The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
January 30 - Hotel Umaid Bhawan
The Umaid Bhawan Hotel is a converted haveli -- essentially an old mansion. These heritage properties -- at least the ones that have been restored -- are typically painted in bright colors and represent a total shift in environment from our modern sterile hotels. They were doing a lot of restoration/maintenance work on the place while we were there. Notice the two painters hanging on rope ladders from the roof. I wonder what OSHA would say about that ...
Restaurants in places like this seem to be located on the roof where the breezes are better. The setting was very pleasant spot for breakfast. The food itself was fairly mediocre (dare I say like most hotel food?) but it didn't make us fear for our health ... and it certainly was convenient!
We had a large room on the second floor and once we got past the off-gray towels and figured out how the hot water worked, it wasn't all that bad. It is certainly nothing on the level of the Trident in Agra, of course. What we gave up in 21st century creature comforts we got back in atmosphere ... although some of it can be a little over the top for the western traveler (the mirrored ceiling comes to mind). The little balcony was a nice touch even though the view wasn't exactly what you would call expansive.
© 2009 Restaurant Doctor
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