Hotel Narain Niwas Palace

Some heritage hotels feel like museums with beds; Narain Niwas is the other kind — a lived-in country house that happens to be a palace. Built in 1928 as General Amar Singh's retreat, it was opened to guests in 1978 by Thakur Mohan Singhji Kanota with four rooms, and the same family — now its third generation of hoteliers — still manages it, alongside sister properties Castle Kanota and Rajmahal Palace.

The setting is the quiet trump card: 10 acres of gardens only 3 km from Jaipur's walled city, with rooms and suites done out in antique furnishings and hand-painted walls, plus cannons and weapons from Jaipur's defence dotted about the property.

Then there's the eating and drinking, which is a destination in itself. Bar Palladio brings Italian dining to tented pavilions; Shikaar Bagh channels royal hunting lodges; Café Orleans plays chic Parisian café; Imperial Lancers honours the Jodhpur Lancers — with heritage liquor tastings, cook-with-us classes and candle-lit private dinners in the gazebo on top.

Days fill easily without leaving the grounds — sunrise yoga, high tea, folk dance and puppet nights, the pool, the spa, the family museum, the Kanota Courtyard shopping arcade — or the hotel will point you at Jaipur heritage walks, Jhalana and Amagarh leopard safaris, and hot air balloon rides.