Review of Fateh Prakash, by Caroline Major

No matter what time of year you arrive, Udaipur is splendid. Indian princes have lived here for centuries leaving a wealth of palaces, which, in post-Imperial india are run as hotels. The Fatah Prakash is another in which the Maharajah still chooses to live, while renting the rest of it out to the HRH hotels group, a chain of luxury palace hotels in India.

The Palace, in two separate wings, faces the lake, and then backs onto the piazza with the more ancient Fort and its City Palace. On the third quarter of the hill on which royalty built their residences is the Shiv Niwas hotel, in another wing of the same palace which houses the Fatah Prakash. Run by the same hotel group, the two hotels share some facilities. The swimming pool is one that you will want to use. Set in a fabulous Moorish courtyard, amongst frangipani trees, you can get one of the best lime sodas in Rajasthan here.

The facilities

In the main part of the hotel, alongside the superior rooms, there is a museum housing the Maharani's collection of crystal. This collection is not just a few chandeliers and ornaments, but includes a crystal bed and a throne amongst other horrors. If you feel like giving yourself yet another Indian shock, pay the 200 rupees for a visit. The hotel considers the 'Crystal Gallery' such an attraction that even guests must pay, and consequently you have to suffer streams of tourists traipsing through the hotel passageways to get to the door, deep inside the palace.

There are four different areas where guests can choose to dine at the luxury hotel. The Gallery Restaurant is the main dining facility and serves a range of continental cuisine. For a more formal dining experience visit Durbar Hall. The Sunset Terrace overlooks Lake Pichola.

The rooms

Inside the luxury hotel Fateh Prakash, the rooms, like many others in this category of heritage hotel, are time-capsules dedicated to the last Marahajas' taste, or in this case, the Maharani. If you've money to burn, ask for one of the seven suites in the Dovecote wing. They retain the Indian antique furnishings, and some rather pleasant original Mewar paintings. Expect these rooms to be a little threadbare, but also consider it part of the charm. The newer, standard rooms are modern and furnished in the Indian style, and some also deliver lake views. You may need these to restore a little tranquillity: the staff at this hotel provides little respite from the Indian hustlers. Outside the safety of your room, you will be constantly asked to eat in a restaurant, drink in the bar, or partake in some other luxury hotel activity.