Oasis of peace and joy in the centre of Pushkar – Hotel Navratan Palace

In the last three posts of this series I have described everything about our short tour of Ajmer and Pushkar, now through this final post I wish to share my experiences with the stay in hotel Navratan Palace in Pushkar.

In our this tour we didn’t had any plan to stay in Ajmer because we had to move to Pushkar from Ajmer in the same afternoon after visiting the Ajmer Dargah Sharif, our plan of night stay was at Pushkar.

Front View of Hotel Navratan Palace

Usually I don’t get any prior booking/reservations for our stay during our tour, because mostly we visit on religious places for pilgrimage and temples and our preference always goes for the hotel / guest house / dharmashala which is as closed to main shrine as possible, so I always prefer to search an accommodation after reaching the destination and by following this practice I had never felt any kind of suffering so far.

The main fact behind my concept of not booking hotel in advance is that when we book a hotel through Internet we know very less about the hotel, its services, facilities, space in rooms, exact location etc.  because whatever information’s the hotel booking website provides us we are bound to accept them and they always show the bright parts of their property and try to hide the dark side.

When we search the hotel by our own after reaching the destination we can search a number of accommodations and can choose the best among them, though it consumes some time and involves a little effort but is always better then an advance booking.

So as per my previous practice this time also I was not at all bothered about any hotel booking and was thinking of looking for a good hotel near temple after reaching Pushkar.

Some 8-10 days before the commencement of our tour, I marked a commercial advertise was repeatedly appearing on ghumakkar’s side bar and the advertise was of an online hotel booking website and it washttp://www.agoda.com/ The ad attracted me and I clicked it.

After opening the site and going through it thoroughly I felt it’s really a good website and booking a hotel through this would not be disadvantageous and I thought of booking hotel in Pushkar through this site. This was my first experience of booking a hotel in advance.

The prices of the stay were compatible with my budget. The charge for a room having a double bed with an extra bed was just Rs. 600, so I hurriedly booked a room for me in hotel Navratan Palace through www.agoda.com. On the first day of our trip we took a hotel in ajmer for just two hours for getting fresh and bathing regarding which I have already mentioned in my first post of this series.

Now after our Ajmer sight seeing was finished we moved towards Pushkar and since the hotel was already booked and I had the reservation slip with me on which address of hotel was mentioned, so without any difficulty we reached the hotel reception and shown my reservation sleep to the manager, he welcomed us and directed one of the boys to show us the room. The hotel was looking excellent from the outside as well as the reception was also nice.

Reception

Reception

We entered the room and found the room was very clean, spacious and airy. Our room was on the first floor and the hotel was a three storied. We put our belongings inside the room and lay down on the couch.

HOTEL NAVRATAN PALACE – A REVIEW:

Hotel navaratan palace is a nice place to stay in Pushkar. Hotel is at nice location and have a good welcome. It has a wonderful garden with pet tortoises and a big swimming pool, the great location right on the main bazaar near the Brahma temple, and the view from the balcony made this hotel a bargain.

The rooms have big windows and TV with a lot of channels. The hotel offers very good views of mountains and greenery. The best part of this hotel is its Staff which is very friendly helping and cooperative. In all it is a place to stay providing full value for money.

It has a lovely garden with large swimming pool. The personal is kind and the location is very convenient plus the swimming pool is just great for hot days. Navratan Palace Hotel is a suitable choice for short visits to Pushkar with comfortable rooms and all the basic facilities you require for a quick trip.

LOCATION:

The best part of this hotel is its location. It is located centrally just between Pushkar sarovar and Brahma Temple and just on the main market leading to Brahma temple just two minutes walk from the Bhrama Temple.

BASIC FACILITIES:

It has Air Conditioners and Air coolers in the rooms varying according to the tariff. Nice hot showers with good water pressure and the linen seemed to be cleaned and also have a good laundry. You get a real water boiler that lasts as long as you want (so you can have a hot shower and not worry about it running cold after 2 minutes). This is a minor point but something that is rare in India unless you are staying in high-end accommodation. The rooms also have cable TV with a lot of channels.

BEAUTIFUL GARDEN, CHILDREN’S PLAYGROUND AND A GLAMOROUS SWIMMING POOL:

I chose this hotel because it had a beautiful garden with large size pool with a filter plant running 24X7 having water fountains around it which is always really quiet meaning you can relax and have a swim in peace. What a pool! It is set in lush gardens and is so lovely to come back to after a day wandering around in the heat – particularly during hot season.

Because of my daughters sickness we have not used the pool so can not comment on the experience, but I think the pool facility at this budget is not possible. Set times for Indians and foreigners to use the pool although we didn’t see this being strictly observed. Hotel is bordered by terrific lawns and gardens (with tortoises). There’s also a children’s playground. The restaurant delivers meals to the garden.

Beautiful Swimming pool inside a beautiful garden

Kids enjoying on pool

Sanskriti posing in children’s garden

The special thing here is the small but beautiful garden cum playground for the children where there are various items for the amusement of children like sea saw, cradle etc. it plays an important role in keeping kids busy in playing and you can have a hassle free leisure during you stay, children will never get bored.

Kids playground and Saavitri temple on hilltop in the background

From Playground

Peacock on the wall of children’s playground and Saavitri Temple in background on hilltop.

There are 4-5 big sized tortoises that you can see walking here and there in children’s playground, in garden and around swimming pool, which is a special attraction for children.

Shivam pampering tortoise in the lawn

ROOMS:

The rooms are on the basic side – even the deluxe rooms (although they do have AC and satellite TV) but for the price they are extremely good value. They are set facing the street so can be noisy (mostly in the mornings because Pushkar is not a late party town). Rooms are available in following categories – Deluxe double,Single AC/Non AC,Double AC/NON AC,Extra bed facility Available.

Charges: Air Cooled Double – 500-600, AC – 800-1000.

Our room……….Air Cooled , Just Rs. 600, True value for money

Attached Bathroom………

RESTAURANT:

Their restaurant is one of the best in Pushkar and an absolute must if you are struggling to find decent Indian food among all the western fare around. The location is excellent – right next to the Brahma temple. The restaurant has very good prices and delicious meals. Restaurant of Hotel Navaratan Palace is quite spacious and it serves Continental and Indian Cuisine. The restaurant offers a choice of outside or inside dining.

Entrance to Restaurant

The sparkling Restaurant

Parking

STAFF:

The best thing here is the staff of this hotel. Everyone from Manager to service boy, all are very kind, cooperative and helping. The manager Mr. G.L. Prajapati is a very nice person and during only one day’s stay of mine in this hotel he was very closed to me and we exchanged our contact numbers during my check out from here.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS:

The hotel is in desperate need of a deep clean though. Room service also seemed to be bit poor. Hospital is far away, because of which I had suffered a lot during my stay because of my daughter was ill. The restaurant does not provide food in rooms, one has to go to the restaurant for food and if you want to eat in your room you need to bring it to room by yourself.

CONCLUSION:

Will recommend for my next visit. and will recommend to all my fellow ghumakkars. Good people, good place to stay.

ONLINE BOOKING:

Yes, Online booking through agoda.com and stayzilla.com is possible.

WHAT’S NEAR BY?

• Ajmer Railway Station (12 Kms)
• Pushkar Bus Stand (2 Kms)
• Post Office (1 Kms)
• Brahma Temple (30 mtrs)
• Pushkar Lake (200 Mtrs)
• Gurudawara (1 Kms)

ADDRESS & CONTACT INFO: 

Mr. G.L. Prajapati (Manager)

Hotel Navratan Palace

Near Brahma Temple

Pushkar, Distt. Ajmer Rajasthan – 305022

Phone No: – 0145-2772981, 2772145, 3295481
Email: – navratanpalace@yahoo.com
Website link: - http://navratanpalace.com/index.html

Ready to check out

Next day morning at approx. 10’ O clock we packed our bags, hired a cycle rickshaw and moved to bust stop to catch a bus for Ajmer. From Ajmer our train Ajmer Ratlam Express was at 01.30 PM which took us Ratlam at 8.55 in night from where we reached our home at 12.00 Hrs in night. This way our short journey to Ajmer and Pushkar came to an end with sweet and sour mixed memories.