The review & ratings are based as per the budget standards as this is a budget hotel. The review is based on the 2 night-3day experience.
Location - Hotel Raghuraj Palace is located in the residential area of Shastri Nagar in Jaipur. The hotel is almost 5 Kms from the Railway Station & 6-7 Kms from the main attractions like Hawa Mahal & City Palace. Now that’s a pain. There are no hotels nearby & hence there are no ‘touristy’ services like tour operators or affordable restaurants around. All you have to rely is on these services provided by the hotel. You can take an auto which will drop you to Hawa Mahal/Zohri bazaar etc for Rs 80 & Railway Station for Rs 50 (Sep 2012). The hotel provides free complimentary pick from the Railway Station & Bus Terminal only upon arrival.
Hotel, it’s exterior, check in & lobby. – Hotel exterior is attractive with Rajasthani style windows which are lit with multi colour lights at evening. The check in was easy. The lobby has comfortable sofa & many traditional paintings & handicrafts on the walls.
There are no lifts in hotel as it only two storied building. The hotel has ample parking outside.
Room Types – There are budget rooms (non AC) & deluxe rooms (AC). Both are affordable & you can choose depending upon time of year & your budget.
The room - Deluxe room had a 16/17” Sansui LCD, a Haier AC, a balcony & regular room furniture. The attached bathroom had facility of hot & cold water & provided with two towels & a small soap chip. The room & bed linen was clean. The curtain was dirty & had strange spots on it. The Balcony was neglected & full of dust and it seems the house keeping never cleans that area.
The room had good design painted on the roof and walls. The roof had colourful flower pattern which look like ‘Rajasthani print’ & walls had very simple yet good geometrical designs to give a feel good look.
For safety there was only very small latch on door from inside & I think it was not very secure. Also there must be exhaust fan in bathroom for proper ventilation.
Room service – The room service was prompt .Overall good & it was only during our second day that we had to remind them four times to clean our room.
Restaurant – The restaurant serves b’fast, lunch, dinner & snacks & there are options for Continental meals too. They are suitably priced & taste good & fresh. You can eat there or order in room. We always ordered in room & were levied a 20 % tax for room service whereas if we had dined at restaurant then the tax is only 10%. I came to know about the difference very late.
They serve very cold tea during morning. As cold as sherbet. At other times its fine.
Taxi service – HELL! The hotel has its own resident driver who is extortionist & con. We had to book a taxi for Amber Fort & quoted a certain price which we can’t bargain & compare as there was no other option around. When we started off, the driver insisted we should visit Jaipur Haat on the way. He told us to just stop even if we don’t want to purchase anything. It was obvious he wanted his commission from there, but we decided to head to Amber directly. Because of that he later forced us to pay Rs 50 extra as tip or allowance. But why? Am I not paying what you quoted & agreed upon? But he wouldn’t listen and started justifying his loot. Trust me, it’s not about Rs 50! That’s small! It’s all about ethics & the way that rough guy blackmailed & not to mention his rash & terrifying driving. The hotel management was helpless when I raised the issue. I will recommend all not to avail the taxi services from this hotel at all. If this hotel wants to maintain its good ratings (on other sites too) they must get rid of this driver ASAP.
Other services – On our second day, we ran out of our child’s clothes & we availed laundry service. It was good & very affordable too.
Check out – We checked out late from hotel because our train was in the evening & they billed me fortune. Though I had discussed it earlier with them, but they wouldn’t give any discounts.
Booking & rates. – The rack rates of the hotel reception are 50% higher than available on travel portals. This hotel is up for booking on all major portals & I checked Makemytrip, Yatra, Cleartrip, Travelguru, Expedia & Agoda to compare rates. I got a very good deal (Rs 809 per day inc taxes) just one week before check in from Makemytrip & booked it.
The best part – Value for money. It’s possibly the best budget hotel in Jaipur.
The worst part – The taxi service.
Recommendation – If you are driving down with family in your car from Delhi/Agra/nearby city, then this is the best. If you are coming by Rail/Air/Bus, then you may consider this one but you will have to spend a lot on Autos. This is not recommended for business meetings/corporates or honeymooners or a group of friends.
I will go with 3.5/5.
Thankyou & take care friends. Do rate and comment.
Anshuman Maini