Udai Kothi

Udai Kothi is the honest kind of Udaipur palace hotel: a modern build that deliberately borrows the city's traditional architecture and decoration, standing on Lake Pichola at Hanuman Ghat outside Chand Pole, a short stroll from the heart of the old city. What it lacks in centuries it repays in kit: 64 rooms and suites, two rooftop pools and its own boat fleet.

The rooftop is the point

The hotel claims the Dubki Pool as the oldest rooftop swimming pool in Udaipur, featured in world's-best-pool lists, and backs it up with a second, the Baori Pool. Alongside them, Baro Masi runs a rooftop tapas bar and restaurant with panoramic Lake Pichola views and a cocktail list that does not take itself too seriously (the Kothi Cup, the No Hangover Mojito, the Extra Passion Margarita). Chandni, the open-air restaurant, serves Indian and Western food to traditional music with the City Palace and Gangaur Ghat across the water.

Two rooftop pools and the biggest boat on the lake.

Udai Marine is the house fleet on Pichola, led by Barge Bahadur, billed as the biggest boat in Udaipur, which hosts dinners for up to 40 with live musicians; rides leave from a ghat two minutes' walk away and pass the Lake Palace, City Palace and the ghats. Rooms climb from Deluxe (king bed, soaking tub) and Premier through Lake and Garden Suites to the Udai Suite, the largest, with living area, dressing room, private balcony, private plunge pool and a lake-view jacuzzi of its own. A spa and salon cover the recovery shift.

Hanuman Ghat, the better bank

This side of the lake gets the view of the postcard rather than being in it: you look back at the City Palace and the ghats from the quieter bank. The airport is 24.5 km, the railway station 4.5 km, and the old city is on foot.