The Palace at Pataudi

Short report on a luxury evening and night spent at the Neemrana Hotel, the Palace at Pataudi. We had a 3-day weekend with Republic Day being on January 26 so we went for Saturday night to Pataudi. It's 60 km. south of Delhi - through Gurgoan so we took the opportunity to stop and see one of the famous malls in Gurgoan. Had lunch at the Food Court - Subway sandwiches. I had the chicken tikka with mint chutney and Jack had the chicken and lamb club. The little guy from the Chinese dim sum stall brought us samples hoping we would order but we were just grateful for the marketing strategy. Mango ice cream from Baskin Robbins was desert.
Then on the country estate of the Begum of Pataudi - built in the 1930's it is not huge but certainly grand. Our room, on the second floor, was enormous with 5 doors - one leading to a private balcony which was also where the bathroom was located. The bathroom was also enormous - had a huge domed ceiling, green marble floors, and very bad lighting. The 4 upstairs rooms (only about 16 rooms in the whole place) opened onto another porch (picture above). One door led to the porch in the front of the Palace where breakfast was served.
There was a huge grove of baers (little fruit that are very sweet/tart and a favorite from my childhood) that was being guarded by a yelling guard who has there to scare off the peacocks - there were at least 2 pairs wandering the grounds. There were two very fancy camels also available for riding - Jack and I have ridden enough camels in our lives but they were very picturesque. We wandered through the huge rose garden - counted about 400 plants. The food was delicious and with so few rooms there were only a few guests making it a most pleasant stay. Highly recommended as a get-away. We will certainly return.