The Laxmi Niwas Palace was commissioned by His Highness Sir Ganga Singh Ji in 1904. The impetus behind it was two-fold – to provide employment to the townspeople and to create a stately residence worthy of the royal house of Bikaner. His Highness was a man of impeccable taste and supervised the artists, masons and builders personally in their endeavours. Many of the friezes on the palace’s walls, the geometrically perfect symmetry of its outlay, the ornate filigree work and latticed screens may all be attributed to his artistic vision and temperamen

He was also a famous host and his guests, (nearly always royals or dignitaries with packed agendas) tended to overstay, sometimes for months longer than they had originally intended. We hope the grace and charm of His Highness’ former abode and our hospitality will have a similar effect on you. Enjoy your stay.

When you build a palace like none other, not just anyone is invited to stay. Since 1904, only a few have been deemed worthy of a higher order of hospitality – princelings, Europe’s pre-eminent bluebloods, King George V and Queen Mary, a handful of statesmen; a few of the notable architects of history. The world at large had been shut out of the Laxmi Niwas Palace. You may now actually go a step further. Gaze at hand-painted friezes and gold-laden walls. Examine up close the inspiration behind Lutyens’ and Baker’s architectural style. And perhaps reflect on the fact that exclusion does sometimes make a place what it is.

Royal Deluxe Rooms These may comprise two singles or a double and were originally the larger bedrooms in the palace. The decorative accents and layout has been lovingly preserved. These spacious, breezy bedrooms look out to panoramic views of the Lalgarh Estate. A typical example is perched high above the central courtyard – one of two twin bedrooms with an inter-connecting hallway. These are especially great for groups of friends or families on holiday, or for the party of a corporate offsite.

The Palace Rooms These plush expanses originally served as apartments for members of Bikaner’s royal family. The roomy period style roccoco furniture is over a hundred years old yet immensely comfortable. Antique accents like four-poster brass beds, escritoires, old-world dressing tables, porthole-shaped shaving mirrors and glorious sunken bathtubs celebrate the palace’s heritage. These rooms look out to our verdant lawns. Birdsong, a large television and robust air-conditioning make these restful, luxurious homes away from home.

Historical Suite Karni Vilas has been left unchanged from the time, over a century ago, when it was the bed-chamber of a prince. This marble-walled suite is rich with usta art in blue and gold. The teak ceiling has inlaid carvings covered in gold. Each vertical wall panel has the most intricately detailed scenes of shikar (the royal hunt) on view within the palace, painted in indigo into a motif of amphoras. Each frieze has been painstakingly executed and the blue of the room’s upholstery brings them out beautifully. The bedroom leads to a spacious dressing room and an enormous bathroom with delightfully antique his-and-her’s WC’s.

Royal Suites

Ganga Mahal You know you’re in a royal bedroom – twin images of Surya the Sun God beam down at you from the Burma teak ceiling, festooned with an intricately carved grid in a resplendent blue. Below, the tone of the place is restrained yet undoubtedly regal. Hunker down in Maharaja Ganga Singh Ji’s brass canopied four-poster bed. Write on his escritoire. Listen to his gramophone, hang your jacket on his coatrack, use his old-school telephone and take your seat in a cosy heirloom jhoola (swing) which still has on its original silk upholstery.

Presidential Suite A sumptuously appointed place with a TV armoire, a writing desk, a canopied four poster bed, a card table and a dining table, sofas, ottomans and pouffes and a pair of bronze horses that are offered freshly mown fescue from the palace lawns daily. The suite comes with its own dressing room and a generously proportioned bathroom. Small decorative accents, put in when the palace was built in 1904 imbue it with character. A brilliant metal door fastener fashioned in the shape of interlocked fists renders the suite impregnable even today.

Bridal Suite Situated on the second floor, this intimate suite offers unparalleled privacy and stellar views of the Lalgarh Palace complex. The suite features bolstered seating on its alcoves, usta art on glasswork and on marble, our signature old-world furniture and a generously sized bath. It looks out on to a covered marble verandah, with two mid-level terraces flanking it. The entire area is cordoned off for bridal parties, serving as a romantic, spacious, semi-detached enclosure, remote from the bustle of our ground floor.

Swarna Mahal – Restaurant

Go back to a time when lunch was called luncheon. Look up to usta art on old Burma teak-paneled roof. On the walls, a continuous frieze, in tempera, of scenes from hunts. Alongside, a hand-painted panel of stone, the figures as fresh as the day they were laid on. This is not the dining chamber of commoners.

Swarna Mahal serves up a dauntingly elaborate traditional Rajasthani thali and other regional cuisine with ιlan. Lal Maas, or mutton cooked in gulmohar flowers, is a huge draw. Our chef is partial to Thai, Indian and very many Continental staples. And if what you’re feeling like is not on our menu, have a chat with chef. Your request will likely not be beyond his vast culinary repertoire.

Open 7:30 AM to 11:30 PM

Hari Mahal – Restaurant

Our bigger, banquet-style dining room has huge ceilings and a Messel Green decorative motif. On its broad wall-length tables and sideboards, substantial breakfast buffets are laid out daily as is lunch or dinners for those of our guests who engage the venue for private functions.

Open 7:30 AM to 11:30 PM

Trophy Bar Our bar is decorated with the carefully selected spoils of royal hunts. The house of Bikaner had many prolific shots, and their skill is plain to see in the likenesses between the pairs of animals chosen. Above the single beam of mahogany that forms the bar, the huge heads of a rhinoceros and a Nepalese bison square off. There is a spectacular leopard in a vitrine and pairs of lionesses, platypuses, boars, deer, tigers, Royal Bengals and a couple of hair-raising coyotes mounted on the walls. Have our barman whip up one of his spicy bloody marys or another of his stellar cocktails and enjoy the company of your new drinking buddies.

The Pool The casual club-like feel of the entrance to the pool is a contrast to the pristine blue where viceroys have taken their post-prandial exercise. The tile, imported from Italy has a palette of 52 shades still clear and distinct after a hundred and eight summers. You can tell the granite of the deck has been laid out a century ago. Such granite simply isn’t to be had any longer. Our swimming enclosure has canopied seating arrangements and deck chairs for sunbathing.

The Conference Room The Gulab Mahal was the designated room for meetings and semi-formal discussions, during his Highness Ganga Singh Ji’s reign. A lotus motif is etched in usta along its marble walls. Four columns, extant of the walls, rise in an arc to the roof above, each with its own deity carved into the bottom, providing direction, closure, insight and haste to the business of decision-making.

The room can seat about sixty easily, as well as pianist who may tap the ivories on an antique baby grand propped up in the corner. A private dining room at the back of the room doubles up as a closed meeting area. The place merits the discussion of many a merger and partnership, such as that of the splendid teak wainscoting around a grated fireplace that works just as splendidly today.