Hotel Deogarh Mahal

Deogarh Mahal – Luxury Heritage Hotel in Rajasthan.

History    Deogarh Mahal is an imposing structure built in the 17th century. It stands atop a hill and offers a commanding view of the Aravalli mountain range and the numerous lakes, strewn across the countryside. With its graying battlements, domes, turrets, jharokhas and huge gateways, it is a picturesque sight from the town below. At a height of about 2100 ft above sea level, it is cooler than surrounding Rajasthan Built in 1670 A.D. by Rawat Dwarka Dasji as a family residence; it soon became the hub of village activity. The family interacted with the villagers and invited a host of feasts and festivities to be performed within the Mahal precincts. Some of these traditions are still practiced. And the gates, that always remained closed, to ward off enemies, are now open to the guests.

Deogarh lies on the borders of Mewar, Marwar and Merwara, about 130 km north-east of Udaipur. Its chieftain known as ‘The Rawat’ was one of sixteen umraos (feudal barons) privileged to wait upon the Maharana of Udaipur, the capital of Mewar such feudal estates, called thikanas were granted by the ruling Maharana to a nobleman either due to blood relationship or for an act of bravery. Deogarh is also renowned as a school of miniature painting. Some Deogarh miniatures adorn the personal collection of the present Rawat Sahib. Frescoes of this art form can also be seen on the fort walls. The Mahal also has some exciting rooms to browse through – Sheesh Mahal – the colourful hall of mirrors, is just one of them!

Deogarh Mahal is located on a plateau on the Aravalli Mt. range. The Fort which is situated on a hill in the centre of the village offers commanding views of the rolling hills, rocky outcrops and shimmering lakes. The Mahal has been tastefully renovated by the family who run it as a Hotel. Entire restoration was done keeping authentic Rajastani culture for which the state is famous for. All rooms and the restaurants have been individually restored and not mass modernized. Each room is restored to certain era and is based on a single personality who used the room.

Air: Nearest airport: Udaipur 2 ½ hours. Railroad: To Udaipur, from Ajmer, Chittorgarh, Ahmedabad and Delhi.  Followed by a 3 hour car journey. By Road An easy drive from DeviGarh, Narlai, Ghanerao, Nimaj, Kishangarh, Jodhpur, Rohet.  A longer drive from Jaipur, Dungarpur, Bambora. Transfers: The hotel arranges chargeable transfers from either the airport or the railway station to / from the hotel. It has its own fleet of taxis. 

Accommodation comprises 50 rooms.

1 Maharana Suite       This is ‘The Room’ at Deogarh Mahal.It is a big Suite with Sitting room,Sheesh Mahal,bed room and a huge bathroom with Jacuzzi. 

4 Royal Suites:         These are very large rooms with a sitting room and a private balcony. Three of the Royal suites have Jacuzzi’s in the balconies. They have mini bars, tea kettles, hair dryers, lockers for valuables and are of course air conditioned/centrally heated.

25 Deluxe suites:      These too are large rooms and all of them have A.C’S. They all have mini-bars, tea kettles and hair dryers.

20 Deluxe rooms:     These rooms have fans and air conditioning. There are no mini bars or tea kettles but hair dryers can be provided on request.

A bottle of mineral water is complimentary per room.   No smoking rooms are available.   Due to the nature of the building, wheelchair access is difficult as there are many staircases, some being very narrow. Many rooms have balconies or beautiful internal arches and structures.  These are 201 – 206, 208, 210, 211, 214, 215, 216, 224, 225, 227, 228, 235, 243, and 244,248,250,251,253,254,255,256

257,258,259,262, Room 222 has wonderful views of the lakes and the town. All the rooms have imported spring mattresses.

Fort Seeng Sagar- There is another property situated about 4 kms away from Deogarh. It is a little castle in the centre of a lake and there are just 4 rooms there. It is a Rent-a-Castle concept for the discerning travelers looking for peace, solitude and exclusivity. It is luxurious living with a historic backdrop. It has new rock swimming pool also.

Khayyam Lodgitents- There is another property situated about 5 kms away from Deogarh. There are 16 lodgitents well equipped with air conditioning and fixed bathroom.

Spa – A new spa has been established at Deogarh Mahal which offers various treatments aside from the regular Ayurvedic massages which have the local flora and fauna as its theme. There is also a 4 station gym machine which has been imported for the spa.

Group & FIT reception – There is a separate air conditioned reception planned at the pool level for the groups and the F.I.T.’S.

GIT Dining Hall – Chandra Mahal dining Hall can cater to 100 covers. It has an attached pantry.

Bar – We have a composite bar license and serve both imported and Indian alcohols. There is a custom made wine digital chiller for wines with a capacity of 300 bottles. Most of the imported brands are available at a reasonable price.

Coffee Bar – There is an Italian Coffee Espresso machine and we serve all kinds of coffee. The machine is regularly calibrated to serve espresso, late and mocachoino coffees.

GIT Restaurant – Chandra Mahal Hall is a large, cavernous dinning room with beautiful arches and various levels and areas to dine in.  It offers Traditional Mewari Indian, Table de’ hote and oriental cuisine.  It is also possible to order snacks by the pool and room service is readily available.  Private dinners can also be arranged on other balconies in the palace.  Smoking is restricted on account of State Government laws.

F.I.T. Dining Area- A la carte Restaurant –

                                   We have successfully added two new terraces for the F.I.T.’S Dinners during the last season. They are both outdoor, open–to-sky terraces with heaters for providing warmth. The guests here are served in the traditional thals with staff attending to the guests. Surya Mahal offers A la carte and special dining facilities on order. Selected continental, oriental, and Indian snacks are available on order with the specialty being the Mewari Silver Thal

Festive Evening        Arranged for a minimum of 20 Pax where guests are brought in a procession from outskirts of the village in bullock carts with local drums, they are welcomed with garlands, showering of flowers and non alcoholic welcome drink, The Bhils perform a fire dance during cocktails

Individual Wing for FITs

                                We have started individual wings where only FITs are entertained, thus giving them a sense of exclusivity. They are provided with a facility of having drinks and snacks in the Bari Mahal and Sheesh Mahal area. Valet service is provided in the Royal Suites.

Cooking Demonstrations

                                Indian Cooking demonstrations are conducted for several of our groups with local recipe. All food items and dairy products are home grown on our farms.

Talk on Deogarh Miniature Paintings

                                Rawat Nahar Singh Ji the owner, historian and an expert on miniature paintings of the local school can give a short talk on Indian History, Rajsthani Art and History of the Deogarh School for about an hour. All proceeds collected are used for charity run by the family.

Rural Train Ride         A ride on the local narrow gauge train, down a mountains Ghat section is interesting for its panoramic views and of the scrub jungle, hills, tunnels 100-foot high bridges and remote one man stations. One travels on the Ghat section and here the hundreds of monkeys descend from the forest trees to feed on hand outs given by the villagers. Your mode of transport awaits you at Phulad after a two-hours (21) KM train ride.

Picnics                      The guests carry a snack lunch to a castle ruin or a picturesque lake. Transportation and waiter is provided. A group picnic can be arranged which includes cooking of local Rajsthani food and barbeque at the site and a bush walk is be arranged.

Royal Picnics            Royal Picnic can be arranged for groups more than 16 pax based on 200 year old miniature painting on a family fortress in the middle of a lake.

 Internet                       The properties of Deogarh Mahal is WI FI in open areas

 Credit cards / currency      The resort accepts Visa & MasterCard

 Hotel facilities 

• Snooker Table
• Table Tennis
• Indoor Badminton Court
• Small Indoor Gym
• Coffee bar serving various kinds of espressos from a imported Italian machine – guaranteed best in Rajasthan – one of the owners being an ex coffee planter with expertise on the subject
• LCD Projector & Theatre for Hollywood and Bollywood movies
• Satellite TV ( Lounge )
• Satellite Radio ( Lounge )
• WI FI Internet services for Surfing and e-mail in the shop.
• Broad Band Internet uplink through internal WI FI network from your room.
• CD- Writing to convert Digi Camera flash cards into CDs
• Small Library
• Elevator (to be operational by October 2006)

Local excursions / activities

•  Jeep safaris.
•  Train rides on a local train through a pretty ‘Ghat’ section.
•  Horse riding
•  Picnics in the countryside, by a lake or in the hills
•  Village excursions in the surrounding village
•  Bird watching with an expert.
•  Beautiful Walks in the countryside  
•  Excursions to the Jain Temples at Ranakpur
•  Excursions to Kumbhalgarh Fort
•  Excursions to the temples at Nathdwara and Eklingi

Awards 

Awarded ‘Best Hotel of the year under 100 pounds category by Tattler UK

Awarded ‘In the top 20 hotels of India’ by Sunday Observer.UK

Charity

Shri Jaswant Charitable Trust was founded by the family of Deogarh way back in 1965 with the view to save old temples and architectural monuments in and around Deogarh. We have been supporting under privileged children of this region. Often, they give talks and make presentations to collect funds, which are then used to support these needy children in the Deogarh area. Today close to 2200 children have been given clothing and scholarships for these children from 26 schools around Deogarh. It costs 7 Pounds – to support a child for one year, that includes – 2 school dresses, exercise books , atlas, dictionary and pen/ pencils & bag (for a child unto 13 years). (please note fees of the child is sponsored by the Indian Govt. but he needs the following mentioned above for which the family has to pay) A special effort is made to identify children from parents living with income below the poverty line and only such are sponsored. A CCU was sponsored with three air-conditioned rooms in the local Government Hospital and has already saved over 50 lives.

Deogarh Mahal