Suryagarh, Jaisalmer: An Indescribable Experience

Before I say anything else about this place, I want to say that Suryagarh Jaisalmer will remain one of the closest places to my heart I have ever been to. A boutique hotel just on the outskirts of Rajasthan that speaks volumes about leisure coupled with heritage. The hotel is there to change your conception completely about how a guest should be pampered. They set the bar really high for your future trips, and by that I really do mean 'very high'.

How to reach:
Air: Take a flight to Jodhpur and drive down till Jaisalmer (a 4-5 hour journey)

Train: Take a train to Jodhpur and cover the distance till Jaisalmer in a rented car/bus
Road: A car/bus journey through the beautiful Rajasthan!
How the hotel welcomes you:

The hotel also arranges a pick up from Jodhpur city on a chargeable/non chargeable basis, depending on the package you take with them. Suryagarh branded Fortuner with the most polite driver (Himmat Singh ji) to offer you wet towel in the scorching heat, some typical Rajasthani munchies to nibble on while you're on your way to the hotel, and some water and soft drinks for the road, was what was offered to us before we kickstarted our road journey from the Jodhpur airport. Small things that make all the difference and set the standard for the rest of the trip.

Upon reaching the hotel, and after taking my own sweet time to admire the beauty that the hotel is at night- lit up magnificently and being spotted from kilometres away because of that, we entered and were greeted by nagaade. There are three gates you cross before you enter Suryagarh, and the first gate is more than 2 kilometres away, This is where the hotel's guards came to greet us and escort us till the hotel. After a lovely folk dance by the Rajasthani folk dancers and singers there, a shower of rose petals, and tilak by panditji (talk about being spoilt), we entered the lobby. A welcome drink in the lobby, some chilled water, and wet towels were waiting for us- this was also the usual for the hotel whenever we came back from stepping out for a meal or to explore the desert around. After being escorted to my suite, I saw that the table right in the middle of the living room had a chilled glass of champagne and a cocktail samosa and cheese puff waiting for me. With it was a letter from the hotel that welcomed us and hoped we had a wonderful time, and a tray of sweets that were different everyday. Imagine- entering your room each day and finding a new kind of burfi or mithai sitting on the table that you can just not resist. That's the kind of experience you look for when you go for a vacation. Suryagarh completely nails it! A special mention to the hotel's Operations Manager- Nakul Hada. He left no stone unturned to ensure this trip was as memorable as it could be possible. Don't think the hotel can get anyone better than him to do this job. He's the face of the hospitality Suryagarh offers and he does a splendid job at it. 
The hotel:

The hotel is made of yellow stone, the same stone that's used in all of Jaisalmer, but the intricacy with which the hotel has been designed, the detailing in the stone, is of course not something you can even think of comparing with other places in Jaisalmer. The hotel is surrounded only by the desert, so from every window, every balcony, every courtyard that you look out, you just see the beauty of the desert. And the view is all the more mystical at night.

A perfect place for destination weddings, for a relaxing holiday with friends and family, and of course for a couple's trip. The interiors, the lawns, the rooms, they fit perfectly for every kind of visit people make to Suryagarh.
A central courtyard that's the highlight of the hotel, has patches of greens and patches of marbles designed ont he ground. The rooms are built around the central courtyard, and the moment you step into the lobby of your floor and look out the window, you see the central courtyard and get completely floored by it. This happens not just the first time you have this view, but every single time you look out of that window. Beautiful beautiful interiors! 

With tables laid out in the central courtyard, you can come down to enjoy your morning tea with peacocks and rabbits, and numerous sparrows. Yes, they take the magic a notch higher at Suryagarh. A chill breeze at 6-6:30am in the morning, you're sitting on a charpai or a table, sipping on your tea/coffee, and you see two gorgeous peacocks coming down from a staircase, to enjoy their morning time with you. A jump and squeal could also not express my excitement on seeing that!! That wasn't it though. Next came a few white pigeons, and then some rabbits, and some hundreds of sparrows chirping away, serving as your morning background score. Talking of music, the central courtyard has a person playing such lovely tunes on his flute for you, all through the morning. A description of that cannot do justice to the skill he possessed. All of this when comes together for you in the central courtyard of Suryagarh each morning, you get overwhelmed by the calm and tranquility, the unmatched experience, that can only be felt and not explained in words.

A terrace on one side of the courtyard that's lit up with lamps at night, leads to a huge courtyard from where you can see the sunset. The opposite side of that is the hotel entrance and lobby. The entrance of the hotel is the second-most magnificent section of the hotel, after the central courtyard. Looks like the way is leading you to a palace. The hotel has several courtyards, where you can sit and laze around, gaze at the stars at night, enjoy the view, have a few drinks, and just soak in all the positive energy and warmth. 

The hotel has a gym and fitness centre, called 'Akhara'. They also have an in-house yoga instructor in this gym. A indoor pool called 'The Neel', because of all the interiors reflecting the color blue, is where you can enjoy a cool swim any time of the day. 'Taash', a room where you can play billiards, board games, or a game of cards, just as the name of this room suggests. The best and the most rejuvenating activity, which is also the highlight of the hotel, is 'Rait- the spa'. A spa is always a good choice, but when the spa is something like Rait, it's difficult for you to come back to Delhi and settle for anything else. Rait is famous for four different signature spas of their's, and I went with the 'Salt spa' option. A treatment of scrubbing Looni salt that comes from the Looni river that flows through the desert, giving you a massage with that salt, having the salt packed in potlis which are hot, and pressed against the pressure points and joints of your body to release toxins, make you enter a state of trance with all the release of pressure that simply induces you into sleep as a result of the spectacular massage. After the scrubbing and massage, they cover you in the Looni salt and wrap you around a hot towel for a couple of minutes. About 15 minutes in the sauna and a nice bath, you cannot feel your feet. You feel so light weight and ready to hit the bed because of how relaxed your body feels. A preference for tea is asked before you enter the sauna, and once you're out, your tea awaits you. A perfect way to end the spa, making you get rid of toxins inside out. 

The rooms:
A suite that has a living room with a tv and a seating in front of it, a rocking chair, a study table, and a washroom, leading into the bedroom with a king-sized plush comfortable bed and another tv to keep you entertained at night. The bedroom leads you to the bathroom which is bigger than the size of the bedroom, and if the bedroom and living room didn't already make me fall completely in love with my room, my bathroom sure did. 

The detailing in the cloth of the sofas and chairs, the lamp, the lighting in the room- perfect in every corner, just how it needs to be where. The uber comfortable bed that I slept in like a baby, the beautiful wooden cupboard below the tv, the curtains that I opened in the morning and gave me a beautiful view of the courtyard, it made my bedroom simply perfect! Coming to the most luxurious part- the bathroom with two wash basins, a huge tub with salts to mix in the water and have a long bath in, the spacious feel of it that spelled luxury- marvellously done by Suryagarh! The lights in the washroom, the airconditioining in my room that could surprisingly be controlled by me- something a lot of hotels have a problem in perfecting, it was delightful! Entering my room gave me a sense of belonging there, it didn't make me homesick even once in those three nights, instead it felt like I WAS home. A very luxurious pretty comfortable superb home. You could order room service round the clock, and the fare they had at night was amazing to say the least; covered all cuisines even if you wanted to order at 3AM.

Dining:
The hotel has a restaurant which serves buffet in all meals, called Nosh. Nosh is also the restaurant where you can order ala carte from. Draksh is the hotel's bar. There's a lot of exciting stuff that can really sweep you off your feet at Suryagarh when it comes to their meals and them creating an experience for you. Read about my indoor and outdoor food experiences during my stay at Suryagarh in another blog post! Stay tuned for that.

Suryagarh screams pampering, luxury, beauty, heritage, comfort, hospitality, courteousness, and every other adjective that you can think of. They spoil you no end and leave no room for any other hotel to come close to the hospitality that they offer. You take back with you an unparalleled experience from Suryagarh, not memories from any other trip. It's hard to express what they leave you with, you have to go there and experience it for yourself to realize that such kind of an experience is what we should pay for, and not settle for anything less. A trip that is etched in my heart forever, Suryagarh is all praises for me. Praises is still no word to describe my experience. 

Address: Suryagarh
Kahala Phata, Sam Road
Jaisalmer-345001 Rajasthan, India
Mobile: +91-7827151151, +91-02992-269269
E-mail: reservation@suryagarh.com

Disclaimer: The review was done on an invitation from the hotel. All views expressed are unbiased in nature but readers are advised to exercise their own discretion.

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