The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur Review

Udaipur is a city of lakes, and Udaivilas faces the most celebrated of them. The hotel stands on the shore of Lake Pichola, directly opposite the City Palace, whose long pale facade fills the far bank, with the island palace of Jagmandir out on the water and the Aravalli hills on the horizon. The view moves with the day: soft in the haze of a winter morning, golden in the late afternoon, and after dark a line of lights along the old city, doubled in the lake beyond the hotel's lit gardens. The hotel can be reached by road, but it recommends arriving on its private boat across the lake, and the short crossing sets the tone for the stay. The concierge arranges boat transfers to the old city as well, close enough for an easy visit and far enough away that none of its noise reaches the gardens. The setting is part of daily life here. The terraces and lawns are turned towards the water, the rooms and suites with a City Palace view look straight across it, and much of the pleasure of Udaivilas lies in stepping outside and finding the lake at the end of the garden.

Udaivilas is a modern hotel built in the language of the old Mewar palaces, and it takes that tradition seriously. Instead of a single grand block, it unfolds as a sequence of domes, pavilions, courtyards and colonnaded walkways, a layout Oberoi says echoes Udaipur itself, whose lakes are linked by canals. Water runs through the whole composition: reflecting pools edged with bougainvillea, a sunburst fountain in a basin of blue tiles at the head of a terraced water channel, and courtyards where the fountains glow after dark. Craftsmanship keeps it from feeling like a stage set. Oberoi's own account of the building describes walls finished in ghutai, a traditional lime plaster polished by hand, with mirror inlay and carved marble screens. The lobby rises to a gilded dome above a crystal chandelier and a marble fountain; a curving staircase winds around a painted landscape of wooded hills and a hilltop fort; and long corridors of carved pillars and scalloped arches, lit by hanging lanterns, link the wings. Evening brings out the theatre in the architecture. The domes turn gold against the sky, the great floral inlay of the courtyard floor is lit between carved pavilions, and the walk to dinner becomes part of the occasion. Give the hotel time on arrival: it reveals itself courtyard by courtyard, and it deserves to be seen once in daylight and again after dark.

Much of the 30 acres is given over to gardens, and they give Udaivilas its sense of space and calm. Lawns slope towards the lake beneath old trees, stone paths run between lily ponds and reflecting pools, bougainvillea spills over the balustrades in pink and magenta, and from almost any point a dome or a chhatri rises above the treeline. In the early morning, with mist on the lake and the hills pale beyond it, the grounds feel like the park of a private palace. The peacocks complete the picture. They roam the property freely, crossing the lawns, walking the garden paths and wandering onto the terraces between the tables, and they were one of the details Via Privata enjoyed most during the stay. The peacock is India's national bird and a recurring figure in Rajasthani painting, and seeing one move through gardens laid out in the manner of a Mewar palace gives the setting a life no landscaping could supply. The gardens are at their best in the first hours after sunrise and again in the late afternoon, when the light softens, the stone warms in colour and the peacocks are out on the lawns. A slow walk at either hour, ending on a terrace above the lake, is one of the simplest pleasures the hotel offers.

Udaivilas is above all a hotel of rooms: there are only five suites, and the choice among the four room categories turns less on the interior, which they share, than on the view and what lies beyond the door. All are decorated with Mewar-inspired details and have a king bed and a marble bathroom with a freestanding bathtub. The Premier Room, the most numerous category, looks over the gardens from a cushioned bay window seat, and its bathroom looks onto a private, sun-dappled courtyard. The Premier Room with Pool View has the same window seat, facing the main pool, its Mewari-style courtyard and the lawns, and a private courtyard with access to the main pool. The two categories with a semi-private pool are the ones that define Udaivilas: each has a private terrace that leads straight into a pool, temperature-controlled from November to the beginning of March. Semi-private means what it says: each pool is shared by a group of neighbouring rooms, not reserved for a single one. The Premier Garden View Room with Semi-Private Pool looks over the gardens, with no lake view, and has sun loungers on its terrace; the Premier City Palace View Room with Semi-Private Pool, of which there are only ten, looks across Lake Pichola to the City Palace. The five suites are another proposition. The four Luxury Suites with Private Pool, at 116 square metres, have a living room, a dining room, a private courtyard and a ten-metre pool of their own, with space to dine outdoors, a freestanding bathtub, a steam shower and a butler around the clock; their outlook takes in the lake, the City Palace and the Aravalli hills. The single Kohinoor Suite with Private Pool, at 246 square metres, adds a second bedroom, a 20-metre temperature-controlled pool and a private courtyard facing the lake, under gold-domed ceilings with mirror mosaics and hand-carved marble screens. For most couples, the Premier City Palace View Room with Semi-Private Pool is the room to book: it brings together the lake view and the water that define the hotel without the step up to a suite. With only ten in the hotel, it should be reserved early. The Garden View version suits guests who care more about the pool than the view, and the Premier Room, with its private courtyard, is an elegant entry point. For a honeymoon or a milestone, a Luxury Suite with Private Pool is the step up, and the Kohinoor Suite is the most extravagant stay in the hotel.

Dining at Udaivilas is shaped by its setting. Suryamahal, the daytime restaurant, serves Western and Indian dishes from breakfast onwards beneath a dome painted with sky and clouds, and from October to March it extends onto Chandni, an open-air terrace with a sweeping view of the City Palace across Lake Pichola, where evenings come with live traditional music. On a winter night, weather permitting, Chandni is the table to book first. Mewar by Vineet is the Indian restaurant, mentored by the Michelin-starred chef Vineet Bhatia. Its à la carte menu puts millets, legumes and foraged greens at the centre, with dishes slow-cooked over coal or in clay pots, and the hotel advises reserving it well ahead. The Bar, open from noon to midnight, sits beneath traditional arches and domes and looks over the gardens to the lake. The Promenade, an open-air lakeside bar reserved for resident guests, serves grills and tandoor snacks from 6 pm, and it is the natural place for a drink as the lights come on across the water. Private dining is where the setting becomes the occasion. Dinner at the Lakeside Pavilion is served with live traditional music and night views of the City Palace and Jagmandir, and the Private Dinner by the Pool, for two to four guests, is laid beneath a carved dome. Both need arranging in advance, and for an anniversary or a honeymoon either is worth one of the evenings.

Water is as central to the leisure facilities as it is to the architecture. Udaivilas has two temperature-controlled pools with Mughal-inspired design: the 27-metre main pool, which Architectural Digest India described as the hotel's interpretation of the baoli, Rajasthan's traditional stepwell, in cobalt tiles with sandstone columns, and a second pool by the spa, reserved for adults. Add the semi-private and private pools of the rooms and suites, and water is never more than a few steps away. The spa now runs under Asmi by Oberoi, the wellness concept the hotel introduced in October 2025, after Via Privata's stay, so what follows describes the current offer rather than the 2024 visit. Asmi takes its name from the Sanskrit for "I am", and its programme rests on movement, nutrition, bodywork, breathwork and mindfulness. It is reserved for resident guests aged 16 and over, it is free of phones and Wi-Fi, and it has private treatment rooms and couples' suites; the signature massage uses warm kasa bowls. Treatments should be requested 24 hours ahead. The fitness centre is in the spa building, looking over the gardens, yoga is offered daily with private sessions on request, and a tennis court suits guests who want something more energetic between afternoons by the pool.

Oberoi built its reputation on service, and the phrase the hotel uses for its own style, warmth and attention to detail, describes it fairly: attentive and gracious, never stiff. Butler service is available around the clock, the suites have a dedicated butler, and the concierge handles everything from boat transfers across the lake to private dinners and spa bookings. Scale helps. With fewer than a hundred rooms and suites spread across 30 acres, the hotel never feels busy, and guests disperse into the courtyards, terraces and gardens. For all the grandeur of the domes and fountains, the mood is closer to a private palace than a large resort, and in the evening the lit domes and the lights across the lake do most of the work.

Couples and honeymooners are the natural guests. The setting is one of the most romantic in India, the private dinners are designed for two, and a room with a semi-private pool or a suite with a pool of its own brings the water to the door. For architecture and design lovers, Udaivilas is among the most accomplished modern interpretations of a Rajasthani palace, and its courtyards and water gardens reward slow exploration. For luxury travellers touring Rajasthan, it is a natural place to pause: after the cities and the long drives, it is somewhere to stop and stay put. Two nights is the minimum and three is better, with one day given to the old city and at least one full day spent at the hotel itself. Aim for the Premier City Palace View Room with Semi-Private Pool, or a Luxury Suite for an occasion, and book well ahead for the months from October to March, when the weather is at its best and Chandni is open. Udaivilas also sits well within a longer itinerary. Udaipur has direct flights from Delhi and Mumbai, and on Via Privata's own journey through northern India it followed Amanbagh, a pairing that moves from Aman's quiet walled retreat to Oberoi's palace on the lake. On Oberoi's circuit, it pairs naturally with Amarvilas in Agra and The Oberoi Rajvilas in Jaipur, for a trip that keeps one standard of service from the first night to the last.

The Oberoi Udaivilas is one of the most beautiful hotels in India, and few hotels anywhere bring architecture, landscape and setting together so completely. The domes and courtyards, the water gardens and lawns running down to Lake Pichola, the City Palace on the far shore and the peacocks wandering through it all made Via Privata's stay particularly memorable. The service has Oberoi's polish, the restaurants make full use of the setting, and much of the pleasure lies outside the room, which is why the categories with a semi-private pool are worth booking. The cautions are practical ones: the hotel sits across the lake from the old city, not within it, and the most sought-after rooms, Chandni's terrace and the private dinners all need booking well ahead.