It was only 168 km/104 miles from Jaipur to Mandawa, for an action-packed stay at the Castle Mandawa. Travels With Sheila would like to take a minute to remind you that this was our first trip to India. It was completely arranged by a travel agent and cost $1,700 per person for Kashmir, Rajasthan, all meals, sightseeing, food, guides, and driver. The year was 1988. We were much younger, impressionable and knew nothing about what we were about to see or do (darn stupid to put it bluntly). This exact same tour in 2010 would probably run $1,700 for a few nights in any of these Rajasthan palace hotels. Go ahead, take a guess how happy I was that I didn’t listen to naysayers telling us how crazy we were to visit the “hovels” of India. Well…

The driver pulled into the courtyard of Castle Mandawa and I became weak in the knees. The family flag was flying from the roof…View image, and servants were lined up awaiting our arrival. (All that was missing was a 20-gun salute.) Were we staying here? In a real castle with turrets, battlements, balconies, cannons and elephant gate? Was little Sheila who grew up in a seven-person, three bedroom apartment with one bathroom really going to stay here? Yes…yes…yes… The servants grabbed the suitcases…View image… while Maharajah Kesri Singh greeted us and personally showed us to one of the 70 rooms that just happened to be a tower suite.

This family-run Castle fortress was converted into a luxurious heritage hotel still has family retainers, a brass gong is struck on the hour, antiques, a formal drawing room decorated with family portraits, and colonial verandahs.

Comfortable bars, restaurant, gift shop, swimming pool and spa, rooms that ranged from standard to Royal Suites…and what Royal Suites they were…View image…

The “Maharajah” (love saying that word) showed us to our suite that took up one of the entire towers with ancient frescoes on the walls, little alcoves with window seats…View image, and an opulent bathroom. The apartment I grew up in was almost the size of this suite and I briefly considered doing a...Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hai.…in the tower.

Will happier than two pigs in a puddle of (you know what) give an inkling of how we felt?