Fateh Safari Resort

# Fateh Safari Resort, Kumbhalgarh

Kumbhalgarh Fort has the second-longest wall in the world, and Fateh Safari Resort was built on a hilltop to look at it. Perched at 1,100 m in the Aravalli foothills, this Fateh Collection heritage property keeps things simple: two room types, every one with a balcony, and the fort and valley doing the decorating.

Balconies as standard

The resort offers exactly two categories. Deluxe Rooms with Balcony give you 400 sq ft with a choice of double or twin beds; Superior Rooms with Balcony stretch to 430 sq ft with a double. Both take up to three guests and both face the valley. We like that there is no fine print here: you cannot book yourself into a viewless room, because there is not one.

Downstairs, the Lobby Restaurant seats 37 and runs from 7.30am to 10.30pm, pairing Rajasthani cooking with international dishes. Private dining and candlelight dinners can be arranged, and there is a swimming pool and spa for the middle of the day, plus 24-hour room service.

At dawn, open-topped jeeps plunge into the Kumbhalgarh Sanctuary in search of wolves, leopards, sloth bears, and sambar deer.

The fort at sunrise, the sanctuary at dawn

That line is the resort's own, and it points at the real reason to stay this far from a city. Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary sits alongside the fort, and the resort arranges jeep safaris as well as fort visits. The fort itself dates to 1458 and rises straight from the Aravalli hills, and having the sanctuary and the ramparts as neighbours is a genuinely unusual pairing.

Ranakpur's Jain temple and Badal Mahal are also within reach, Falna is the listed railway station, and Udaipur's Maharana Pratap Airport is the nearest airport. Check-in from 2pm, check-out at noon, and 15% off resort activities if you book direct.