Lake Palace Hotel in Udaipur

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The Lake Palace Hotel in Udaipur is located on Jag Niwas Island on Lake Pichola. It is one the most popular hotel in Udaipur. The hotel is spread across 4 acres of natural rock formation of the island. The property is owned by the Taj Group of Hotels and part of the chain of Luxury Hotels owned by the group. The City Palace that was built by Maharana Jagat Singh II, who was the 62nd successor of the royal dynasty of Mewar, was transformed into this beautiful 83 rooms hotel by the Taj Group. The hotel operates special boats to transport its guest from the shores of the lake to the hotel.

History of Udaipur Lake Palace Hotel

Maharana Jagat Singh II started to build this unique palace made of white marble in the year 1743. It took three years to complete and finally the palace was inaugurated in 1764 through an extravagant celebration that lasted for three days. The Maharana, who was a good friend of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, encouraged his craftsmen to copy from the Mughal architectures of Agra. The palace was strategically constructed facing the east so that the inhabitants can pray to the Sun god at the dawn. Legends have that Jagat Singh II built this palace to hold a picnic along with his friends. Subsequently the palace was used by the rulers as their summer palace. They used the palace to hold their royal durbars at the courtyard that are lined decorated columns, with pillared terraces. The palace is decorated with beautifully maintained gardens and exquisite fountains. The upper room of the palace is round shaped that are 21 feet in diameter. The floor of the room is made with black and white marble and the walls are decorated with different colored stones. The architecture of the room reminds of the style of Taj Mahal but the design and decoration follows the Hindu traditions.

The palace has witnessed many events during all these years. During the time of Sepoy Mutiny many European families took shelter in the island. Maharana Swaroop Singh offered them the shelter and destroyed the boats in the lake so that the rebels could not reach the island. At the later half of the 19th century the palace started to decay because of weather and lack of maintenance. Though during the reign of Bhopal Singh another pavilion Chandra Prakash was added, the palace otherwise remained neglected. It was Bhagat Singh who decided to convert the palace to the first luxury hotel of Udaipur. Didi contractor, an American artist, was appointed as the design consultant of the hotel. The decision to turn the palace into a hotel was taken only to ensure proper maintenance.

Lake Palace Hotel, Uaipur

In the year 1971, Taj Group took over the management of the hotel. They have added 75 more rooms. The palace was restored into one of the finest luxury hotels in the world with state of the art modern facilities while keeping the royal charm of the palace intact. The 'Royal Butlers' who serve the guests at the hotel are the descendents of the original palace retainers. The hotel played hosts to many distinguished guests including Queen Elizabeth and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Major portion of the James Bond movie 'Octopussy' was shot at the Lake Palace hotel in Udaipur.