Planning a surprise tour as a gift to Shweta on her birthday, I decided to visit Neemrana Fort Palace on 6th of Aug.
Neemrana Fort Palace is one of the several outstanding hotels owned by Neemrana group (Neemrana Hotels). This property is located at village Neemrana and the palace is said to be constructed by emperor Harish Chandra.
...Planning the trip:
While thinking of it, I also explored the other Neemrana properties - Pataudi Palace, located at Pataudi which is very close to Gurgaon and Hill Forest at Kesroli near Alwar. Neemrana palace has much more options to offer than those offered by both of them. Moreover I feel the Pataudi palace is quite a new property and misses that charm, warmth and the mysterious feel of an old architecture.
Neemrana palace offers a wide range of rooms to stay. Each room is special in one or the other way. It can be a time consuming and confusing task to select a perfect room suiting one's needs. Range starts from as low as 2.5 K and goes up to 20-25 K. Also the palace is giant and is spread across many levels (floors) with no lifts. I called up the Delhi office to inquire about the specialties and location of the rooms that I had selected. The customer center is quite efficient and welcoming. One lady understood my needs and suggested several other rooms. Finally I made the choice as Meru Mahal, based on the level, location and tariff.
...The drive:
Check in time is 1400 hrs and check out is 1200 hrs. We deiced to leave by 10 in the morning, but could managed to leave by 11. The drive to Neemrana village is a subset of the Delhi Jaipur highway -NH8. We drove directly to Dharuhera from Gurgaon. We lost 30mins in Dharuhera city as we took the wrong turn and got headed towards Alwar. On the way, I remembered to keep left at the fork that comes just after Dharuhera. Going right would have taken us to Rewari.
The newly constructed road after Dharuhera is good with beautiful view of the Arravalis. After Shahpur toll gate, we took a right turn to village Neemrana. We were on time for check-in.
...The Hotel:
The road up to the palace is bumpy with lots of pebbles and rubble spread over. The giant entry gate doesn't tell the complete story. The real view gets unfold on the way to reception. We got a nice welcome with all the details of DOs and DONTs.
The room - Meru Mahal is on 11th level and it felt a real pain to reach there. But soon after reaching there it felt worth the effort. The soothing breeze, the fresh look of the green mountains and the pleasant view of the small city made a good first impression. We decided to rest for a while.
After getting a good nap, we came down for the complimentary evening tea. They served 4-5 types of different tea flavors with home made cookies. Then we went up to the terrace to enjoy the beautiful view with tea.
The evening brought an altogether different look of the palace with kerosene lanterns lit up on the walls and boundaries. Lighting inside the palace was minimum. Later they arranged a folk dance which was followed by dinner.
Back up to the room, at night, we had to take a person with us. We were not sure that we would be able to make out the way in the murky labyrinths.
We got up early in the morning to catch the morning view and feel. We could easily hear the chanting of peacock and Cuckoo. I took a dip in the pool followed by a heavy breakfast.Then we went on wandering around the palace. The narrow passages are loaded with long and thick vines, with a distinct moist aura of an old monument.
...The Hotel:
At 12, we checked out. The back journey was not very hectic. We grabbed burgers at the Mc. Donalds that is right after Manesar.
Overall the trip was soothing and satisfying, One can look for plenty of time to relax and be at peace, with the only activity available at Neemrana as Flying Fox. It is a nice zipping experience that one should not miss.
