Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / India / Jaipur / Rambagh Palace
Rambagh Palace
Jaipur, India · Taj Hotels · Grand Luxury
Built in 1835 as a garden pavilion for a royal handmaiden and steadily expanded into a maharaja's principal residence by 1925, Rambagh Palace became India's first luxury palace hotel when Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II opened it to guests in 1957. Taj Hotels took over management in 1972, retaining 78 rooms and suites across 47 acres of Mughal gardens where peacocks still roam freely; guests of Lord Mountbatten, Jacqueline Kennedy and Prince Charles have all stayed within its walls.
- 78 rooms
- Opened 1957
- Neighborhood: Adarsh Nagar
- Architect: Samuel Swinton Jacob
About Rambagh Palace
- The palace grounds cover 47 acres, making it one of the few Indian palace hotels where ornamental Mughal gardens surround the building on all sides; peacocks have roamed the lawns continuously since the property was first established.
- Taj deliberately reduced the room count after taking over, cutting from 104 to 78, to upgrade each room individually, prioritising quality over inventory at a time when most hotel operators would have added keys.
- The Suryavanshi Suite, Rambagh's grandest presidential suite, was originally the private chamber of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II, who by 1940 had furnished it with Lalique fountains, Belgian cut glass and Italian marble statues imported from Europe.
- The Polo Bar occupies one of the two original flanking rooms of the central Durbar Hall in the 1835 structure, the same room from which the Maharaja would watch matches on the grounds, giving it an unbroken connection to Jaipur's polo culture.
History
Rambagh Palace began in 1835 as a garden house in the Rambagh orchards south of Jaipur's walls, first for the wet nurse of Prince Ram Singh II, then enlarged by Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II for Kesar Badaran, attendant to the queen. By the late nineteenth century it was a hunting lodge and guesthouse in forested country. Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob recast it as an Indo-Saracenic palace of pink sandstone, chhatris, and courtyards. By 1925 it was the principal residence of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II, who lived here with Maharani Gayatri Devi.
A coronation ceremony was held on the grounds in 1931. Polo, durbars, and state guests filled the suites; the Polo Bar still occupies a flanking room of the 1835 Durbar Hall, from which the maharaja watched matches. After Independence, Man Singh II opened the palace as India's first luxury palace hotel in 1957. Taj Hotels took management on 2 May 1972, cut keys from 104 to 78, and rewired the royal chambers rather than adding rooms.
Forty-seven acres of Mughal gardens still hold peacocks. The Suryavanshi Suite was Man Singh II's own chamber, later fitted with Lalique fountains and Belgian glass. Lord Mountbatten, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Prince Charles have stayed. Bollywood used the house in Lamhe (1991) and Bajirao Mastani (2015).
Restaurants and bars
- Verandah Cafe — Restaurant · North Indian
- Polo Bar — Bar · Bar
- Suvarna Mahal — Restaurant · North Indian
- Rajput Room — Restaurant · North Indian
Amenities
- Spa
- Indoor pool
- Hot tub
- Fitness center
- Yoga
Awards
- La Liste World's Best Hotels (2026)
- Rajasthan's Leading Heritage Hotel 2025 (World Travel Awards) (2025)
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