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Over the past 10 years, I’ve taken countless trips to India with my husband Rahul, who grew up in New Delhi. Throughout our travels, we’ve stayed at some of the most beautiful hotels in the country, everywhere from Mumbai to Goa to the Himalayas. But in our search for a truly Indian experience, some of these amazing retreats have come up short. Many of the newer hotels are a little too modern, and some of the older heritage properties are still shaped by their colonial past: a polo bar here, a ballroom there.
That’s why Rahul and I were especially delighted when we checked into the new Raffles Jaipur to celebrate his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary last month. Located just outside the Rajasthani capital’s bustling Old City, the 50-room hotel opened in July as the second Raffles property in India, following Raffles Udaipur in 2021. But even though it’s newly constructed, it still feels steeped in Rajasthani tradition—largely because it’s modeled after a zenana, or a queen’s palace.
Back in the state’s pre-colonial days of the Rajput and Mughal empires, which spanned from the 16th to the 19th centuries, queens’ palaces were built adjacent or in close proximity to the king’s palaces. They were secluded yet incredibly grand sanctuary homes for the queens to conduct their lives. This system had its flaws, of course: Queens were expected to remain within the confines of their palaces except for certain religious ceremonies or public events. At the same time, though, royal women were respected as powerful patrons and curators of the art world. And that’s the spirit the team behind Raffles Jaipur seeks to honor with this property.
“Staying here means you get to live like a royal,” Binny Sebastian, the hotel’s general manager, told me over a cup of morning chai during my visit. “The property was not built as a hotel, it was built as a royal home…we call it a reimagined modern-day palace. We don’t want people to get confused and think they’re coming to a heritage property…everything here is very Indian. Very local.”
That sentiment was evident throughout my stay, starting with the design and decor itself. Walking around the palace feels like walking back through time, back to an era when Rajasthani opulence reigned supreme. It’s hand-carved from pure white marble, for starters. And much like lavish palaces centuries ago, it’s also heavy on the intricate scalloped archways, handpainted walls and domed ceilings, elegant marble inlays, and interior balconies in the hallways, which were originally built for queens to watch what was going on in the streets below their quarters. Beautiful jaali, a type of richly detailed latticework that lets in the light while helping maintain privacy, is everywhere. These architectural elements look especially majestic on the expansive rooftop, which also features a serene infinity pool and sweeping panoramic views of the green Aravalli Hills below.
In keeping with the royal home theme, all of the rooms are slightly different and filled with an eclectic mix of Rajasthani decor specialties handcrafted by skilled artisans, including vibrant rugs woven in Jaipur, mirrored doors, block print curtains, and luxurious gold finishings. Minimalist they are not. But because it’s Raffles, they’re also filled with modern-day luxury touches, including digitized blackout shades controlled by a button near the bed, and outdoor soaking tubs or plunge pools. Since our group took up three rooms (Rahul and I, his parents, and his sister Priya), we enjoyed going between them and noticing who got what and where. I was especially partial to Priya’s handpainted pastel peach walls, as they reminded me of Hawa Mahal, Jaipur’s iconic pink sandstone palace that’s arguably its most photographed building.
That’s one of the quintessential joys of staying at Raffles Jaipur: It truly mirrors the Old City itself (minus the hustle and bustle of it all). We visited multiple queens’ quarters in town throughout our stay, including those at Hawa Mahal, Amber Fort, and City Palace, and coming back to the property after learning about each zenana not only felt like entering a calm oasis, it also made the whole build feel extra authentic. It all checks out.
Even the food at Raffles Jaipur is a love letter to Rajasthani royal life. As the daughter-in-law of an incredible Punjabi cook, I will always tell you that the best restaurant in all of India is my husband’s childhood home in Delhi. But Arkaa, the property’s North Indian restaurant, is now a close runner-up—and Rahul’s whole family agrees. Soon after we arrived at the hotel, we popped into the restaurant for a “light snack” before heading out on our first adventure to the nearby Amber Fort. But once we saw the menu, our plans quickly derailed. Everything looked so good that we ended up ordering an absolute feast, filled with elevated local specialties like do phool (a combo of crispy mushrooms, truffle oil, and malai broccoli, a Mughal appetizer where broccoli florets are marinated in cream); paneer soola rolls (spicy grilled paneer wrapped in flatbread), and paan patta chaat (chaat, an iconic and flavorful North Indian street snack, with surprising additions like avocado and quinoa puffs).
We happened to visit Jaipur during Navratri, a Hindu festival that honors the goddess Durga and calls for a vegetarian diet for nine days, so we didn’t even order any meat—but didn’t notice its absence, either. While Rajasthan does do meat very well (especially laal maas, a traditional mutton curry), it’s also known for its vegetarian cuisine, as the state’s dry climate makes it quite hard to raise livestock. Locals tend to rely primarily on drought-resistant legumes and grains like bajra (millet) and jowar (sorghum) as a result, and have also cultivated various vegetable preservation techniques over the years, including pickling and sun-drying. As evidenced by our major overorder, and subsequent overeating, the chefs at Arkaa know and honor these traditions all too well.
There are three other restaurants on property, too: Safir, a tea and champagne lounge; Sehara, an Italian-inspired rooftop bar; and the Writer’s Bar, a Raffles staple across all their properties. We had an especially fun time at the Writer’s Bar, thanks to Prince the bartender who insisted we try multiple cocktails including the bar’s signature Jaipur Sling. Raffles Singapore created the original Singapore Sling in 1915, but the Jaipur version features a local herbal alcohol infused with saffron, in addition to Indian gin, pineapple juice, lime, and orange liqueur. Once Prince learned that my father-in-law loves saffron, he brought us all a small sampling of the saffron liqueur to try on its own, and let’s just say it was very… potent. I hit the treadmill at the hotel gym the next morning, and am pretty sure I was sweating out notes of saffron. (Of note: While celebrating Navratri typically means skipping alcohol for nine days as well as meat, Rahul’s family made an exception for cocktails on this trip.)
But saffron and slings aside, perhaps the best part of Raffles Jaipur was the overall hospitality. The Raffles brand is known for dedicated butler service in all of its hotels around the world—and considering luxury hotels across India are already celebrated for their own exceptional service, the India-meets-Raffles combo brought it all to new levels. My family shared a sweet and incredibly caring butler named Geeta, who WhatsApped me to introduce herself before we arrived and was there for us throughout our stay. She checked in on us while we were out exploring to see how our day was going, made all of our various meal reservations including a big family breakfast in our suite one morning, and helped me switch the time of my spa treatment at the last minute. (And good thing she did: My Maharani Retreat, or Queen’s Retreat, was an indulgent two-hour journey featuring fragrant rose and saffron oils, plus a detox scrub made from wild tulsi, turmeric, and other local spices and herbs. A genuinely royal affair.)
Most memorable of all, though, Geeta and her team arranged a surprise celebration for my in-laws’ 50th wedding anniversary, complete with a chocolate cake and a live santoor performance. The santoor player was even able to play one of my father-in-law’s favorite romantic Hindi songs, “Yeh Raaten Yeh Mausam”. And true to form, Geeta took it upon herself to document the entire occasion, which included creative directing our family photo with the staff and leaving a framed copy in all three rooms on our last day. As we drove back to New Delhi that night, Rahul and I agreed that we’d finally found what we were looking for: a truly Indian hotel experience. Bonus points for the royal treatment.
