Travel: STAY @ HOTEL ANURAAG VILLA, JAIPUR

The Entrance. Pic courtesy: Om Sharma (I had forgotten to click a shot)

Trip Advisor had the largest volume of 4-star ratings for Hotel Anuraag Villa when I checked the website for booking a room. I didn’t think twice before contacting them for an AC Double Room for our stay during our visit to Jaipur. Mr. Om Sharma responded immediately and gave us a good rate. They also offered to pick us up from the airport at a cost.

The hall beside the reception which also doubles as dining room

A tourist taxi - Toyota Innova - was waiting for us at the airport and the driver contacted us even before we collected our luggage. We reached Hotel Anuraag Villa in half an hour as it’s situated about 16 km from Jaipur airport. The hotel itself is in the heart of Jaipur is what the driver told us. We realised that it was true as there were a couple of session’s courts and the Mayor’s office nearby. We could reach anywhere in the city within half an hour to 45 minutes.

Our room - very comfy

We entered a quaint compound in the residential area and were greeted by Om Sharma and Pawan at the reception. We were allotted Room 203 on the first floor. Yeah, the numbering is done American-style with the ground floor treated as the first floor. The hotel has 20 rooms and just about four of them were occupied as it was off season.

The bathroom

We went up to the room to refresh and came down to order lunch. The menu is quite simple - vegetarian dishes with a couple of egg dishes thrown in. It leaned more towards Rajasthani food with some Chinese dishes and sandwiches added.

Painted ceiling in the room - just loved it

The rotis, mixed sabzi and pulao that we ordered were delicious while being non-spicy. They have a Bengali cook who’s been working with them since six years. Venkat made it a point to call him to our table and congratulate him. The reason for making non-spicy food was because they get more foreign guests than Indians.

The garden

The coffee they served in the room in the mornings and the aloo parathas for breakfast were both yummy. The cost of food was also very reasonable. We usually go hunting for restaurants in a new place. But we had most of our meals in the hotel itself as it was so good.

They don’t have a restaurant per se - just three tables laid out against one wall of a large hall that has comfy sofas. There’s a small but lovely garden that was so green and cool. There’s a lawn with a few trees on it. There was an idol of Lord Buddha in meditation, adding to the serene atmosphere. They serve candle-light dinners in the garden.

The kitchen off the garden

Peacocks and Peahens come and go as they please in the hotel’s garden. I believe there are at least 20 of them and they roam around the area. The hotel keeps a large pottery bowl with grains and another with water for these birds. They turn up around 6 pm in the evening and hang around till they are comfortable. They are a sight to behold - peacocks in the open. Simply gorgeous!

Lord Buddha deep in meditation

The room was quite big and comfortable with an equally big bathroom. The AC was in excellent condition with a huge four-poster bed taking up a major chunk of the room. There was a glass-topped side table with two comfortable chairs; a dressing table and a side table. Of course, there was a TV while the channels matched ours at home as they had a hathway cable connection too.

Peacock walking through the garden

What I liked best was their Wi-Fi connection. It was powerful whether we were in our room or the garden and was on 24/7.

At the entrance

There were two young men who served in the rooms - one during the day and the other at night. They were both well-mannered and courteous and always ready to please.

Pawan & Om Sharma at the reception

The staff were very helpful when we needed transport for the various trips out - be it car or rickshaw. The rates were also quite reasonable.

Isn't that lovely!

I must say that we had an extremely enjoyable stay at Hotel Anuraag Villa during our trip to Jaipur. Comfortable room, excellent service, yummy food and 24-hour internet - what more can a guest want?