Review of Akshay Niwas, Udaipur

Udaipur is such a touristy place that when it comes to deciding where to stay, one is bound to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available. After doing a lot of research, we finally chose to stay at the all-suite boutique hotel – Akshay Niwas. Did we make the right decision? Was our stay at Akshay Niwas enjoyable? Here’s our in-depth review of Akshay Niwas

Room

The size of the room is enormous compared to the rooms offered by other hotels in Udaipur. (We actually checked out a few other hotels too, out of sheer curiosity!) A king-sized bed is provided in the rooms. The room is tastefully decorated in typical Rajasthani style. The marble flooring and the marble tops on tables make the experience totally authentic. However, what completely stole my heart was the charming seating area next to both the windows in the room. That area is actually large enough for a tall person to even sleep there. (Akshay is 6 feet tall and he could easily fit here.) It felt so peaceful to come here and relax after a long day!

The bathroom is also huge. What particularly impressed me was the installation of a separator between the shower and the toilet area. I feel that this tiny addition goes a long way in keeping the bathroom area clean and dry and yet most hotels miss out on it.

Location

This hotel is located just a couple of kilometres away from both the main attractions of Udaipur viz: the Pichola Lake and the Fatehsagar Lake and next to the famous Udai Vilas. The area surrounding the hotel is quiet and peaceful. Usually, we prefer staying in hotels that are in the heart of the city. However, this time, staying slightly away from the city centre at Akshay Niwas turned out to be a wise decision. We were not bothered by the touristic chaos and traffic congestions of the city centre. 

We rented a scooter and we could reach most tourist attractions in Udaipur in a matter of a few minutes. Even if you do not rent a scooter, you can easily hire a car or book an Ola to take you anywhere from the hotel.  

Staff

The staff at Akshay Niwas is warm and courteous. What I liked the most about the staff here is that they make you feel at home. They do not treat you the way ‘formally trained staff’ at most hotels do. However, in doing so, they do not compromise on the quality of service. We must make a special mention of Mr. Jaivardhan. He always welcomed us with a warm smile after a long tiring day of sightseeing. He also made sure that all our requests were promptly catered to by the staff.

Food

Akshay Niwas has an in-house restaurant that’s unlike the typical restaurants attached to most other hotels in Udaipur. We noticed that the restaurant here doesn’t have the standard menu that we found in most restaurants in Udaipur and in fact takes pride in its chef-recommended selection of dishes. We learned that the food served here is made from absolutely fresh, local produce. No wonder the food here was delectable! Since Akshay Niwas stresses on personalising one’s experience, the chef customised the food we ordered to our specific instructions. For breakfast, we were pleased with their Aloo Paratha and Omelettes. For main-course, non-vegetarians could feast on Chicken Bhuna curry and Laal Maas served here.

Facilities

The bathroom comes equipped with essential toiletries. 24-hour hot water supply is also available. Fresh towels are provided every day. The room has a large closet complete with a safety locker. However, our best buddy in the room was the tea and coffee maker thanks to which we could bear the cold weather of Udaipur. The staff gladly refilled our tea bags whenever we ran out of those.

Outside the room, the in-house swimming pool together with a pool-side restaurant turned out to be a great hang-out area! You will especially love taking a dip in the clean well-maintained swimming pool if you happen to visit Udaipur during summer.

Price

As tourists, whether to stay at a hotel or not, depends largely on the tariff of the hotel. The tariff of Akshay Niwas during high season is Rs. 6,000 per night without meals and Rs. 6,800 with meals. Given how tourist-centric and expensive Udaipur has turned itself into, we felt that this boutique hotel is definitely value for money for the beautiful blend of professional and personalized experience that it delivers.

Visit the website of Akshay Niwas for more details.

Pic credits: Akshay

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