On a scorching afternoon in March 1889, the Jungle Book author Rudyard Kipling landed in Singapore, and immediately fell foul of the city.
‘I want to go back to India,’ he wrote upon arrival. He found British society there intolerable and felt that the heat was like ‘an orchid house’ with a ‘clinging, remorseless, steam-sweat that knows no variation between night and day.’ Singapore’s only redeeming feature, thought Kipling, was the newly opened Raffles hotel, whose white imperial façades with dark teak verandas proved the perfect place to wait out the heat. ‘Let the traveller take note,’ Kipling scribbled in a letter to The Pioneer newspaper. When in Singapore: ‘Feed at Raffles.’
Almost 150 years later, Kipling would be thrilled to learn that Raffles has finally expanded into India. Two Raffles properties now adorn India’s western province of Rajasthan – one in the lake city of Udaipur and another in the pink city of Jaipur – and together they form a brilliant new vantage point from which to explore the region. For me, the chance to visit the two cities once again proved irresistible.
The Indian capital of Delhi has been my home for 20 years now, and nearby Jaipur calls me back year after year. Udaipur, on the other hand, is a place I only distantly recall from
a childhood visit 15 years ago. With Raffles beckoning me, it was time to hit the road again for Rajasthan.
I arrived in Udaipur just days after the end of the monsoon, and the lakes of the city were full to the brim. The natural world has always loomed large in Udaipur and, 300 years ago, the old masters of the city’s miniature painting atelier began creating vivid paintings that sought to evoke the moods (bhava) of the local palaces, lakes and mountains. In 2023, these paintings were the subject of a spectacular show, A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur, at the Smithsonian in Washington, yet by far the greatest of Udaipur’s paintings remain in situ, frescoed onto the walls of the City Palace on the east bank of Lake Pichola.
Udaipur is not new to tourism, and for those who long to explore the many monuments in the old city, there are far more central places to stay within Udaipur itself. Raffles knows this, and instead of trying to compete with historic hotels such as the Taj Lake Palace, the Raffles Udaipur delivers something a little different by offering guests unparalleled access to nature. Located on a 21-acre private island, it is surrounded by maize farms and forested hills, and is but a short distance out of town, reached by battery-powered boat across the Udai Sagar Lake. It feels as if you’ve stepped into a national park and the property is alive with wildlife – herons, bulbuls, lapwings and dragonflies.
The hotel itself is a baroque take on Indo-Saracenic architecture – with Rajput chattris flanking Italian gardens and Doric pillars. Built to feel more like a country estate than a typical Rajasthani palace, it is a sort of cross between a Roman villa and a Mughal summer palace. As
I crossed the threshold, exhausted after my long flight, I was showered by a cascade of rose petals and handed a delicious gin cocktail. Then, I was introduced to the butler who would manage my stay and whisked off to the spa, where an Ayurvedic massage treatment awaited.
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What followed was Raffles luxury at its finest. After my massage, I returned to my room to find a herbal bath waiting for me, and then afternoon tea arrived – watermelon and feta, lemon meringue, passion fruit and chocolate. But this was nothing compared to dinner in the restaurant, of course, and the matera hara pyaaz – an unusual watermelon curry specific to the region – was worth the trip alone.
The real draw of Raffles Udaipur, however, is the surrounding nature. The next morning, the hotel’s on-site naturalist, Aviraj Singh Chauhan, took me for a morning hike through the neighbouring hills to visit one of the area’s most sacred medieval temples. Through a landscape of neem and acacia trees, we passed an overgrown hunting lodge whose domes and columns were fretted with moss and lichen. As women wearing dark red dupattas and laden with tinder for their homes passed us, we began to climb higher and higher, the Udai Sagar Lake below stretching out before us in all its glory. Finally, we reached the Sukheshwar Mahadev temple, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, and Chauhan began to pray. ‘There is a belief that if you make a wish here, it will always come true,’ he told me after a short silence. ‘I come every day – particularly Mondays, which are Lord Shiva’s special day. I come every morning for meditation and can always find peace here.’
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After prayers, Chauhan handed me a bottle of fresh watermelon juice, and we set off down the hill again. That was when he pointed out a leopard pugmark on the footpath. ‘It’s a few days old,’ he explained. ‘There’s no need to worry. Leopards are shy creatures and will always run away if you get too close.’ Then he stopped and put his finger to his ear. ‘Can you hear that?’ he whispered. ‘That’s the song of the purple sunbird.’ And so began the remainder of our hike, which consisted of Chauhan pointing out about 40 different bird species nesting on the top of the hill: swifts, cuckoos, bulbuls, white-throated kingfishers, cattle egrets, pond herons and white two-tailed swallows.
If Raffles Udaipur is all about nature, Raffles Jaipur offers something entirely different. Indeed, Jaipur itself is a very different sort of town: a proud and bustling state capital, lined with palaces and pink walls, teeming with life and energy. Whereas Udaipur has always prided itself on its fierce independence, the royal family of Jaipur were the Mughals’ closest allies in the subcontinent, becoming leaders of the imperial army and viceroys of the Deccan. The modern city dates from 1727, when the maharaja set about building India’s first planned city since the downfall of the Indus Valley Civilisation in 2000BC. It was built along the ancient Hindu architecture principles of Vastu Shastra, and populated by craftsmen – even today, there are districts full of gem cutters
or idol sculptors. Jaipur has also long been Rajasthan’s most international city, and after a long day perusing the bazaars, it is possible to end up at an international designer’s boutique, or a beautiful cocktail bar overlooking a medieval courtyard. As in London or Berlin, it is the intersection of history and modernity that makes Jaipur so endlessly fascinating.
Situated just outside the old city of Amer, Raffles Jaipur is less sprawling than its Udaipur counterpart, but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in refinement. The central atrium, with its towering travellers palms and marble-clad interiors, is a showstopper. There’s a flute player in one of the jharokhas, and the pastel blue Writers Bar is one of the best new drinking spots in the city (the Jaipur Sling cocktail is a must). Bone-inlay minibars and hot tubs are standard, even in the base category rooms, and the Rajmata and Maharani suites take things to another level, offering 24-hour butler service, private plunge pools and sweeping views over the Aravalli Hills. The aesthetic feels like a love letter to Jaipur’s royal history, and Raffles Jaipur strikes the perfect balance between heritage and modernity.
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The hotel’s best feature, however, is its charismatic head chef Jaydeep Patil. Eloquent and excitable, he has worked in Michelin-starred kitchens around the world, on top of having published a book on wildlife photography that explores the coexistence of humans and animals. A native of Miraj, Maharashtra, where his father ran a raisin farm, Patil recalls how his relationship with food began in the most organic way possible. ‘I grew up cooking on open fires,’ he says. ‘My father taught me to cook outdoors and I’ve carried that with me, even to Raffles.’
Patil talks excitedly about his attempts to marry global culinary techniques with local ingredients – an example being the airy focaccia made in the kitchen, using karachi wheat from a saline belt near Jodhpur. ‘India has such a vast palate profile to work with. People want real food – food that tells a story.’
His latest endeavour involves working with rare teas, siphoning smoke from expensive blends to use as aromatics. Yet his philosophy is refreshingly grounded. ‘For some chefs, it’s all about presentation, the colours and textures. But for me, it’s the flavours. The most important word in cooking is immersion,’ he says. ‘There was this old woman I met who made chutney out of okra seeds and tempered with cumin, ghee and coriander. We now serve an okra tempura with that chutney.’
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With my stomach full, I set out to see all my old haunts. The old medieval city of Amer is just 15 minutes from the hotel, and the Amer Fort, a Unesco World Heritage Site, is undoubtedly one of the greatest fortresses in the world. Built by the Hindu general of the Muslim Mughal army, it’s a fascinating blend of Persian and Indian aesthetics that kept me occupied for hours. Indeed, millions of people visit Amer Fort every year, but remarkably few venture into the town below – and that is what I set out to do. Amer is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in all of India, littered with hundreds of temples – both Hindu and Jain – as well as spectacular havelis and a high Mughal mosque. The Sun Temple actually has a 9th-century inscription, indicating that worship has continued here for more than 1,000 years – and yet, when I visit, I have it all to myself.
Amer’s real highlight, though, is the extra-ordinary Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing,
fitted into a 16th-century haveli and dedicated to the traditional art of hand-block printing. It showcases clothing styles from the area and even offers guests a chance to learn some
techniques. But perhaps the most fascinating section is the one that showcases Jaipur’s role in the 1960s counterculture movement, and to which Anokhi owes its foundation. The story goes that Rajput motorbike-enthusiast Jatinder ‘John’ Singh was amazed when he met Faith Hardy, a rebellious Irishwoman who had ridden the ‘hippie trail’ to Jaipur and the two soon
fell in love. Together, the couple leased out the basement of Rambagh Palace from Jaipur’s royal family and set up a nightclub called The Fertile Egg, which they touted as ‘India’s first psychedelic disco’. When this failed, they turned their efforts to reviving crafts endangered by the collapse of princely patronage, and the result was Anokhi, a brand that still remains to this day.
Rajasthan, in all its multifaceted glory, continues to draw visitors back. Whether to the serene escape of Udaipur or the vibrant social energy of Jaipur, this state keeps enticing you
to return. Rajasthan remains one of the world’s most captivating destinations, and now, with Raffles’ second coming, it’s more luxurious than ever. Kipling would have loved it here.
This feature was first published in the February 2025 issue of Tatler
