My husband and I paid $3,300 to spend 2 nights at a palace in the middle of a lake

Noor Anand ChawlaFeb 7, 2024, 01:03 IST

My husband and I spent $3,300 for a two-night stay at the Taj Lake Palace.Prateek Sharma & Chirag Patnaik

My husband spent two nights at the Taj Lake Palace — a hotel located on a lake in Rajasthan, India.
We were treated like royalty from the moment we arrived, and enjoyed the stunning views.

For our 10th wedding anniversary, my husband and I decided to splurge — spending 2,76,748 rupees (roughly $3,330) — for a two-night stay at the Taj Lake Palace Hotel.

Located on India's Lake Pichola, the 18th-century palace once served as a summer house for the Mewar Royal family and was converted into a hotel in 1963.

My husband was especially excited to visit because it was a filming location for the 1983 James Bond film "Octopussy."

Here's what our stay at this beautiful hotel was like.

We were treated like royalty from the second we arrived at the hotel.

We took a private boat to the hotel.Noor Anand Chawla

The reception area, which includes a bar, is ornately decorated.

We were immediately impressed by the hotel's beautiful reception area. Prateek Sharma & Chirag Patnaik

We were blown away by the beautiful courtyard.

The central courtyard was our favorite of the common spaces.Prateek Sharma & Chirag Patnaik

Our room was even decorated for our anniversary.

On our bed, we were greeted by a pillow celebrating our anniversary.Noor Anand Chawla

The Jharokha restaurant serves breakfast and lunch.

For our first meal at the hotel, we had Italian food. Noor Anand Chawla

We treated ourselves to a spa treatment.

My husband and I enjoyed some time at the spa.Noor Anand Chawla

Although we didn't get in the water, we enjoyed time by the pool.

We spent some time lounging near the pool.Noor Anand Chawla

Our favorite meal was at the Bhairo rooftop restaurant.

We enjoyed dinner at the Bhairo rooftop restaurant.Prateek Sharma & Chirag Patnaik

We were upgraded to a royal suite on the second day of our stay.

The royal suite was much larger than our original room.Noor Anand Chawla

For our final meal, we enjoyed local cuisine at the Neel Kamal restaurant.

We enjoyed local cuisine from Udaipur at the Neel Kamal restaurant.Prateek Sharma & Chirag Patnaik

We enjoyed our stay at the Taj Lake Palace.

Our stay at the Taj Lake Palace was memorable. Noor Anand Chawla

You could live like royalty in a 900-year-old castle, but it will cost you about $12 million. Take a look inside.

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