I have been coming to India nearly every year since I was 16 and lived in Jaipur for a year and a half and I cannot believe I only just stayed here!

I cannot fault it. As you arrive you have that sense of adventure - that you are off the beaten track - seeing something unspoilt and beautiful. The view is breath taking. After the madness of Jaipur or Delhi the sense of tranquillity is priceless. The building looks like it is meant to be there due to being made out of the surrounding rock - the land is the right mixture of 'natural landscaping'. Inside the rooms are chic, full of books and the entire backlog of national geographic, with all the comforts you could ever want. I had my best nights sleep in India!

The food is exquisite - it is the best non-Indian in India without a doubt - and what makes it even better is that it is all either home-grown or locally sourced (except for a couple of crucial ingredients that the gourmand owner knew it couldn't do without - if you are lucky enough to meet him as I was he will charm you with his tales from the Amazon to Marrakech. He is a very incredible attention to detail which is visible throughout - he knew I would want Bombay Sapphire not Plymouth!)

Finally the service is perfect - they know what you want before you do but are incredibly discreet and always smiling. I wanted to take Ishwar, the head of the household, home in my pocket!

This is one of the few places I have ever found in India that I have ever really felt that spirituality everyone talks about - but it doesn't come from some hocus pocus guru but from the earth, which for once isn't covered in dirty plastic bags. This place is truly magical - as I sat under the stars with a fire burning beside me sipping my GnT with the smell of my roast lamb wafting across the courtyard I thought I had gone to heaven. It will be the first place I go on my next visit and the last place I go before I leave.

Anopura B&B managed to take me to a new level of quality, taste, beauty and pampering. It is an intimate place in the middle of India's beutiful wildness where you can feel safe and enjoy the surrounding. You are in a silence only broken by the voices of nature and your rythme slows down. The perfect place for reloading the batteries. Service is wounderful with kind personel making sure you have everything you need. The rooms are tastefully decorated with many nice and personal details. Cleanliness is perfect and food is just excellent. I am certainly going back as soon as I have the occasion.

In a country of constant surprises, but where so-so service, food, and comfort are still largely the norm outside of the five star plus hotels, Anopura is a remarkable exception, and a model for what rural tourism could and should be in India: superb food, both Indian and Continental; impecable and charming service but without being in the slightest obsequious; exceptional comfort and attention to detail, without the flannel that often comes with very up-market places; and a really sublime environment.

And it is this last point that really makes Anopura so exceptional. With the aide of Ishwar, the hotel's ever smiling manager, we visited several hamlets and villages nearby. Not only is this area the most scenically attractive by far around Jaipur, but it is completely unspoilt, completely un-touristy and completely charming. A world we thought had disappeared centuries ago, with delightful farming families only too happy to show us their lives.

We had the good fortune to have the owner present as well. Philippe de Vilegas, an ebullient Belgian with countless eccentric experiences to recount, is also a dedicated and perfectionist hotelier. His attention to detail and his choice to provide an 'all-in ' tarif with meals, room and drinks are two more reasons to recommend this culinary oasis.

If you are lucky enough to stay at Anopura - you really will remember this experience for the rest of your life. Its the perfect luxury hideaway just out of the hustle and bustle of Jaipur. The stay is complete by the wonderful host (if he is there) Philippe and his amazing staff - who attend to every detail - the food is grown locally - some from their own garden and quite delicious. I already am wishing I was back there.