JAI NIWAS in Jaipur - Hotel Review with Photos

India › Jaipur Hotels › Jai Niwas Review
Updated: March 22, 2022

Essentials
• Location: Along a dead-end lane off Sansar Chandra Road.
• Hotel website: jainiwas.com
• Hotel phone: +91 (0)141 236 3964
• Check prices for Jai Niwas

With huge lawns and an old-world vibe, Jai Niwas offers good-value and family-friendly rooms.

Jai Niwas Garden Hotel – Quiet, budget-priced, and family-friendly, but feels a little isolated.

Sister to the nearby Arya Niwas guesthouse, the eco-friendly Jai Niwas is hidden along a tranquil alley with a big gate – not that the area is unsafe. Rooms are budget-standard and accordingly priced, but still set within a pleasant colonial-era setting of whitewashed walls, terraces with wicker chairs, and lawns dotted with wrought-iron tables. Rooms are simple but certainly cozy, and offer superior views (of the garden) than most similar guesthouses. Unusually, it also caters for families with special rooms, while the associated backpacker hostel next door also offers rooms with four bunk beds. There is an inexpensive café on-site, and the staff is very helpful about travel arrangements. However, it is a tad isolated, with auto-rickshaws often a necessity.

Jai Niwas Garden Hotel – The Location

Address: 3 Jalupura Scheme, a dead-end street, about 100m from Gopinath Marg (road).
Nearest Metro: Sindhi Camp metro station is 1 km from the hotel.
Area: The main gates are along the surprisingly busy Gopinath Road in an inner-city suburb, but 100m+ from traffic noise. Very little of interest in the area for tourists, but safe and interesting enough.
How to Get There: From the airport (13 km, 30-minute drive), take a pre-paid taxi or walk outside for an auto-rickshaw. The train terminal (2 km) and main bus station (900m) are also close by.

Jai Niwas Garden Hotel – The Basics

Guests: Most are budget-minded people who still want a slice of old-world Jaipur-style charm.
Views: Set within a garden and distant from other buildings, views of the garden and/or lawns are more notable than those at most guesthouses in Jaipur.
Private Pools/Jacuzzis: Certainly not expected – or provided – at this sort of inner-city guesthouse in Jaipur.
How to Book: Booking.com will have the best rates.
Phone: +91 (0)141 236 3964
Email: bookings@jainiwas.com
Website: jainiwas.com

Jai Niwas Garden Hotel – Amenities

Pool, Spa, & Fitness Center: Not expected or provided.
For Families: The associated backpacker hostel next door has, strangely enough, a family-friendly vibe, with a few toys and colorful cushions in the corridors.
Other Facilities: Money-changing. Same-day laundry. Book exchange.

Jai Niwas Garden Hotel – Food and Drink

Restaurant: The small café with open-plan kitchen provides a a selection of Indian (vegetarian) and continental food, with claims of using ‘less oil and chilies’. Homemade cakes and bread are a feature. No alcohol is sold in the guesthouse.
Breakfast: Included in all rates.
Room Service: Limited service available during restaurant hours – 7 am to 8 pm.

Jai Niwas Garden Hotel – Rooms

Room Types: Value Rooms • Superior Rooms • Deluxe Cottages (really still rooms) • Family Deluxe Rooms • List of all Rooms
Smoking Rooms: No smoking in the rooms or public areas, but permitted elsewhere.
Best Room: The décor and furnishings in all the rooms are very similar; the main difference being the size. A room on the upper floor, more distant from the lobby area, might be preferred.
For Families: Each Family Deluxe Room features a queen bed and 2 singles, with a tiny partitioned living area. Or book a room in the backpacker hostel next door with 4 bunk beds.

Jai Niwas Garden Hotel – Local Transport

Walking: Nothing much of interest around the streets just outside, but nice enough to walk around.
Public Transport: The Jaipur Metro is of limited use to tourists – at least until more stations and routes are completed. The nearest station to the guesthouse is Sindhi Camp, about 1 km away and attached to the bus station.
Taxis & Auto-rickshaws: Taxis (unmetered) are poorly-marked and almost impossible to find without help from the hotel reception, and useless in the Old City anyway. Otherwise, Uber and Ola work effectively. However, just about anywhere, including the airport, is accessible by abundant auto-rickshaws. Some are electric and feature 2 small benches.

Jai Niwas Garden Hotel – What’s Nearby?

Best Nearby Restaurants

Ask directions to the sister guesthouse, Arya Niwas. It offers the low-key but very likable Chitra Cafeteria. Big thalis (set meals in steel plates) are a specialty, which can also be enjoyed on the terrace or lovely lawns. Vegetarian meals only. (250m).

Otherwise, near the Arya Niwas are:

Trattoria – Rooftop setting between Arya Niwas and Jai Niwas. Wood-fired pizzas, but menu is more limited. About halfway between the Jai Niwas and Arya Niwas. (150m).
The Bella Italia – Almost identical to Trattoria. Better selection than just pizza and pasta, with crepes and Chinese also available. Open for breakfast. (250m).
Alsisar Haveli – Gorgeous old guesthouse with a magnificent restaurant featuring chandeliers, mahogany tables, and traditionally-dressed waiters. Can also eat in the courtyard or along the poolside terrace. Bar attached. About 500m towards the Old City.
Hotel Mangal +91 (0)141 237 5126 – Along the main road, just opposite the turnoff to Arya Niwas. Dreary indoor setting but excellent vegetarian food at low prices. (600m).

Nearby Shops

No shops along the streets outside the guesthouse of any interest to tourists, so head to the Old City (see below).

Nearby Attractions

City Palace – A frenetic maze of shops, markets, traffic, and more traffic, the Old City is both fascinating and frustrating to wander about. In the center, the City Palace (open daily from 9 am to 5.30 pm) is a marvelous example of Mughal and Rajasthani architecture, and is packed with courtyards, gardens, and museums. The nearest entrance to the Old City, Chandpole Gate, is about 1 km from the guesthouse, while the City Palace is 2.5 km. Both are best accessed by auto-rickshaw.
Jantar Mantar – UNESCO World Heritage site featuring the world’s largest stone sundial and 18 other instruments. 1 of 5 astronomical observatories built in north India in the 18th-century by Maharaj Sawaii Jai Singh II. Right opposite the City Palace. (3 km).
Hawa Mahal – This 18th-century sandstone summer palace features 953 windows which let in cool breezes during the summer, and allowed the Royalty to view the streets below without being seen. Visit early morning to watch the sun’s rays filter through the latticework. (3.5 km).
Amber Palace – UNESCO World Heritage site, also known as Amer Fort among locals, featuring 4 must-see courtyards (Shila Devi Temple, public audience hall, private audience hall, and Mirror Palace), and sound and light shows in the evening. Open from 9 am to 5 pm daily. (11 km).
Nahargarh Fort – Historic defense fort overlooking Jaipur. Houses the Jaipur Wax Museum by the entrance, and features a second, updated Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace). (17 km).

Jai Niwas Garden Hotel – The Hotel

The guesthouse is located at a distance from the busy road.

The Jai Niwas guesthouse is set within a garden, distant from the busy road.

The reception resembles a backpacker hostel, and the staff is very happy to help with travel arrangements for guests.

The seating on the lawn is very appealing.

Chairs and tables on the immaculate lawn provide the sort of quiet garden setting usually expected at a guesthouse costing far more.

The lawn at the front is very shady and inviting.

The front lawn is particularly shady and inviting.

The on-site cafe offers basic India food at cheap prices.

The guesthouse café offers an Indian and continental menu at rock-bottom prices in air-conditioned comfort.

Rooms open up to a terrace/corridor line with wicker chairs.

All rooms face the garden and/or lawn from a corridor or terrace, often lined with wicker chairs.

The guesthouse design provides a rate colonial-era vibe.

The terraces and whitewashed walls provide a colonial-era vibe rarely seen at a guesthouse in this price range.

Family Deluxe Rooms can sleep up to 4 guests.

The Family Deluxe Rooms are spacious enough for 4.

Family Deluxe Rooms come with small living areas.

The family rooms feature tiny living areas alongside full-length windows facing the lawn.

All rooms are comfortable and spacious, and offer garden views rarely seen at similar guesthouses.

The associated backpacker hostel is in a lovely old building next door.

Next to the Jai Niwas, the associated backpacker hostel is in a lovely old building.

Backpacker Hostel offers family-friendly rooms with 4 bunk beds.

The backpacker hostel next door offers rooms with 4 bunk beds, which are ideal for families.

Backpacker Hostel offers toys and games for kids.

Perhaps a little strangely, the backpacker hostel offers a few toys and other things for children.

The guesthouse is located at the end of a quiet dead-end street.

Not that the area is unsafe, but the guesthouse is located behind a gate and at the end of a quiet dead-end street.

The guesthouse is located over 100m away from the busy street.

The street outside the main gate is busy, but rooms are more than 100m away from traffic noise.

Chitra Cafeteria at the sister guesthouse is the closest place to eat.

With nowhere to eat along the street outside the main gates, ask directions to the sister guesthouse, Arya Niwas, which offers the delightful Chitra Cafeteria.