afternoon. The showers have POWERFUL water pressure and terrific temperature control (both of these traits are rare in many parts of India and should not be taken for granted).
If you want to go somewhere else besides the hotel restaurant, the staff will also be extremely willing to help you find great restaurants near the hotel. There are many restaurants nearby the hotel that will cater towards any palate, and you can get the staff to help you if you just want to order a pizza (we ordered from a local pizza place often and amazingly the pizza got to our hotel in less than 20 minutes even though the restaurant was a good distance away by car and traffic....I would highly recommend this place for Americans or Brits missing a good slice of pizza).
If you are in Jaipur, please go visit the MONKEY TEMPLE 15 minutes away from the hotel. You will see some stuff that is totally out of this world over there. Just imagine an entire village in the hills dominated by THOUSANDS of friendly, harmless monkeys that want nothing more than a banana or some peanuts. I was scared at first, but after only 15 minutes I was comfortable enough to be feeding them bananas and peanuts directly from my hand. Just hire a driver for 8 hours (usually only U.S. $10, 6 English Pounds, 8 Euro) and he will surely lead the way to this surreal, magical location.
