Reviwe: Neemrana Hotel - The beautiful Fort Palace near Delhi

Neemrana fort-palace was built in the year 1464 AD by the descendants of Prithviraj Chauhan III. Presently it comes within the Alwar district of Rajasthan.

The new section of the fort

The new section of the fort

The new section of the fort, heritage part in the background

The first time I visited this place was way back in 1990 when I was on my way to Jaipur with my parents. We just saw the gate then and continued forward to Jaipur in the taxi. It was finally after twenty more years that I actually visited the place.

The new section of the fort

The Heritage section of the fort

Jharokha in the Heritage section of the fort

It well-connected by road as it almost falls on the very busy Delhi-Jaipur highway. Hourly AC buses ply from the Rajasthan/ Jaipur House in New Delhi and it takes about 4 hours before the bus drops you. But beware, Neemrana is still far. For back-packers like us, it was not a big deal but families could be in for a surprise. We had tea and biscuits (this was May and the heat was intense) at the Neemrana Hotel (right on the highway) and decided to take a lift to the Neemrana town, a couple of kilometers (approx) inside from the highway, on a tractor.

A flying naked angel..

Entrance to the fort-palace (M and me visible)

We reached quickly and immediately walked up to the Fort. It was already evening and entries are not allowed then, we tried booking a room based on the recommendation of a British couple with three kids, but in vain. For those who would want to stay at the fort (and I strongly recommend it) use the link here.

Hanging lights in the Durbar

The open air theatre

Just a wall near the entry point

Unless you stay at the fort itself, the options of hotels are fairly limited and the best amongst those is the Neemrana Hotel on the highway. It's decent and you will get an AC room for around INR 1000, not cheap but kind of all right.

I recommend spending an entire day at the Fort-Palace, the place is magical. Its huge and you need to carry lots of water if you walking in summers. The fort has an old and a new section, and both are maintained beautifully. You can climb up and down the numerous buildings, and spend hours chatting under shade anywhere. We even took a mini-nap in one of these secluded gardens. The benches around the pool are also extremely inviting for an afternoon nap.

Another hanging light

Just out of the underground Dining hall

 

Near the lotus pond

Another cool room, blazing sun outside

Eat the lunch at the palace dining room. Though its a little expensive, the experience is royal. The seating is very comfortable, and the AC inside is a major relief from the heat outside. The spread is very refreshing and healthy. I recommend picking an apple or a few more fruits for future consumption.

Dining room

Ah...the food!

More food

The palace has some extremely beautiful seating spaces, scattered all around, sometimes at very unexpected places. Some near a lotus filled water body, some on the terrace, some below the ground level while others surrounded by huge vine covered walls. The fact that the place is mostly free of people, gives you amazing level of privacy. You can lie down anywhere, hold hands and get cozy, or just fight loudly. Only walls, trees and some occasional tourists would be witness to your love/ acrimony!

Seating

Seating

Seating with the lotus pond

Seating from top

Another lazy terrace seating area

Seating area near an old window

 At the base of the Fort, about a kilometer outside Neemrana town is an exquisite step-well though in a delapitated state currently. We were guided by the kids of the town to the wells and through the journey they were under the impression that my companion was not Indian. The step-well was built in the year 1740 and has nine levels. You might find the local youths with beer bottles around the wells, unlikely to be very safe for women traveling alone in the evenings.But the step-well in itself is a must see. The pictures of the step wells are lost, and none are attached here

Traveling back to Delhi could be a challenge as the AC buses do not really stop on the highway to take new passengers, and taxis are expensive. We ended up taking a State Transport bus, but the journey wasn't as bad as we expected. The memories of the place, of course, erased any hardships we faced in commuting.