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Princely families have thrown their doors open, so
guests can live life the way it was–laidback, leisurely and
luxurious.
To sample vintage hospitality, we toured three classified heritage
hotels of Gujarat– Balaram Palace Resort, Nilambag Palace and
Riverside Palace. We took off one morning from Ahmedabad, sped past
Mehsana, from where a detour takes one to Modhera and Patan, both
known for their delightful 11th and 12th century Solanki Rajput
monuments, on our way to the Balaram Palace hotel. We had visited
Modhera and Patan before so we chose to stop at Sidhpur, which is
famous for a Solanki period monument– the 12th century
Rudramalaya, best known for its ornate torana arches. What came as a
surprise was the Bohra Muslim mansions, so European in style and
design that they would not have looked out of place in Vienna or
Venice!
After this, we were not surprised to find that the
Nawab of Palanpur had built the Balaram Palace Resort, which we
reached 45 minutes after leaving Sidhpur, in neo-classical Baroque
style. The façade of the palace has been beautifully restored
and the gardens landscaped according to the original Nawabi period
design. We enjoyed the view of the surrounding woodlands, part of the
Balaram-Ambaji Wildlife Sanctuary, and the cool breeze wafting from
over the river Chitrasani. A stone slab in the forecourt informed us
that the Nawab had commissioned this country retreat in 1922 but only
occupied it in 1935. The Nawab’s swimming pool is an unusual–it
is fed by a natural rock spring, and has an outlet that empties
excess water into the river Chitrasani flowing below.
The inside of the palace, however, proved to be a
bit of an anti-climax for the décor and furnishings are
extremely modern. Our suite, on the first floor, was large and fitted
with a TV, refrigerator, phone and air conditioner. Windows, both in
the room and in the bath, offered good views of the wooded hills.
Rather than order from room service, we decided to
stroll in the garden and lunch at the Chitrasani restaurant. We
walked out onto the lawn and were pleased to meet Dilip Thakker, one
of the owners of the palace. “We are one of the first private
entrepreneurs to have bought a palace in Gujarat and converted it
into a heritage hotel. All the others are ancestral properties owned
and run by descendants of rulers. We have taken care to keep up the
personalised contact with the guests that is the USP of a heritage
hotel,” he says.
We spent the afternoon touring the temple town of
Ambaji, the 1062-1134 Kumbariyaji Jain temples, the Jessore Bear
Sanctuary and Iqbalgarh where tribal ornaments are made in little
workshops. On our return to Balaram, we were captivated by the sight
of the palace all lit up, the row of lamps leading from the gate to
the palace are designed like parabadis (Gujarati bird feeding posts),
soft music played from cleverly concealed speakers. After dinner, it
was time to sleep. To our delight, the beds had been attractively
made up and there were little cards and tags in different places
wishing us good night in verse and prose. Later I learnt that
Thakker is a poetry enthusiast and collects quotations of famous
people, poems and attractive lines in Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and
English!
We woke up at leisure and tucked into a breakfast of
French toast, with honey and melted butter, aloo parathas and masala
tea. I must mention, the room service was excellent. Then it was time
to leave for our next stop, Gondal.
The Orchard Palace of Gondal, where we arrived after
an eight-hour drive through the cities of Ahmedabad and Rajkot, is
the antithesis of Balaram Palace resort. The focus is on period
furniture, antiques and creating a colonial charm. No TV, phone or
fridge in the rooms which are large, high-ceilinged and furnished
with four poster beds, dressers, elegant settees, paintings and
prints. The bathrooms are pleasantly old fashioned with English
fixtures and old dressing tables. Turbaned watchmen, uniformed
butlers and old retainers welcome guests but nothing is served in
the rooms, except bed tea. Instead guests are encouraged to use
sit-outs facing the lime and chikoo orchards, or come down to
breakfast, lunch and dinner in the formal dining room.
“This is the guest wing of the Huzoor Palace,
which was a British Residency in the 19th century and became the
royal residence in the early-20th century when late His Highness
Bhagwat Sinhji moved here from the Naulakha Palace complex which
became his administrative headquarters. Personal guests of the
Maharajahs and Maharanis of Gondal were accommodated in this wing of
the palace, while political visitors stayed at the European Guest
House across the road”, says Kanak Sinh, “I am related to
the royal family and manage this property. Our attempt is to make
guests feel at home and as if they are staying at a royal guesthouse
of earlier centuries”.
Our room on the first floor, named Strawberry suite
(all the seven guestrooms are named after different fruits), was, as
the name suggests, swathed in pink tapestries and linen. It was large
and spacious, and had elegant period furniture. The bathrooms were
proportionately large with a separate sitting area.
We stepped out on to a gallery, with sit-outs facing
the gardens, and into the Indian theme sitting room, which has brass
lined patara chests, woodcarvings, miniature paintings, lover’s
seats, brass idols and traditional textiles. The sitting room
downstairs is simpler, and more in keeping with the Rajtheme, with
cutlasses, a birds’ egg collection and European furniture.
Just next to the guesthouse is a royal rail saloon,
standing on tracks next to a platform with European lampposts and
benches. Kanak showed us the interiors of the saloon which are
beautifully appointed with inlaid wood, carved furniture and richly
upholstered settees. The en suite bath has a cute looking telephonic
shower and the kitchen, now no longer in use, a coal cooking system.
We walked down, past an empty swimming pool, to the
garages where the vintage, classic and sports cars are kept. We saw
the 1910 New Engine, the Delage and Daimler, both 1930s models, the
1935 Mercedes seven seater and a 1935 Packard two door convertible
coupe. The royal family also has a large fleet of imposing American
cars of the 1940s and ‘50s including 1941 and ’47 Cadillac,
1955 Cadillac limousine, Fords, Buick, Stude Backer and Chevrolet.
“In the 1960s and ‘70s, both Maharajah
Jyotinder Singhji and his younger brother, Maharaj Saheb, were into
motor sports. In this period they collected the best sports models of
the time like the Mercedes 300 SL, Jaguar XK 150, Surtees formula
5000 and Chevrolet Camaro,” says Kanak Sinh, and won many
trophies with these cars in South India. “Yuvraj Himanshu Sinh
too loves fast cars and his recent purchases include sports models of
Corvette, Dodge and Ferari”. We also saw a number of all-terrain
vehicles, including jeeps, station wagons, pick-ups and an amphibian,
that must have seen many a hunting trip (one with a beautiful crane
mascot, we learnt from Kanak, once belonged to Raol Saheb Dharamkumar
Sinhji, a well known naturalist.
It has been inherited by his daughter, Kumud Kumari,
a Rolls Royce and a Mercedes. A buggy, one of the score of horse
carriages at Gondal, was being restored in one of the garages,
perhaps one day it will be used for carriage rides by guests.
The love of cars is visible in the drawing room of
the Huzoor Palace, where guests staying at the heritage hotels of
Gondal were invited for high tea with the family. Most of the
furniture seemed to be French gilt wooden pieces, the glass cabinets
were full of lalique and crystal, royal portraits spanned the walls,
and car models in lalique and to scale were exhibited everywhere.
The tea was entirely silver service, with butlers
bringing in silver trays laden with silver urns, silver tea pots and
platters of sandwiches, biscuits, pedas and ganthias. “A
European guest recently remarked that we offer the five Cs of a
heritage hotel experience–calm, class, cleanliness, cuisine and
character,” says Kumud Kumari, “and, of course, we have
lots to show by way of princely relics. You could be sitting on the
gallery and a Buick or Cadillac limousine would drive by as if in the
1940s and ‘50s”. She proudly showed us two trophies awarded
to the Orchard Palace at Madrid and Paris, and the Heritage
classification certificate in favour of the Riverside Palace issued
by Government of India.
The courtyard of the Naulakha Palace, built in 1748,
is surrounded by intricately carved columns. A brass inlaid wooden
door leads to the former living quarters of the royal family which
are now the museum. The first room has silver, brass and beadwork.
The second is dedicated to Maharajah Bhagwat Sinhji. The silver room
has caskets that carried messages for the Maharaja on his silver and
golden jubilee as ruler of Gondal, as also his 61st birthday, silver
plated elephant howdahs, jhoolas and horse caparisons.
The toys room has a range of playthings from 1870s,
hand-painted horses and elephants to 1970s dinky cars. “At
Gondal we have an ayurvedic pharmacy, set up in 1910, which is an
attraction for our European guests who want to see traditional herbal
medicines being made. We arrange Ayurvedic oil massages and
consultations with ayurvedic physicians for guests interested in
alternative therapies,” Durgesh told us.
Those interested in birds are taken to the lakes and
grasslands of Gondal where they could also see nilgai, jungle cat and
jackal. Swaminarayan temple is another attraction with its murals and
aarti atmosphere. Those interested in handicrafts can watch artisans
at work on spinning, weaving, wood carving, beadwork, embroidery and
silversmithing in Gondal. Also arrangements can be made for folk
performances like the Rajput sword dance, Bharwad dandia-ras and
garba. A tribal study group recently was taken to villages of the
Bharwad and Charan communities. Visits to the stud farm of Kathiawadi
horses and Gir cattle on the outskirts of Gondal town are also
possible.
Kanak showed us the Riverside Palace, a mansion
built on the shores of the river Gondali in Gondal town. The rooms
are large and high-ceiling with four poster beds, old dressers,
elegant settees, English prints, oil paintings, rich tapestries and
wall-to-wall carpeting. We stepped up to the terrace, with its
glass-corridor gallery, offering a view of the river. White breasted
waterhen bobbed among the reeds and two ibises were perched on a tree
facing the river. A vulture’s nest could be seen on a tree top.
We stepped down to the Indian room, a marvelously
appointed sitting arrangement with lover’s seats, low seating,
mattresses, bolsters, a Raja Ravi Varma print, brass artifacts and
local beadwork. I saw a spotted owlet entering the hollow of a tree
in the Riverside Palace garden.We drove past the attractive
Swaminarayan temple to the Veri lake, where large flocks of pelicans,
a small group of flamingoes, a few white and black ibis, and motley
duck were among the many birds seen.
We headed back to the Orchard Palace in the dark. In
keeping with the colonial period architecture and décor of the
property, dinner was Continental and served by butlers in true Raj
style. We did try a bajra rotla with white country butter and local
dhokla. We awakened to the call of peacocks in the garden and the
temple bells across the road and after a sumptuous breakfast of
scrambled eggs on toast left for the Nilambag Palace Hotel,
Bhavnagar.
The Nilambag Palace is situated on the thoroughfare
into the city from the highway, but the multi-acre grounds with their
tall trees act as a buffer against the noise of the city and make the
palace seem isolated from the main road. We entered by stepped arches
and found ourselves in a lobby that served as the living room of the
royal family. King-size portraits, European chandeliers and teakwood
carvings are a feature of the lobby. The central courtyard has a
pleasure pool, now empty, and rows of old drawings.
We visited the library, furnished with 1950s Burma
teak cabinets, with the office desk of the directors, Rajmata Brijraj
Nandini and Maharajah Vijayraj Singh of Bhavnagar. “My ancestors
came to this coastal area in the 13th century from Marwar. This
palace was built in 1859 AD as a garden retreat,” explains
Vijayraj, “and became the royal residence after independence
replacing the city centre Darbargadh palace complex”.
Recalls the Rajmata, “We were hardly using this
property and so signed up with Welcomgroup to convert it to a
heritage hotel. It did not do well and, after the contract was over,
we decided to run it personally. My first attempt was to give it the
look of a palace rather than a hotel. The reception desk was moved
from the lobby to the portico as I wanted to give guests, the moment
they entered the palace, to get the feeling of being in a spacious
royal living room”.
The clientele of the palace is divided between
business visitors to Bhavnagar and its nearby ports and coastal
projects, the reason the Nilambag retains the undeniable stamp of a
business-class hotel, and foreign travellers visiting the Jain
temples of Palitana and the Velavadar Blackbuck National Park.
We accepted an invitation for tea with the family at
their bungalow in the palace precincts. The bungalow is surrounded by
aviaries and flower hedges. A labrador played in the forecourt. The
Bhavnagar royal family has recently opened their Gopnath bungalow, a
1940s mansion retreat set on a promontory, flanked by rocks and
offering unending views of the Arabian Sea, as an economically priced
heritage hotel for weekenders from Bhavnagar.
“We have another superbly located property-the
Vijay Mahal, built in 1945 on Chanch island. My husband loves the
place. If converted into a heritage hotel, it would be a unique
property –a palace hotel on an island in the sea! Unfortunately,
it needs a lot of restoration, renovation, furniture. Water is
another problem,” explains Samyukta Devi. We walked back to the
Nilambag Palace Hotel in the dark, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.
An ibis called from a sprawling tree where it was roosting. We ended
our day with a dinner of tandoori chicken, paneer tikka, dal and
rice, before settling in our room for the night.
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