Unmatchable Udaipur: Your Perfect Weekend Getaway To Relish In The Best Of Luxury

We were all set to travel after 7 months (Whoa!) & it was our first domestic trip post lockdown in COVID-19, with a little hesitation but with all the safety. We decided to do a night road journey to save on the time of the day and spend the day at the palace. So we had scheduled our pick up from our home at 7.30 pm so that we would reach the palace in the morning around 9 am. This was a Drivecation, where we were to get picked up & dropped off from our doorsteps & 3 nights stay in The Leela Palace. (All the details of the package are mentioned in our Part 1 Blog. Click here if you haven’t read it yet).

Also, If you are finally travelling anywhere post this lockdown in COVID19, do click here & check our detailed guide on, “What To Pack While Travelling Post Lockdown”

As per our bookings & conversations with The Leela Palace manager, our BMW 5 series with 2 chauffeurs was at our building at 4 pm. (yes, before time). Yes, 2 chauffeurs, because they have a protocol if the distance is more than 500 km or 8 hours they send 2 chauffeurs for your & the driver’s comfort & safety. They checked our temperature, oxygen levels & sprayed sanitization on us and then let us in the car. Masks were on & compulsory. We started our journey at 7.30 pm sharp. They had all the booking details – hard copies & car permissions, etc for the check post checking. We were just asked to carry our photo & address proof along with us.

It was a fun drive. The road from Mumbai to Udaipur is amazing. For people having motion sickness also won’t have any issues. Rinnku didn’t step out of the car even once till we reached the palace. Drivers took 2 halts for their tea break & I just stepped out for stretching myself a bit. We reached the Leela palace at 9.15 am. At the Jetty, our boat was ready for us. Before letting us in the boat, they did our temperature & oxygen check for safety reasons. Luggage was taken care of by them & we were to receive our luggage directly in our room after sanitizing it again.

Jetty to the palace takes around 4 to 5 minutes. The first glimpse of Lake Pichola just took our hearts away. So beautiful. Surrounded by – City Palace, Jag Mandir, Taj Palace, Udaivilas & our hotel the Leela, it looked magnificent. Arrival was so heartwarming. They had a traditional welcome with the local traditional singers playing instruments and singing my favorite song – “Padharo ne mare desh”. Do you guys know this beautiful song? If not, definitely listen to this song, it’s so beautiful. This was on the way from the boat to the main entrance of the hotel. The staff was waiting there to welcome us with the Pooja plate to do Tilak and rose petals just started falling on us. Rinnku felt like a Maharani. Like a movie scene where you see Jodha/Padmavati entering & rose petals falling on her to welcome her.

We finished all the check-in formalities which were contactless. You just scan the barcode & you would have all the details on your phone. Be in the information on the hotel, menu, in house dining, optional activities, in-store & salon details, etc. The duty manager took care of us at the check-in and took us to the room & briefed about the safety measures taken by them. The minute we reached our room, we could see the sticker/seal that was on the door which said “Suraksha” on it. This means, the room is sanitized as per government standards & no one has entered the room for more than 24 hours. So, you break open the seal when you open the door. That was the level of safety taken. The safety measures that were taken by the staff was next level. Each & every staff member had a record of the last 15 days of their temperature & oxygen levels. so, you know whoever is entering your room for housekeeping, or you are getting in touch with the people in the restaurant are any kind of infection-free.

The first view of the Room – alas… It was magical. The minute we opened the curtains of the room – the beautiful & magnificent view of Lake Pichola was breathtaking.  On the right – Jag mandir, on the right corner – Udai Vilas, Taj palace on the diagonally left & City Palace looking gorgeous on the left side. We had no plans for the day except going for Lunch, relaxing, chilling in the balcony, listening to music & evening going around the whole palace tour. We went to The Dining Room – their in house dining restaurant for our Lunch. Again, there was no menu, just the barcode scanner to see the whole menu and order from it, to make it contactless. All the precautions were taken mindfully.

The duty manager took us for the Palace tour in the evening. He took us around the whole Palace hotel & also gave us brief information on the palace & the history of Udaipur. And when we were just about to finish the tour, he guided us to one of the corner tables at the border of the lake which had a beautiful view. Yes, that was exactly where her birthday cake was set. Thanks to the staff to manage & arrange it well so that she didn’t have the slightest hint of the same. The decor & the arrangement was simple, elegant & beautiful – just as how I had explained them to be & the cake was so yum. She cut the cake at the Leela Palace Udaipur, with the beautiful picturesque background of lake Pichhola & jag mandir. Forever, thankful to The Leela Palace team for arranging outdoor cake cutting arrangements.

Later in the evening, we went to their fine dining area called – The Library. This place opens at 3 pm. They serve some amazing starters, cocktails, mocktails, pizzas. Here we have to make a special mention of – “Ginger-Ale”. Because Rinnku doesn’t have any cocktails, she wanted to have some mocktail, and we asked them to get their speciality. And when they told Ginger Ale, I wasn’t impressed. But since we like it, we told them to get one for Rinnku along with some beer for Ritesh. After having the first sip of ginger ale, trust me, we both had become a fan of this drink. They freshly pound ginger for this mocktail and the taste was just so fantastic. It definitely needs a special mention here. If you are visiting The Leela Palace, do not miss this one. You will thank us later for sure.

Arun – One of the head staff of The Library – use to make this best drink himself for Rinnku everytime. Thank you Arun 🙂

We ended our day by clicking endless pictures at all the beautiful, aesthetic looking locations in the Palace & sitting by the lakeside & just thanking the Universe for everything. Dinner was our cake. Hahaha! The night view of the lake Pichhola was magnificent with the lights of the palaces in & around the lake. Also, we slept with curtains open so that we can see the glittery lake as soon as we opened our eyes. 🙂

Day 2 – Started at 8 am. We freshened up. Had our morning coffee on the balcony & just looked at the beautiful view from the room. Later we went for our breakfast in the dining room. Breakfast buffets were discontinued for 2 reasons – fewer guests & to keep it contactless. However, you can order anything from their breakfast menu. Trust us, everything was super delicious. After breakfast, we just went for a beautiful walk around the palace. You can’t get over the architecture around.

 At 2.30 pm we were scheduled to go for our sightseeing. We had 3 places on our list, however, we decided to just go to 1 place & return to the hotel. We just wanted to make sure to be safe. We chose to go to Monsoon palace also known as Sajjan Ghar Palace since it was recently reopened for tourists & was not crowded when we checked. Also, the view from that place is mind-blowing. You can see the whole city from the top as it is on the hilltop. Got ready and left for the sightseeing by boat until jetty & our chauffeur was ready with the car at the other end of Lake Pichola to take us around and show the place.

From the Leela Palace to Monsoon palace it took us around 35 minutes (we had taken a little longer route because of some road construction). You buy the ticket at the main gate & you can drive up to the palace. The roads are curvy but beautiful. The curvy drive is for around 5-7 minutes until you reach the parking point.

You would usually need around 45 minutes to 1 hour if you want to see the whole place and click some beautiful pictures & spend some time watching the panoramic view from the top. Also, made some friends. Yes, Ritesh can talk to anyone around and make friends easily. I (Rinnku) can write one whole blog dedicated to this topic with loads of pictures of Ritesh with the locals who are now friends. So, we made friends & they even clicked pics for us & we, of course, had a groupfie moment! 🙂

After leaving from there we were all set to return to The Leela Palace, however, our driver took us around the city to show some famous spots, which we could see from the car itself. So he showed us the market, Babu Bazaar, one of the famous markets for shopping. Most of the shops were opened. There is another equally famous market and it’s called – Bada Bazaar. Planning to see both these markets on our next trip to Udaipur. Because the trips can’t end without shopping for Rinnku. This is the first time that we wouldn’t be picking anything from our holiday. Though, it is still day 2. We have day 3. You never know. Lol.

After we saw the market from our car, we started towards one more lake. Fateh Sagar Lake – also known as Chowpatty of Udaipur. And we thought we would see it from the car. By the time we reached there, trust us – we couldn’t resist getting out of the car. On one side it was the beautiful lake & on the other so many cafe’s, food joints, tea coffee joints and it was so lively. Every food stall played some amazing Bollywood Hollywood songs on high volume and so many youngsters on the lakeside enjoying the view, clicking pictures, laughing, talking, having food, etc. This view was overwhelming because we don’t see people enjoying and moving out, laughing, talking, clicking pictures and eating what they want for too long. This one was overwhelming. Of course, everyone was with masks around.

Yeah, so back to the lake, we got off the car, Ritesh grabbed a Kulhad tea and I started clicking pictures & videos of the food stalls – the majority of the food stalls were named behind Mumbai & Bombay – like Mumbai cafe, Bombay cafe, etc. We also visited 2-3 food stalls and after analyzing, Rinnku finally had food outside the hotel on the roadside food joints after almost 5 months. We went to this food joint named – Vinod Fast Food, which is one of the most famous and talked about food places which serves everything. We had their famous Kulhad Coffee with paneer chilli & cheese garlic toasties.

#FunFacts – Before COVID hit all of us, these food joints used to be so crazily booked & full that even if you wanted to get 1 dish or 1 coffee it would not take anything less than 30 to 45 minutes. And when we were there, we spoke to the owners & it was so painful to know that businesses have hit so hard for them. Also, Udaipur runs majorly on Tourism, their businesses have dropped to 10% of what it used to be. Hope things revive back soon and next time when we visit them again, we wish to see them waiting for food for an hour. 🙂

Back to the current scene – the food was delicious. We spent around an hour and a half at this place. After this, we headed back to our Palace, cosy beds & beautiful views were calling us. While on the way back to our hotel, we took a quick stop at a local jewellers store to buy some Silver Jhumkas which was recommended by the local people. so, we went to this store which was on our way to the hotel and trust us, it was worth the stop. Rinnku picked up around 8 to 10 pairs of earrings in silver hallmarked which are stunning. So finally, our day ended with shopping. If Rinnku is along, shopping is a must-do.

We have shared more details on shopping & places to visit in our previous blog of Udaipur. Click here to read about “The Ultimate Guide To Udaipur”

We reached the jetty & as usual, our boat was ready to take us back to the palace. And we saw some local performance happening at the Rangmanch area of The Leela Palace. Traditional Rajasthani Folk Dance & music is always so much fun. They invited all the guests on the stage who would wish to dance with them and we had so much fun doing it. Rajasthani folk music & dance is very magical. Your feet start tapping automatically. Their clothes are colourful along with so many accessories. It’s like a treat to watch them perform.

After this, we headed straight to our room. We were tired and thought of hitting the bed immediately. But Rinnku had some other plans. After reaching the room, she started unpacking and layering clothes outside. When I asked her, I got to know the surprise she had planned. Yes, a surprise. She had planned a photoshoot by hiring a local Photographer from Udaipur.

I didn’t know if I had to be happy or be sad as I don’t enjoy getting clicked. But I knew this would happen, as expected. Do you remember, in part one I had mentioned that I disclosed the whole plan a week before coz she always had planned to dress up differently for a palace and photoshoot was always on her list? And this time it was her birthday, so I couldn’t tell her a ‘No’. And frankly, it makes me happy & content when she is happy. So yes, Photoshoot it is. 🙂

Day 3 – Started with a clear day. Oh did we tell you that it had rained all day in the afternoon during our stay? However, the day looked quite clear & bright today. All done with breakfast & our shoot was supposed to start at 11.30 am. All excited for the shoot we got dressed up and bam… it started raining. Udaipur rains are not like Mumbai. They fall for a stretch of max 1-2 hours and then the day gets clear again. That’s the usual pattern and we saw that for 2 days as well. So we started by taking some indoor photos and waiting for the rain to go away. This was our first official Photoshoot. It always starts with feeling awkward but it all depends on your photographer who tries and makes you feel comfortable. But here Ritesh made me feel very comfortable and as always broke the ice and by the end of the photoshoot we all 3 started discussing different places for holidays. It was like we knew Praveen – The Photographer from Star Photoworks for ages. After almost an hour and a half, we could go outside for the pictures. But trust us the whole experience was so worth it. After seeing the pictures, even Ritesh agreed that it was worth the efforts. We finished with our shoot by 3 pm. After getting into our comfortable clothes, we realized that we both were super hungry and went to our favourite place of The Leela Palace – The Library – Bar & Fine dining.

We didn’t even have to place our order when they saw us entering, they told us the Gingerale, beer & French fries platter will be on the table soon. 😀 We noticed this not for the first time, but you go to any Leela hotel, the team, staff, and managers are so warm, that if you like something, or ask for something, they will remember it throughout for span of stay and make sure, even if you don’t order it, they will send it to you across just to make you smile. And in this case, The Leela Palace Udaipur was one step forward. The hospitality bars that they have raised is going to be a challenge to be met by other Leela hotels.

 After the brief chit chat beer & Mocktail session, we went for a walk. It was quite breezy for the first time in 3 days. Today we had scheduled our dinner to be a good private Romantic Candlelight dinner date at Sheesh Mahal, one of the fine-dining locations of Udaipur which luckily happens to be inside of The Leela. Just by the lake. So Rinnku was excited because such things excites & makes her happy.

After the walk, we got ready for our dinner date at Sheesh Mahal. If this was winter (December or January) we would have enjoyed it even more. Because it was quite humid in the days we were there. But the food was absolutely out of the box. We couldn’t take any pics or videos of the food, coz it was dark there. But the view was stunning. By now, we both were dead and just wanted to hit the bed. We had to even pack everything as we were to check out the next day. Yes, this was our last night here in this beautiful location in the middle of the lake.

Day 4 – Morning started with packing up the bags, going for breakfast, and then we wanted to just relax and enjoy the view for the last time. We were to leave at 4.30 pm from the hotel to reach the next day morning around 7 am. So, we took a late check out and had a lot of time before we left. After breakfast, we spent some lazing around and then went for a walk on the other side of the palace which has the street going towards the old city. The lanes were narrow & beautiful. Colourful bungalows and big temples were the highlights of the street. After a long walk, we came back and were all set to leave the Palace with a promise to return soon. 🙂 Our both the chauffeurs were ready to drive us down to our home.

On our way, we went to this famous sweet shop to pick some sweets for our families. The 14 hours drive back home was super comfortable and was so refreshing. We will always cherish these four days of our lives which were not only beautiful but full of gratitude & refreshing. Until then, happy wanderlust-ing!