The Lake Palace Hotel is out of a dream covering an entire island in the Pichola Lake. Perhaps you’ve watched the old James Bond film, Octopussy, filmed at the Lake Palace Hotel and will recognize some of my photos. The getting there is half the fun. All guests arrive via water transport that is special from the get-go. Guests go through a dedicated, ornamental gate that leads to the Lake Palace boat pier. Motor out on peaceful Pichola Lake with views of the Lake Palace Hotel floating serenely before you. …View image . Gently deposited at the entrance, we were greeted with garlands of flowers and a tikka/bindi put on my forehead while we waited to check-in.

FYI: I didn’t have the foggiest idea exactly what a tikka/bindi meant (my thinking was Chicken Tikka, one of our favorite Indian dishes – WRONG) and have since found out. Many believe it is suppose to be representative of the mystic third eye and become the central point of the base of creation. Well…all-righty now.

The Lake Palace was originally built as a royal summer palace in 1743-1746 by Maharana Jagat Singh II, 62nd successor to the royal dynasty of Mewar and believed to be descendants of the Sun God. Naturally… Made of marble, it is a very luxurious 5***** hotel operating under the “Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces” banner. If you really want to know the cost of one night, click on the link above. I am so glad all the Palace Hotels were included in the Rajasthani tour. Our usual hotels are of a much lower standard. For example, we just returned from a Colorado graduation and stayed at a Super 8 Motel. Really! Don’t laugh. Their wonderful breakfast pastries made up for spartan accommodation and you get what you pay for…

On a vain note, it appears that Travels With Sheila had a very bad hair trip throughout Rajasthan. Did I really think it looked good? Oh me… The Lake Palace Hotel has many restaurants (that we could barely afford), business center, spa and wellness center, outdoor pool, boat tours, sightseeing, the usual astrologer, camel and elephant rides. On that note…let’s look at the suites while depleting the bank account…
Fly with Air France to over 180 destinations.