Because of the scheduling of the direct flight from Hyderabad to Jodhpur, I found myself staying in Jodhpur for three nights and making a reservation at the Radisson Jodhpur for the first night. As I had spent a decent amount of money to stay at the Umaid Bhavan Palace, I preferred not to have an early morning departure after my second night.
Arrival
We arrived in Jodhpur on after an uneventful flight from Hyderabad on Indigo. Jodhpur airport is an interesting one as it functions as an air force base for the Indian military as well. What does this mean? You can’t take pictures while walking out on the tarmac. It’s surprising to say the least that a major tourist destination for foreigners like Jodhpur should have such an aged terminal. There are plans to fix this of course, but I have to say that it is long overdue.
Any way as soon as we walked out, I spotted the hotel driver holding a signboard with my name on it. The ride cost 1500 INR (~$18) in a Toyota Innova, which is definitely on the high side. Honestly, we could’ve Ubered from the airport to the hotel, but I didn’t want to chance it given that I was going to a new place.
Check In:
The Radisson Jodhpur is located about 10 minutes from the city’s airport and is housed in a palace like structure reflecting the cultural heritage of Rajasthan.
I booked my room for 15000 INR (~180 USD) including taxes and fees, which felt a bit expensive for what it was. Oddly at check in, the front desk initially stated that our rate included lunch and dinner and that we had been upgraded. Once they took our passports and finished the paperwork, they came back said only breakfast was included in the end and didn’t explain what the discrepancy was at all.
They also ended up not giving us the upgrade because the hotel was completely booked for a wedding. There was even an odd smell in my parents’ room for which we tried to swap rooms, but couldn’t. We were assigned rooms on the second floor where the entire corridor smelt like incense. It was quite strong and unbearable.
Superior Twin Room
We were assigned a “Superior Twin Room” which is actually their basic room category. Let me just start out by saying that the room looks better in the hotel website’s pictures than in real life. There’s nothing wrong with the room per say, but it certainly didn’t give off the same opulent vibe on the interior as it does on the exterior. There were two beds (with rather springy mattresses), a chair, and a large screen television.
The bathroom itself was quite small and featured a walk-in shower and basic Radisson branded toiletries. Again it was clean, but not exactly the most modern place especially given that the place gets 5 stars on TripAdvisor.
The view out the window was nothing to write home about as the hotel lawn looked average at best.
On the table next to the window was the welcome amenity of two apples, two bananas, some mixed nuts, and two rather dry looking cake pieces.
We elected to have an early dinner at a nearby restaurant since the hotel restaurant had yet to open on our day of arrival. The Uber ride cost like 140 INR (~1.70 USD) each way including tip and took maybe 7 minutes. I mention this restaurant because it is a unique experience where the food is delivered on a toy train to each table. The quality of food was excellent as well, though the restaurant was a bit chilly that evening because it was winter in the Thar Desert and most places don’t have heating systems.
Breakfast @ the “All Day Dining” Restaurant
Breakfast is served at the “All Day Dining Restaurant” where a buffet was set up with a variety of vegetarian dishes. From what I understand the restaurant is completely vegetarian and serves multiple cuisines. The space was quite nice and there wasn’t much of a rush this particular morning because presumably most of the wedding crowd were eating breakfast at the banquet hall.
The buffet featured a good assortment of pastries, fruits, cereals, breads, and Indian items such as idly, vada, and a live station for dosa and paratha. Perhaps the best of the buffet was the grilled sandwich station where you could choose your very own ingredients.
Bottom Line:
The Radisson Jodhpur is fine for a one night stay and there really isn’t anything to complain about as the rooms are clean and breakfast is fairly good. The hotel is quite popular amongst the tour groups so do be aware of that. Just as we were leaving, a huge bus of tourists were being checked in. We were actually quite lucky with the so called “wedding crowd.” There wasn’t much noise and the corridors were mostly vacant. With that being said the smell of incense in the corridors was a bit much and the bathrooms could be designed in a more modern style. And service was also not quite up to the standards we experienced at other hotels. I’m not sure it totally deserves the full five stars it has on TripAdvisor, but I haven’t tried any of the other hotels in the area.
