Taj Usha Kiran Palace, Gwalior

A converted palace in the middle of a bustling city a haven of tranquility. A delightful but difficult building to negotiate one’s way around. Splendid bedroom beautifully appointed a joy to be in. The staff from the wonderful general manager down were helpful, courteous and extremely patient. To pick out a single member of staff is difficult but my vote goes to Ravi in the dining room. The chef was incredibly helpful when sorting out my dietary problems and produced meals of the highest quality. Recommended you stay I leave you to make your own mind.

This is one of the lesser talked about palace properties of Taj. The otherwise beautiful Usha Kiran Palace has been recently renovated and provides good comfort to its guests. We received a royal welcome with flowers being showered over us and guards blaring the royal horn on our arrival. We were quickly taken to our rooms post the check-in formalities. I was travelling with my family and we received two identically sized suite rooms on the first floor, right next to each other. While my parent’s room had windows facing the main garden and pool, my suite room lacked a clear window in the bedroom. The only window was in the cloak room which faced right outside the passage of my room. While the room itself was beautiful during the day, the large room seemed odd and depressing after dark due to the lack of any light coming from outside. This was not the case with my parent’s room, where the decor and room structure was much more uplifting and beautiful. Our dining experiences at the Silver Saloon were average at best. The service was fine, however the quality and taste of the food prepared was not up to Taj Palace standards. The hotel is located close to the Jai Vilas Palace and it was very convenient for us to go and visit the royal palace of the Scindias. Overall, I had a comfortable stay, however, I have realised that the experience one has in this hotel would greatly depend on the type of room booked and allocated, as not all rooms are equally pleasant.

The palace was absolutely gorgeous. Our welcome was done in a very traditional manner with drums beating and flowers being showered on us. We had arrived earlier than the check in time and the hotel was kind enough to allow us an early check in as soon as a room was available. The room itself was beautiful and comfortable and overlooked an open courtyard. The best part of our stay was the food. The hotel food was absolutely delicious both for the buffet and a-la carte items. The rice kheer, the paneer paranthas, the kadahi panner, all regular Indian items were done with so much perfection that we just could not resist indulging ourselves. The palace lawns are beautiful with rabbits running around and peacocks calling in the distance. There are two swimming pools and both were stunning though the one in the garden area had some dried leaves from the trees floating. But that did not deter my son in enjoying the vast pool. There were two very historic temples in the palace grounds and an evening arti was organized daily where all the hotel staff and guests congregated. It was a good way to increase the interaction between the staff and the guests. The location is convenient with local transport easily available outside the palace gate. The view from the terrace of the palace of the Gwalior fort at night is stunning. Don't miss that. The entire staff at the hotel was very welcoming and happy to assist us whether it was the front office, restaurant or the housekeeping. Will definitely want to visit the place again.