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Reviews of Shiv Niwas Palace by HRH Group of Hotels

5 out of 5
Shiv Niwas Palace by HRH Group of Hotels
The City Palace Complex, Udaipur, Rajasthan

Reviews

8.4

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 78 out of 159 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 44 out of 159 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 22 out of 159 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 8 out of 159 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 7 out of 159 reviews" "

8.6/10

Cleanliness

8.6/10

Staff & service

8.0/10

Amenities

8.0/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.4/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Anja Elisabeth, München

Business traveller, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very nice place to stay :-)
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2024

6/10 Okay

Lisa

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness
This is not a 5 star hotel. One could say the architecture, location, and view are 5 stars, but I could not call the cleanliness, decor, upkeep, food or service 5 stars. Compared to other hotels of similar price point, Shiv Niwas was an overall disappointment. The facilities are dodgy - for example in the suite, the A/C was controlled by a dial on the nightstand. There was no temperature gauge - just a dial - and if you turned it up above the very lowest setting it sounded suddenly were on an airplane landing strip. The towels were thin and threadbare. A five star hotel should provide decent towels. The breakfast was nice but I had one very lousy dinner and another mediocre dinner (room service). I did not feel the service/hospitality were up to standard for India - it was inconsistent and felt somewhat ingenuine. The beds and pillows were comfortable. One of my nights I stayed in a Lake view terrace suite and the view out the sliding door would have been perfect if the hotel wouldn't have put a stupid sticker with a warning to keep the door shut right in the middle of your view. Because that sticker was on the door obstructing my view, I kept my door open, ignoring the sticker's request. If you don't want people leaving the door open, don't give them a reason to. I think there are much better properties in Udaipur at the same price point. You pay high dollar to stay on city palace grounds but you can get similar views without the hassle elsewhere.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

ADITEE

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

6/10 Okay

Shivani

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service
Location is great as this hotel is a part of City Palace, rest nothing is great about the hotel
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

6/10 Okay

Sanjay

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
The location of the property is very good, accessible to palace, shopping etc. Staff is very warm and hospitable. However, the rooms need major uplift as compared to its competitors. Breakfast served is not very good, not sure if it is outsourced, it does not seem fresh.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2023

10/10 Excellent

Myriam

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
It is part of the City Palace’s
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

10/10 Excellent

Vikas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Absolutely a 10
Room: clean and well serviced, check out the pool side suites for a larger room Housekeeping: timely and v good Food: excellent variety of choice for Indian pallette and staff goes way beyond their duty to be helpful Spa: average overall, did not use Front desk: v helpful Location: within the city palace with great access to local markets, room key allows you rights to be on premises at all times Overall: definitely a 10/10 and a great choice
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Catharine

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
As part of the Palace complex this is truly an exceptional hotel which would cost four or more times more in Europe.
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2023

8/10 Good

Scott, Dallas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Great historical property. Location can’t be beat and the staff was expeditions in every way. Will return for sure!
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

HARIHARAN G, YUCAIPA

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
enjoyed stay

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Super stay
We had a wonderful time in this beautiful palace. It was certainly a gorgeous oasis to recover a bit from a long jet lag. Restaurant : very good. Staff very helpful . A beautiful aspect of the lake
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2023

6/10 Okay

Hiren

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2022

10/10 Excellent

Gaurav

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
A great heritage hotel experience.

6/10 Okay

Mamta

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
The location of the hotel is its best part! Walking in the bylanes, shopping, exploring the cafes or the city palace tour, nothing can be better than this hotel and Taj Fateh Prakash. Bothe are very strategically located. Food and service both were superb. The desk was very courteous and prompt. However the rooms look old and they lacked good design and heritage vibe. Similarly the bathrooms are old and lack the charm of a well designed place. In facilities, there was no gym and salon. The pool was under construction too. We went with a lot of expectations as it belongs to the HRH group.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2022

10/10 Excellent

Mark, East Hampton

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Amazing property in every way. We did a spa day and it was okay. The rooms are absolutely beautiful. The setting is unrivaled. The food was good. The staff is overwhelmingly friendly and amazing.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2022

8/10 Good

Sara

Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Anay

Stayed 3 nights in May 2022

8/10 Good

Saagar Singh

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2022

6/10 Okay

Nikhil

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Not as good as I thought
Limited Food Choices, Great View but sitting was not comfortable. Service was good but not friendly.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2022

10/10 Excellent

Nishtha

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The most amazing thing was the room which had a balcony attached to it as well as a private area
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2022

10/10 Excellent

AG

Travelled with family, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Nice place
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2021

2/10 Terrible

Priyanka

Travelled with group
Disliked: Room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2021

8/10 Good

manjeev

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Manjeev Malhotra
The room given was miserable But we complained our room was upgraded which was a decent room
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2020

6/10 Okay

Joanna, NYC

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful grounds, elegant decor and perfect location. Bathrooms little on a tired side. Customer service below expectations - staff’s slow response rate (waited 45 min to get iron) combined with confusion and miscommunication lead to bit of frustration and unexpected charges. Breakfast buffet and Pool bar though adequate completely overpriced. (500 IR coffee..eek!)
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A perfect royal experience
Our family thoroughly enjoyed the stay at Shiv Niwas palace. The overall ambience and view is one to be experienced. We were treated royally all throughout our stay with prompt and cordial service. The breakfast catered to all tastes and was delectable. The hotel itself is located in the middle of the city palace, which is a pro if you have to shop, take a sunset tour or tour around the city palace. They will also arrange for pickup and drop off at these spots. However, if you plan to visit old city, it can be a little hard to arrange transport.
Balcony
Morning view of lake Pichola
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2019

6/10 Okay

Anna, Kottayam, Kerala

Liked: Staff & service
A hotel within a palace. I didn’t think the property was well maintained. For the price it was not worth much
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

Lynnea

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Stayed 6 nights in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
What a wonderful place! You are staying is a an actively functioning palace. The food is good and the strong is lovely. Splurge on a great room if you can.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful rooms and views. I really enjoyed my stay
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Disliked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Things which did not function well at all during our brief stay: - Quality of Guest Room. It was a Suite that we had booked at a pretty hefty price ( Air Conditioning was not effective at all given the room size). It was a torrid time as we hardly slept most part of the night. Pretty bad design of AC Ducts with air flow only in one single channel focused at just one small part of the room - Restaurants ( Friendliness of staff,Promptness) : seems they had a lot of staff, but hardly anyone paying due attention to all guests. They never shared the options available at BF and neither were they following the virtues of True Indian Hospitality (Serving with Care, Warmth and Affection) - Room Service (Food Quality, Quality of Service, Promptness, Clearance done on Time) : till the time we checked out, the dishes we had asked to be cleared remained. The Night lamp which required replacement was never done until having reminded twice.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2019

10/10 Excellent

Sasha, Washington, DC

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful and authentic Rajasthani hotel! It was a pleasure to stay here. Lots of perks: rajasthani feel, quiet, next to City Palace, great service + gold cart driving help from one place to another, BEAUTIFUL VIEWS from the rooftop, central location. It was a little on the expensive side, not sure if it was because of the location/season/or what. But I definitely 100% recommend this hotel to others.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful and authentic Rajasthani hotel! It was a pleasure to stay here. Lots of perks: rajasthani feel, quiet, next to City Palace, great service + gold cart driving help from one place to another, BEAUTIFUL VIEWS from the rooftop, central location. It was a little on the expensive side, not sure if it was because of the location/season/or what. But I definitely 100% recommend this hotel to others.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location in the city palace complex
Great location within the city palace complex. The room could do with a few paintings to add some character. The bathroom is outdated but is still functional. Great that housekeeping provided cookies and chocolates every day. Food at the restaurant was great! Service was fine.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2019

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The hotel is very tired, jaded & in need of a complete repair The tiles in the bathroom were coming off & thrysoil pope to the toilet was disgusting The worst thing was that the staff didn’t care It was awful The swimming pool is really ornamental & could not be used in peace as there were workmen around always Do not recommend this hotel as it stands- it is only a 2 Star at best
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2018

6/10 Okay

Sian

Liked: Staff & service, room comfort
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
The Hotel is in an incredible location, right next to the palace. The staff are very pleasant and helpful but the hotel generally could do with a major refurbishment. Although the room was obviously kept very clean there was paint peeled off the walls in most of the room so it sadly gave the impression that the hotel was not well kept.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2018
Response from Varun on 17 Nov 2018
Dear Guest, Greetings from Shiv Niwas Palace, Udaipur. Thank you very much for the amazing review on Hotels.com. We are glad to know that you like the location and services of the hotel. We will definitely take into consideration your suggestion. It has certainly helped us identify weak spots and will surely help us as we strive to provide you with the better services. Hope to see you soon.

10/10 Excellent

Shahzad, Leicester UK

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2018
Response from Varun on 22 Nov 2018
Dear Mr.Shahzad, Greetings from the Shiv Niwas Palace, Udaipur. Thank you for rating us on Expedia. We appreciate your rating about our hospitality and ambiance. If you’re traveling to our city again, do visit us.We look forward to welcoming you back and creating a memorable journey for you. Warm regards

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Historic hotel excellent service
Friendly staff gave us better than expected room. Had lake views. Food and restaurants were good
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2018
Response from Varun on 25 Aug 2018
Dear Guest, Greetings from The Shiv Niwas Palace, Udaipur. Thank you for your review on Wotif. We appreciate your positive feedback. We are extremely glad that you enjoyed you stay and food at our hotel. We look forward to a visit from you again and create a memorable journey for you. Warm regards.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
nice swimming pool
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2018
Response from Varun on 25 Aug 2018
Dear Guest, Greetings from Shiv Niwas Palace !!! We appreciate your review on Expedia and extremely glad that you enjoyed your stay and liked swimming pool. We look forward to welcoming you back and create a memorable journey for you. Warm regards

10/10 Excellent

Angela

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A very special hotel, Shiv Niwas Udaipur
I travelled to Udaipur with my mother and we really enjoyed our stay at Shiv Niwas. A beautiful palace property,so enchanting with it's incredible architecture, historic decor and beautiful lake and City Palace views. A great location for taking a lake cruise, lake sunset dinner at the palace restaurant, tour at the attached City Palace or shopping in the nearby markets. The staff were extremely helpful and attentive, especially at the lovely pool and bar. I would highly recommend to stay here
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2018
Response from Varun on 25 Aug 2018
Dear Guest, Greetings from the Shiv Niwas Hotel, Udaipur. Thank you for the high rating and beautiful words used by you to describe our hotel. We are very pleased to know that you thoroughly enjoyed your stay with us. It is always a pleasure to serve guests like you. We are looking forward to seeing you again at our hotel soon. Warm regards.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Wonderful to be within the City Palace complex. Very friendly staff. Lacks a lake view from the restaurant although you can eat in sister restaurant, Sunset Terrace, overlooking the lake.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2018
Response from Varun on 25 Aug 2018
Dear Guest, Greetings from the Shiv Niwas Hotel, Udaipur. Thank you for the high rating and beautiful words used by you to describe our hotel on Expedia. We are very pleased to know that you thoroughly enjoyed your stay with us. It is always a pleasure to serve guests like you. We are looking forward to seeing you again at our hotel soon. Warm regards.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Rik, Herts UK

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful old opulent and slightly decadent palace. If you want 5* sterilised luxury in a chain hotel this is not for you. A truly unique experience, the buildings are quirky, furnishings origional, staff wonderful, food great. And it's really quiet.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2018

10/10 Excellent

Christopher

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Royal
My wife and I stayed here for two nights. We felt like royalty being here. The royal family resides at the Palace. The rooms were spacious and clean. Breakfast was just ok. The staff did offer to make us omelets, which was nice. Our room offered a beautiful view of Lake Pichola. Wi-Fi was very fast. We had our own router in the room. We received massages here and had a great time at the spa. You will not regret staying here.
Response from Varun on 25 Aug 2018
Dear Guest, Greetings from the Shiv Niwas Hotel, Udaipur. Thank you for the high rating on Hotels.com. We are very pleased to know that you thoroughly enjoyed your stay and spa. It is always a pleasure to serve guests like you. We are looking forward to seeing you again at our hotel soon. Warm regards.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness
Characterful Hotel
Lacks management, old fashioned, hard beds and breakfast not included.
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2018
Response from Varun on 25 Aug 2018
Dear Guest, Greetings from Shiv Niwas Palace, Udaipur. Thank you for taking out time to write review on Expedia. We are glad that you enjoyed the accommodation of the hotel. We will definitely take into consideration your suggestion and hope you don’t have any complains the next time you visit us. Hope to see you soon. Warm regards

10/10 Excellent

Alan, London England

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Palace luxury at an affordable price
The setting by the Lake and within the City Palace are a source of never ending joy. The staff are smiling and to serve you seems to be a genuine pleasure. It was our second visit and I was sure it couldn't be as good as our first but it was even better.
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2018
Response from Varun on 25 Aug 2018
Dear Guest, Greetings from Shiv Niwas Palace, Udaipur. Thank you very much for the amazing review on Ebookers. We are glad that you enjoyed the accommodation of the hotel. We will definitely take into consideration your suggestion. It has certainly helped us identify weak spots and will surely help us as we strive to provide you with the better services. Hope to see you soon.

8/10 Good

Richard

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2018

10/10 Excellent

Laura, New York

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
They kindly upgraded us
We were upgraded on our last nice to a palatial suite so over the top that we couldn't believe it! A beautiful hotel, perfectly located.
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2018

8/10 Good

kalyan, tampa,Florida

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Palace Experience
We had a nice stay at Shiv Niwas Palace . Though getting into the hotel complex was bit of a challenge since some of the access roads were closed Once inside it was very comfortable The hospitality was excellent and so was the access to the meuseum ,Lake Pichola and the restaurants Overall it was a nice experience