Chunda Haveli

# Chunda Haveli, Udaipur

The Chunda family built themselves a palace hotel; Chunda Haveli is their answer for travellers who want to be in the thick of it. It stands on Lake Palace Road, six minutes from Lake Pichola and eight from Udaipur railway station, built in a blend of Rajput and Mewar styles with a rooftop that earns its keep twice over: a swimming pool with panoramic city views, and a restaurant looking straight at the City Palace and Gulab Bagh.

Small rooms, big rooftop

Be clear-eyed about the trade: rooms here are compact. Studios are 200 sq ft for two adults and a child, Haveli Rooms 290 sq ft, and the top Haveli Suites 385 sq ft, each taking two adults and two children. All come with air-conditioning, Wi-Fi, tea and coffee, a safe and bathrobes, and room service runs 24 hours. In our view that makes the Haveli a sensible pick for families doing Udaipur on foot, who want a well-kept base and a pool for late afternoons rather than acreage.

A graceful blend of Rajput and Mewar styles

That is the hotel's own phrase for its architecture, and the traditional detailing gives the place more character than the room sizes imply.

Eating above the city

The rooftop restaurant is the reason to climb the stairs at dusk: multi-cuisine cooking alongside authentic Rajasthani dishes, an extensive buffet, and a licence to serve, with the City Palace in view across the rooftops. Guests also get the run of the family's Chunda Polo Club, with polo days, riding and a shooting range, a perk few hotels at this scale can offer.

Fateh Sagar Lake is a twenty-minute drive; nearly everything else worth seeing in the old city is walkable. Take the Haveli Suite if you can, and keep an evening free for the roof.