Umaid Bhawan Palace

Umaid Bhawan Palace is a vast building of golden desert sandstone set in 26 acres of gardens in Jodhpur, and it remains one of the largest private homes in the world. It was built by Maharaja Umaid Singh, and the royal family still lives in its own wing while Taj runs the rest as a hotel. The style is Art Deco throughout, which gives it a character quite unlike the older fort and palace hotels of India. Beneath a 45-metre dome, the hotel wing holds rooms and suites looking over the gardens, the pool, the city or Mehrangarh Fort. Pillars, the all-day restaurant, opens onto the Baradari lawns, where peacocks wander at breakfast. Risala takes its name and decoration from Jodhpur's cavalry regiment, and the Trophy Bar keeps the memorabilia of the old hunting days. There are three pools, among them the subterranean Zodiac Pool, along with a spa offering Indian therapies and yoga, a palace museum, marble squash courts and a billiards room. Butlers can take guests out through the city in a vintage car, and dinners are laid out under the night sky with desert music.