Rajvilas, located approximately 150 miles to the southwest of Delhi, owes its splendor to the vision of Oberoi, who built it in 1997 using local artisans. The hotel recreates the glamour and style of princely life without a trace of the kitsch that mars so many of India’s palace and fortress hotels. Oberoi, owner of the 19 posh hotels in the multinational group that bears his name, makes his home in a nearby, and similarly renovated, hilltop fort.

Those who want to spend time here in the style of true rajputs (Sanskrit for “son of king,” a landowner caste that claims it is descended from a ruling warrior class) will pass on the hotel’s 54 deluxe rooms and even its 14 luxury tents. With teak furniture and lavish bathrooms, they are eminently appealing, but opt instead for the Royal Villa, patronized by visiting celebrities, prime ministers, presidents and other modern-day rajas.

The Royal Villa is truly a world apart, even within the luxury of the Rajvilas. It is separated from the rest of the hotel by a small moat bridge and fragrant gardens.

The Royal Villa’s main building comprises a living room, powder room, kitchenette and private dining room, which opens in turn to an outdoor dining pavilion and the heated pool. The villa offers two bedrooms, each with a bathroom (and sunken marble tub); the master has its own lounge, dressing room and sauna. All the rooms have lovely views of private walled gardens and are simply, but elegantly, furnished with local antiques and handicrafts.

Taken together, the Royal Villa and the two nearby one-bedroom pool villas (each with its own smaller private pool) make a graceful setting for a very private family or executive retreat. Families can enjoy both the private pools and the hotel pool, where they can take lunch while reclining on cushions under a pagoda. Other amenities include two floodlit tennis courts, a five-hole pitch-and-putt golf course and a state-of-the-art spa with its range of Western and Eastern relaxation and beauty treatments. The Rajvilas even offers Ayurvedic massages and private (and, if you wish, alfresco) yoga classes. Horseback riding is available nearby.

If we must work, the staff will facilitate our meetings and small conferences. (There are three meeting rooms overlooking the gardens and a full range of business services.) Every room has the usual accoutrements: high-speed Internet access, satellite television, multiline phones and CD and DVD players. Or we can settle down with an evening cocktail and check email at the desk just outside the library bar.

The courtyards-within-courtyards design of the hotel’s 32 acres is conducive to pleasant wanderings, which often end with a stop at the lobby terrace to sip cocktails as the sun goes down and the enormous stone torches are lit. Dinner is served both outdoors and in. While the Asian fusion cuisine is not quite up to the standards of the hotel’s other offerings—some dishes are quite heavy—it is enjoyable enough and beautifully served. Breakfast is more appealing, whether you choose the simple buffet or the à la carte options that include both Indian dosas stuffed with spicy potatoes topped with tamarind sauce, and Western-style pancakes with maple syrup. A simple international menu is offered at lunch.

Room service, thanks in large part to the superb staff, is wonderful. This makes the Royal Villa’s private dining room a very appealing alternative to the restaurant. Chances are, however, that you will return to the restaurant at least once to enjoy the traditional Rajasthani music and dance performance that starts each night around 8.

Travel in India can be almost as exhausting as it is exhilarating. The roads are crowded with camels, donkeys and the occasional elephant jostling for space with rickshaws and Mercedes. Shopping—a must in Jaipur if only for the hand-blocked linens and the incredible jewelry, both modern and antique—can be nearly as stressful, because haggling is expected. The Gem Palace, Jaipur’s most famous destination for gems and jewelry, dazzles tourists with sparkling piles of rubies and diamonds, but prices are sufficiently high to give pause. This is when we can rely on another benefit of staying at Rajvilas: When it seems like every one of the nation’s 1 billion people is trying to sell us something, the Oberoi drivers in their crisp white uniforms and dramatic red turbans are a welcome sight. Friendly without being familiar, they will take us in style wherever we wish to go, and even keep children entertained while we peek into just one more palace, mosque or jewelry shop. (Our driver even thought to bring along board games for that post-safari picnic.)

Rooms at Rajvilas start at $395 a night based on double occupancy. The pool villas are $1,500 a night, and the Royal Suite is $2,250.

Rajvilas Hotel, Jaipur, India
800.562.3764
www.rajvilas.com