The Taj Lake Palace is a floating hotel complex on Lake Pichola in Udaipur, India.

To get there, even for a meal, the hotel mandates you must be a guest and board a boat off a private jetty.

If you're not a hotel guest, there are work-arounds. We visited the hotel for dinner by befriending a shopkeeper who had some pull.

But better yet, just stay here.

The 18th-century white marble hotel is a magical must.

Once a royal summertime home for royalty that was later restored to its former glory, the Floating Palace has played host to everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to Jackie O (when she was First Lady).

You may have noticed the hotel in the movie Octopussy, where Roger Moore as 007 meets a bevy of beauties at the hotel's famed "Lily Pond" pool.

We felt like movie stars when we ate here. The atmosphere lush. The dishes sublime. The service extraordinary. It felt as if multiple arms were always on the move, serving, re-plating and refilling.

After dinner, we took our chai teas to the outdoor deck and felt transported to La Belle Époque,. We looked at the stars. We wanted the night to never end.

Our wish was to return.

CONTACT

https://www.tajhotels.com/en-in/hotels/taj-lake-palace-udaipur

LEAD-IN IMAGE

Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur / Official Site