I will start by saying we would definitely return to this hotel (in fact we went there twice last year). We visit family often in Bengaluru, India and one of our favorite quick getaways is Mysore. We love the city, but prefer to stay at this location away from the heart of the city, overlooking the beautiful Brindavan Gardens. The gardens are absolutely lovely to walk around in and explore, especially during the day before they are opened up to the public at large. You can also take a boat ride on the Cauvery river, if you like. The Cauvery dam is impressive. All in all, a wonderful, relaxing location - great whether you are traveling as a couple or with young children.

Both times that we stayed there, we loved our rooms with King bed overlooking the gardens - very spacious, clean and comfortable, with well-stocked food and drink bar. There are several aspects of the service, however, that could be improved. First of all, on our second visit, the assistant manager could have been a bit more welcoming when he recognized us as a returning patron. Instead, he started off the conversation with a discussion of how he had no record that we had made a booking. After much back-and-forth trying to find us on the list (we had indeed made a booking in advance so I don't know what happened), my husband finally asked if we could just go ahead and get a room anyway, since there were so many vacancies (we could see on the computer that only 3 out of the 24 or so rooms were occupied). But the assistant manager seemed not to be able to divert from his one dimensional thinking, insisting that he could not find our reservation. We finally called the manager, who then called the assistant manager and everything was set right immediately.

Next, other reviewers have mentioned this and I will add that the pool and spa are unappealing, as was the location of the spa service. The pool in particular is grody and needs serious cleaning.

Finally, while we enjoyed the Elephant Bar overlooking the gardens very much, the appetizers were somewhat bland and they had run out of several alcoholic beverages. The wines were good, but overpriced (we took our own wines the second time that we visited). Also, they have upped the prices even more than what was quoted on the menu, and they didn't tell us this until we were presented with the bill.

To end on a positive note, the food and fresh squeezed fruit juices are excellent. One night we ordered room service and the chicken was much spicier than we had requested. When we returned the dish and asked for it to be remade, the chef came up personally with the remade version and made sure the taste was to our satisfaction before he left. Definitely good service! In addition, one of the new young employees (his name escapes me now) was very solicitous and asked us a lot of questions about how their service compared to other hotels we had been in and how they could improve. We liked his commitment to making the place attractive to patrons.

All in all, it was a unique getaway and we would certainly go back.

A beautiful room and view of the gardens and water light show from a spacious balcony. Be prepared to have plenty of aeroguard if sitting outside. Service was friendly and obliging, however a little disorganised when ordering a light meal from one of the bars. If you smoke, dont stand in front of the hotel smoking, locals dont appreciate it.

This place is magnificent, if I was told correctly is was the summer palace of the Mysore king - and it looks like it. The lobby and rooms are really nice, we stayed in a King room on the top floor and the view was fantastic. The other great thing about this place was the restaurant, eveyrthing we had was delicious and they had very good Indian wines. They have a patio bar overlooking the gardens which was a delight to sit at, we ordered food and wine there and enjoyed the sprawling view.
The downers were that some things just were not quite right. The pool - if you call it that - should be shut down, there is nothing good about it and you coldn't force me to get in. There is a "spa", it's two huts near the pool on the back of the property, it's OK and the girls seems to give a very thourough massage but there was a funny smell near the area and it was a bit chilly as the sides of the hut are just bamboo blinds. It gets the job done if you're sore and want a massage but there is NO luxury to it at all. Also the rooms seemed to be a bit unkept. The lamp had stains of some sort all over it and the draperies were a bit dirty. Also we had a picture in our room that was a puppet and the puppet had fallen inside the frame and no one cared to fix it.
There is no elevator here so if you're on the third floor you're going up and down three flights of stairs. Also this is OUT of town, as in you're got a 30-40 minute drive to get into town. Just something to keep in mind. It is a wonderful place though and we were very happy here.
One other note, no wifi and if you want to use the business center - if you call it that - it's the front office desk area. When we used the computer there we saw other people bills etc... guest should not be in that area but they pass it off as a business center.

A superb location overlooking the (poorly maintained but still pretty) Brindavan Gardens. Don't come here if you want a pool included because they only have a dirty Clark's rubber pool which is freezing cold and which subjects you to the perils of red ants and other biting creepy crawlies. Rooms were lovely and balconies had beautiful views. However, the management was non-existent and everyone seemed to be chasing their tails and making it up as they went along - so don't expect service despite the cost of staying here. The food was excellent and the chef was very obliging and to be commended. Nevertheless, the lack of service here spoiled our stay and put us off trying other Royal Orchid properties. Also, if you are unfortunate enough to have a nicotine addiction, stock up before you arrive or you will be charged 454 rupees for a packet which has a RRP of 100 rupees.