A Vividly Coloured Hotel In India: Villa Palladio Jaipur
A new boutique hotel in Jaipur is beautifully designed and strikingly decorated with bold crimson accents.
Rich Report discovers the state of Rajasthan in north-western India has always been steeped in history. Ancient Silk Routes once wound through here, and the cross-cultural exchange it seeded - in goods, art, craftsmanship, and ideas - continues to have an impact today. As Rajasthan's newest boutique hotel, Villa Palladio Jaipur is modeled after a caravanserai: inns that provided food, shelter, and rest to travelers on the Silk Routes.
Barbara Miolini and Marie-Anne Oudejans continue their theme of cross-cultural exchange with their third venture. Bar Palladio, the duo's first Jaipur project, has inspired a cult following since its launch several years ago. In 2019, Miolini and Oudejans alighted on the perfect opportunity to make their dream of opening a boutique hotel a reality on the outskirts of Jaipur, after its success sparked an idea. Villa Palladio opened three years and one pandemic later. It is a place of dramatic, almost Baroque, design that stops me in my tracks for its interplay of craft, colour, and story.
Sumel village is located just 10 miles east of Jaipur city on the Jaipur-Agra highway, at the end of a single-lane road. During the night, the hills of the Aravallis stand silhouetted by a starlit navy sky, making you feel like you have entered a quieter, gentler era. A crenellated hotel built in the 1980s surrounds large grounds, watchtowers, and a central building close to Sumel Hill. In the Jaipur sun, the silvery Kanota Lake shimmers behind them.
Miolini and Oudejans transformed Villa Palladio into a contemporary celebration of beauty from old-school havelis. Their signature style - monochrome palettes, jewel-toned colours, handcrafting and local and international aesthetics - sings through the space and gives it a fantastical feel. Everything is red, hot, and vibrant.
On three acres of land, this nine-room property is like a miniature castle with turrets and carved marble trellises. According to Islamic theology, the gardens of paradise are arranged rectilinearly, which is reflected in the orientation of the rooms. There are rose bushes abounding in the black-and-white marbled courtyards, palm trees waving their fronds lazily, a rose-petal fountain bubbling cheerfully in the center, and jasmine trees growing close to the walls.
The central hall of the main building is impressively high-ceilinged due to the architecture of the haveli. Stained-glass windows and elaborately carved jalis let in indirect light, accentuating the ornamentation and details. Every surface that could be decorated has been decorated. Walls and arches are covered with hand-painted vines, ferns, and flowers.
There are candy-striped corridors leading from this handsome atrium to superior rooms and suites, where canopied beds are set against walls adorned with floral block-print motifs. With a hand-painted wall and marble floors, the suite's arched doorway leads to a private sitting room and bedroom. A carved marble jali separates the shower and the large freestanding bathtub in the bathroom. Located away from the main building, I stay in one of two Torre Belvedere rooms. Originally guards' rooms, these quirky, octagonal rooms are smaller than the others, but they also have private terraces where fairy-lit soirées are held as winter beds.
The main building's ridiculously pretty covered balcony is the perfect place for breakfast. Despite the ubiquitous reds here, they appear lighter and less intense, offset by the clear blue sky and views of green hills. The breakfast buffet is continental, lunch - wholesome and unfussy - is mostly Italian, and dinner is Italian, Indian or Rajasthani. You should order a thali when you're in Rajasthan and eat like the Rajasthanis do. A custom milling process makes the flour lighter and more flavourful, and the kitchen uses seasonal vegetables.
Hidden behind the main building is a circus-tent-meets-shamiana pool house overlooking a pool and deck, as well as a little spa offering Tibetan treatments, yoga classes, saunas, and meditation rooms. I wanted to stay among Palladio's intense, rouged beauty, not the fervour of Rajasthan's capital, or the Leopard Reserves of Jhalana and Amagarh.
