This Luxurious Lodge in India Appears to be like Straight Out of a Film — With Unobstructed Views of the Taj Mahal From Each Room

The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra, is a lodge like none different. The splendor of the views is complemented by the splendor of the posh lodge’s Moorish and Mughal structure, and the design takes deliberate care to maximise the property’s greatest benefit: its excessive proximity to the world-renowned Taj Mahal.

Arguably India’s most well-known monument (and one of the crucial well-known on the planet), the Taj Mahal is the centerpiece at Amarvilas, with the lodge rigorously carved into the hillside to present friends the most effective visible entry to the well-known sight from a number of elevations. I felt like I used to be in a film, leaving actuality for fantasy. It’s the kind of unique lodge you’d see in a Wes Anderson movie, and instantly Google to search out out if it’s an actual place you could possibly really go to. From the second you step into the palatial entrance pavilion, with ornamental swimming pools bordered by scalloped archways over floral wall murals, to the spectacular again exterior above the reflective major pool and colourful deck, it is magical.

As you check-in, you’re ushered by the principle lounge, stuffed with plush furnishings that appears as tender because it does elegant, to the surface verandah that connects the lounge to the bar and grants you your first unobstructed view of the Taj Mahal. I used to be in awe coming face-to-face with a legendary world monument I’d heard about my total life so abruptly and clearly with out being on an official tour — it was such an unreal second that I joked with my husband it would simply be a large inexperienced display. Gazing out with fluffy orange marigold strands round your neck, you’ll be able to sip welcome drinks and get acclimated to the property and your environment.

Refined and ample with magnificence, The Oberoi Amarvilas is an other-worldy property that marries luxurious with native authenticity. It’s without delay refined, with velvet couches beneath a golden-domed ceiling and a lavish crystal chandelier within the lounge, and wild, with monkeys rustling within the bushes between buildings and birds touchdown in your room balcony to benefit from the views proper alongside you.

All visitor rooms are constructed on the identical facet of the lodge so that everybody will get a front-row view of the famend Mughal mausoleum, which is probably going their total motive for visiting Agra. The lodge’s interiors additionally pay homage to the Taj Mahal, with lattice-lined staircases and flooring manufactured from white marble. Native artisans are featured prominently within the rooms, from rugs to furnishings, infusing the grand and historic aesthetic of the Taj Mahal with magnificence extra particular to present-day Indian tradition.

The workers is genuinely hospitable, which aligns with the core attribute of The Oberoi model: “heartfelt.” There are considerate gestures all through your keep, like petal-drawn baths ready for you upon your return and messages spelled out in flowers in your flooring. Conveniently for conversion rate-fatigued vacationers, the lodge doesn’t enable tipping people. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to go away gratuities on the finish of your stick with a notice itemizing workers members you discovered significantly useful. We wrote down nearly everybody’s title, deeming all of them useful and caring sufficient for particular shoutouts (however particularly Bhole, who noticed us attempting to regulate an umbrella on the pool and ran — sure, ran — over to assist us). Once we left, workers members lined up exterior holding indicators that mentioned “We are going to miss you” and “Come again quickly” — and I felt like they could imply it.

There’s not a lot to do in Agra for vacationers apart from sightsee (and memento store, particularly marble knickknacks, decor, and homeware), which suggests time spent on the lodge is an enormous a part of your journey. Out of your room’s perched vantage level, you’ll get a singular view of the densely packed houses within the surrounding space juxtaposed with the openness of the property backing into the Taj Mahal, supplying you with a one-of-a-kind perspective you received’t see on foot.

Under, I break down specifics from my expertise staying right here. Learn on for my full evaluate of The Oberoi Amarvilas in Agra, India.

The Rooms

Each room has an unobstructed view of the Taj Mahal and options design parts from native artisans, like wood-inlay furnishings, hand-knotted rugs, and embroidered headboards. There’s nothing fairly like hitting a distant button to attract again your curtains and being greeted by one of many New Seven Wonders of the World very first thing within the morning.

There are 102 visitor rooms and suites, with 5 ranges earlier than the head, the Kohinoor Suite: Premier Rooms, Premier Rooms with Balcony, Deluxe Suites, Deluxe Suites with Balcony, and Luxurious Suites. Having the balcony is outstanding, with the personal out of doors area permitting you to benefit from the view and nightly performances because the solar units. Distinctive eating experiences in your balcony will also be organized.

That will help you get the most effective sleep attainable whereas touring, Oberoi Amarvilas gives a menu of complimentary pillows with 5 choices, together with a physique pillow. Butler service is obtainable 24 hours do you have to want something.

Meals and Drink

There are two eating places, in addition to a bar and lounge. Bellevue gives extra family-friendly, all-day eating and a global menu spanning Italian to Asian delicacies. Visitors will come right here for his or her complimentary breakfast, which incorporates each the continental buffet and menu choices.

Then there’s nice eating on the Indian specialty restaurant Esphahan, which gives two seatings nightly and has low-key performances by native musicians in a candlelit area. Kids above 8 years outdated are welcome. Right here, the presentation is as meticulously curated because the dishes, and we loved a gold foil-topped native lamb dish, with smoke flooding over the plate because the glass cowl was lifted, accompanied by the plucky trills of reside santoor music.

The bar, adorned by expansive home windows that body the Taj Mahal, is a swanky spot for pre- or post-dinner drinks, a day espresso or tea, or a cigar. The lounge gives tea, espresso, and do-it-yourself pastries.

Actions and Experiences

The primary exercise in Agra is sightseeing (the Taj Mahal, after all, and in addition Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri), however The Oberoi Amarvilas has choices on the property that can assist you chill out, unwind, and expertise native tradition if you’re achieved along with your each day excursions. Like the opposite Oberoi properties, there’s a spa and a 24-hour fitness center, and you’ll make the most of the plush 9-acre property with lengthy, ambling walks surrounded by aromatic flowers or lounge by the attractive pool underneath one of many vibrant and eccentric solar umbrellas.

Particular experiences, like bespoke menus for breakfast on one of many balconies or a non-public poolside dinner underneath the celebs, will also be organized. {Couples} can renew their vows with a Hindu priest at a temple within the Joshua Mahal Courtyard.

Within the evenings, a standard dance and music efficiency is about atop a roof beneath the Taj Mahal backdrop. You’ll be able to watch it out of your personal balcony, the out of doors eating deck, or the lounge terrace. Glittering lanterns fleck the undulating grounds because the solar units, and the scene is sort of exceptional.

The Spa

The spa gives respite from Agra’s bustling vacationer hotspots and busy roads (made extra slender by teams of cows, fruit stands, and market stalls) with a menu of Western and Jap remedies. There are typical choices, like massages and facials, and extra uncommon — to Westerners, at the very least — choices that harness singing bowls, stones, and Ayurvedic strategies. There are additionally particular Oberoi experiences that string a couple of remedies collectively for final pampering, just like the three-hour “Taj Romance at Amarvilas” package deal for {couples}.

After a full day in your ft, getting into a zen atmosphere for a bit bodily and psychological restoration feels good. Each the lads’s and girls’s locker rooms have steam rooms, which friends can get pleasure from no matter in the event that they’ve booked a spa therapy. There are 4 remedy rooms on the spa stage, off the decrease foyer, and three remedy suites on the lodge’s fourth flooring that function Taj Mahal views. The therapy suites even have their very own steam space, two therapeutic massage beds, bathtub, bathe, and toilet.

As with the opposite Oberois all through India, you too can ebook a personalised yoga or meditation session at Amarvilas.

Household-friendly Choices

The Oberoi Amarvilas gives two distinctive experiences catered to youthful friends. One is the “Little Cooks” culinary expertise, a 45-minute exercise making cookies, cupcakes, or tandoor in a standard clay oven. The second is known as “Little Bartender” and focuses on concocting inventive tender drinks with an skilled mixologist.

Accessibility and Sustainability

The rooms at The Oberoi Amarvilas are ADA compliant and the lodge is provided with electrical automobile charging stations.

Location

The lodge is lower than 2,000 ft from the Taj Mahal. Automobiles aren’t allowed inside a kilometer of the historic web site, although, so that you’ll take a fast golf cart journey to get there. You too can stroll the part the place automobiles aren’t allowed; it’s simply over half a mile.

Easy methods to Get the Most Worth Out of Your Keep

Your reservation at The Oberoi Amarvilas contains complimentary breakfast on the all-day worldwide restaurant Bellevue, which serves each continental and Indian fare.

Whereas not a reduction alternative, the spa may be very affordable in comparison with luxurious inns in different elements of the world. A 75-minute Oberoi Signature therapeutic massage prices 9,000 INR, which is roughly $108.

Reserving straight with The Oberoi will get you 10% off, and you’ll enroll within the free membership program, Oberoi One, to entry extra advantages and particular charges.