We had an excellent experience in our recent trip to Bharatpur and also our stay with Hotel Shiv Vilas Palace. To be frank initially we were a bit tentative, as the word palace could be a much abused term. Quite a few places in Rajasthan latch on to the term and use it liberally if you know what I mean. Of course, some do match it by having some heritage around it - a haveli, if not a full palace OR some old house that is done up with antique furniture.
However, we were in for a pleasant surprise when we finally got in to the hotel. The rooms were done up really well with modern fittings and amenities - right up to the complimentary 2 bottles of water, bathroom slippers, fridge, etc.
The room was really palatial from that perspective, plus the fact that we had chosen the one which is built like a suite, with a wardrobe dressing area before the bathroom. The bathroom itself felt like a single bed room in terms of the space.
The other thing was the cleanliness of the place. It is very well maintained and the swimming pool is cleaned by the staff on a daily basis. Quality of cleanliness can be gauged by such aspects. The lounge chairs had proper beach towels, etc. We did use the pool - my younger daughter was very keen to, even though it was relatively much cooler when we were there.
Since it was November, we did not use the AC as such but there were fans in the room, the wardrobe area, the bathroom as well.
The hotel has an excellent ground - well manicured lawn, which is used for marriages and functions.
The food was excellent!! We had taken the half board deal from Make My Trip and we can say without any reservation that the food - breakfast and dinner were really tasty and sumptuous. The only small thing is that it takes time for the food to arrive. One could look at the positive and say that it does take time to serve food that is fresh. Only later did we come to know that the regular chef was on leave due to Diwali week.
So that too could be a reason, but there were other customers (when I checked reviews of other travelers on tripadvisor and trivago) who also mentioned that it takes long for the food to arrive. So I choose to stick with the first hypothesis.
And my take is that it is an excellent place for wedding parties, etc.
The location is also excellent - extremely close to the Keoladeo National Park, and on the Agra highway, which means that a trip to Agra or even Fatehpur Sikri is really a smooth ride.
All in all an extremely good break that we as a family had!
A couple of small touches which could have made it even more fantastic - newspapers delivered to the room. The activity room could have more options like carrom board, board games like chess, ludo, snakes and ladder, pictionary??? It had just table tennis and pool table when we visited in Nov 2018.
The spa was still not done when we stayed - so again a bit of a disappointment there.
