One experience we wanted to enjoy on this trip was the chance to stay in a Heritage House Hotel and with its rich Rajasthan history and the Maharajas love for opulence and grandeur, Jaipur seemed like a good place to try one.

We considered trying to stay at the hotel where The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel had been filmed but found several places claiming that distinction. Castle Kanota was actually the site of filming for The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel starring Richard Gere in the lead. Its location 15 km from the city center made it an impractical choice for us. The original Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was filmed in part at Pearl Palace Heritage Boutique Hotel and while it is in the city and gets excellent reviews, we had read there was ongoing construction and decided against staying there.

After some discussions with our Cox & Kings representative we decided on the Shahpura House Hotel. It turned out to be a very romantic Hotel in a nice quiet Jaipur neighborhood not too far removed from the main attractions of the city. We received very good service from everyone from the very large Punjabi Doorman with his handlebar mustache, regal turban, little red vest, harem pants and a sweet disposition to front desk agents to housekeeping and the restaurant staff including multiple Chefs.

Shahpura House is a lovely heritage building with some over-the-top decorations in some of the public rooms. The ground floor level included a traditional billiards room and wood paneled bar like one would expect in a grand early 20th century English estate. There was a long hallway from the front of the hotel to the back, which passed by a public sitting room with virtually every square foot covered in gold. That room was the center piece of an interior courtyard bordered by the rooms of the first 4 floors.

We were celebrating our anniversary on this trip so we splurged a bit on the room and booked a Royal Suite. The suite included a comfortable sitting area, a large bedroom with a king size four-poster bed, a very nice bathroom and featured really beautiful carved marble lattice panels separating the sitting room from the bedroom. We also enjoyed the use of a private covered porch with table and chairs and a (purely decorative) antique organ just outside the entry door.

All the rooms on our level shared a terrace/promenade that offered additional outdoor seating. As mentioned in our Jaipur Food page; on a couple evenings we delighted in sitting on the terrace watching the music, dance and puppet show at the Rasa Restaurant below while we were enjoying Bombay Sapphire Gin & tonic and being treated to the fireworks celebrating weddings all across the entire city.

Our suite was on the 5th (top) level of the older wing of the hotel. Over the course of our 4-days there we took the opportunity for a quick look into some other rooms on our floor. What I think was a Jr. Suite was not quite as large as our room but was of a decent size and while it didn’t have the private outdoor space; as noted there was shared outdoor terrace and I think most guests would be satisfied with that room.

But what I think was a standard room was very small and I think some people looking for a luxury heritage property would have likely been disappointed with that room. We didn’t get a chance to see an example of a Shahpura Suite, the largest (and most expensive) accommodation but if the Royal Suite is any indication, I’m sure it was quite nice.