Shikarbadi

Shikarbadi was the hunting lodge of the royal family of Mewar and their exclusive preserve before it became one of the HRH Group's Royal Retreats. It covers 250 acres at Goverdhan Villas on the edge of Udaipur, with the Aravalli hills behind and a lake that pulls spotted deer, nilgai, wild boar, peacocks and migratory birds down to drink.

There are 25 rooms: 21 deluxe rooms, three deluxe suites and one deluxe family suite. All of them face the deer park, and old miniature paintings of royal hunts hang in the interiors.

Baithak is the open-sided restaurant above the sanctuary, where breakfast is laid out while the animals are fed below. The Wilderness Bar is lined with mementoes, old maps and photographs from the collection of the royal family of Mewar. The estate also holds the Mewar Stables, breeding Marwari horses and keeping a string of more than fifty including polo ponies, along with a cricket ground, a private airstrip and a swimming pool. Walking trails, horse safaris and buggy rides are arranged on request. The city railway station is two kilometres away, Maharana Pratap Airport 28.