SHAHPURA HOUSE in Jaipur - Hotel Review with Photos

India › Jaipur Hotels › Shahpura House Review
Updated: March 23, 2022

Essentials
• Location: Bani Park.
• Hotel website: shahpura.com
• Hotel phone: +91 (0)141 408 9100
• Check prices for Shahpura House

Review of Shahpura House in Jaipur, India.

The charming Shahpura House offers old-world charm and compact but beautiful rooms.

Shahpura House – Very stylish heritage-style guesthouse, but overbuilt.

Along a pleasant residential street, the traditional charm is immediately evident from the moustachioed doorman to the marble lobby. The outdoor courtyards featuring fountains, antique furniture-filled indoor niches, and quadrangle patios with chandeliers add enormously to the appeal. Every wall is either lined with historical prints or is hand-painted with stunning motifs, and all rooms are lovingly decorated with suitable old-world elegance. The only downside is the limited space throughout the hotel. While there is a lawn, pool, boutique, restaurant/bar, and terraces for guests to relax on, rooms are cramped together, with many offering small windows that look directly across a courtyard to another room. Rooms facing the ground floor terrace are even noisier and less secluded.

Shahpura House – The Location

Address: D-257 Devi Marg (road) in the inner-city and upmarket suburb of Bani Park.
Nearest Metro: Sindhi Camp metro station is 2 km away.
Area: Along a quiet street of middle-class housing. About 200m from a major road, Sawai Jai Singh Highway, along which there are some limited facilities.
How to Get There: From the airport (13 km, 30-minute drive), take a pre-paid taxi or walk outside for an auto-rickshaw. Other important places: train terminal (1.5 km) and main bus station (2 km).

Shahpura House – The Basics

Guests: Mostly couples and small groups of all ages.
Views: Views are limited. The more expensive suites feature porches facing the quiet street, but many rooms and suites face each other. The undersized windows (expected with the historical design) provide minimal natural light, so rooms can be dark.
Private Pools/Jacuzzis: Not expected – or provided – at this sort of inner-city hotel in Jaipur.
How to Book: Booking.com will have the best rates.
Phone: +91 (0)141 408 9100
Email: reservations@shahpura.com
Website: shahpura.com

Shahpura House – Amenities

Pool: Despite the limited space throughout the hotel, the pool is quite large. Lined with lounge chairs, it faces the lawn.
Spa & Fitness Center: None. Probably because there is simply no space.
Other Facilities: Clothing boutique.

Shahpura House – Food and Drink

Restaurants & Bars: Sapphire Restaurant – Faces the pool and lawn (with 2 horse buggies). Buffet breakfast and cuisine from India, China, and Europe for lunch and dinner. The colonial-style bar is dominated by a snooker table and sells imported wines, beers, and spirits. • Rasa – Divine outdoor terrace setting or cool air-conditioning indoor. Silver service and fine dining, specializing in Rajasthani cuisine. Dinner only.
Breakfast: Not included.
Room Service: Available from 7 am to 11 pm.

Shahpura House – Rooms

Room Types: Deluxe Rooms • Suites • Royal Suites • Shahpura Suites • List of all Rooms
Smoking Rooms: No smoking on the premises.
Best Room: Located in a separate part of the hotel, the Shahpura Suites are very luxurious. Finest street views and spacious living areas.
For Families: Not well set up for families. Ask the management about squeezing in an extra single bed. Otherwise, book 2 adjoining rooms (which won’t have connecting doors).

Shahpura House – Local Transport

Walking: The streets around the hotel are comparatively quiet, clean, and safe. Less so is the main road, only 200m away, where there are some limited facilities.
Public Transport: The Jaipur Metro is of limited use to tourists – at least until more stations and routes are completed. The nearest station, Sindhi Camp, is 2 km away and is 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.

Shahpura House – What’s Nearby?

Best Nearby Restaurants & Bars

Umaid Mahal – Very opulent hotel offering the Taikhana Restaurant in the basement, with an attached bar. The rooftop café is more appealing. Head southeast along the street and turn left. (150m).

Or head southeast along the street from the hotel gates for 600m to the chaotic Collectorate Circle roundabout. Nearby are several options.

Hotel Jaipur Ashok +91 (0)141 220 4491 – Decent restaurant in the uniquely-designed hotel, but the setting is a bit dreary. Facing the roundabout. (800m).
Café Coffee Day – One in a countrywide chain of cheerful cafés serving drinks and light meals. In a colorful office block, 200m down M.I. Road from the roundabout. (800m).
Icekraft Jaipur Banipark – Finest in the area by a mile for western meals such as burgers, waffles, and tacos. Ground floor of Crystal Mall, past Café Coffee Day. (900m).
Glocal Tadka – Basement-level vegetarian restaurant in Crystal Mall, 300m down M.I. Road from the roundabout. (900m).

Nearby Shops

A few shops along the main road, 200m from the hotel, and around the Collectorate Circle roundabout, but nothing to get excited about. 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 3 km from the guesthouse, while the City Palace is about 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. (5 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. (6 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. (12 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). (18 km).

Shahpura House – The Hotel

The hotel is located along a quiet side street.

Shahpura House hotel is along a quiet side-street, distant from any significant traffic noise.

The imposing doorman is actually very welcoming.

The doorman is actually a lot more welcoming than his ‘mean smile’ might indicate.

The terrace near the entrance is shady and welcoming.

The shady terrace between the main door and lobby is indicative of the style throughout the hotel.

The lobby hosts the portraits of a former king and queen of Rajasthan.

Pride of place at the lobby are portraits of a former king and queen of Rajasthan.

There is a lot of old-style furniture around the hotel.

Many niches and alcoves around the hotel are packed with old-style furniture.

There are many historic Indian works all over the hotel.

There are so many reminders of India and its history all over the hotel.

The cramped design means some rooms face others.

One downside is the tendency to squeeze in too many rooms within a limited space. So some rooms have small windows that directly face another.

Some ground floor rooms can get noisy and offer no views.

Some rooms face a ground floor corridor which can get noisy. These rooms also offer minimal natural light and zero views.

Huge inner courtyards are decorated with ornate rugs and old paintings.

Despite rooms being squeezed into tight areas, there are huge inner courtyards furnished with ornate rugs and lined with old paintings and prints.

The hotel has a fantastic collection of art and furnishings.

Guests could easily spend hours wandering around the corridors admiring the art and furnishings.

Some courtyard walls feature wonderful hand paintings.

Some walls around the courtyards are wonderfully hand-painted.

The rooftop offers views and lots of breeze.

The hotel rooftop offers a nice breeze and street views.

There are terraces on each level for guests to relax.

Each level has a terrace on which guests can relax.

Between the lobby and ground-level restaurant is a chic boutique.

The bar is colonial-style and has a snooker table.

The colonial-style bar at the hotel features a snooker table.

Guests can have breakfast and a la carte meals at the Sapphire Restaurant.

The Sapphire Restaurant serves breakfast to guests and a la carte meals all day.

The Sapphire Restaurant offers tables with lawn and pool views.

Intimate tables at the Sapphire Restaurant overlook the lawn and pool.

The hotel lawn showcases 2 old horse buggies.

At the back of the front lawn are 2 old horse buggies.

A prominent feature of most rooms are the 4-poster beds.

Some suites feature living areas with old furniture and new mod cons.

Some suites have separate living areas with mod cons and old-fashioned furniture.

The hotel porch has lots of antiques and old India memorabilia.

Some larger suites also feature porches filled with antiques and other reminders of old India.

The hotel is located in a quiet, middle-class residential area.

The hotel is in a middle-class residential area with little of interest to guests, but a main road, 200m away, does offer a few Indian-style shops and cafés.