RAAS Devigarh

Devigarh had stood empty and ruined for twenty years when the Poddar family bought it in 1984, and putting it right took more than fifteen years and a team of 750, nearly twenty people for every suite it has now. The fort went up in the 1760s on a hill above Delwara, a village on one of the three main passes into Udaipur's valley, and the rulers of Delwara lived in it for two centuries. From outside, after Gautam Bhatia's restoration, it still looks its age: seven storeys of old stone stepped up the hill. Rajiv Saini's interiors went the other way. The suites are white, floored in marble, with the colour saved for inlay of malachite and lapis lazuli, and the jharokha windows look out over the Aravalli hills. The pool is granite, heated, and lined with white daybeds above the valley.

Recommended for couples who would rather have Udaipur within reach than outside the window, and for families whose children can manage seven storeys of stairs and a pool with no fence round it; the Devigarh Complex joins two suites, sleeps four adults and two children, and has a pool of its own. The day can open with yoga on the roof at sunrise. Delwara's Jain temples are ten minutes' walk from the gates, and the hotel's walk through the village comes with sparkling wine. For longer days there are horses and camels to ride into the hills, or Kumbhalgarh's fort, about 37km away, and Udaipur's lake is about 45 minutes by car. The Aravalli Suites have balconies to take breakfast on. Dinner on the upper pavilion's terrace might be Rajasthani lamb or mirchi vada, chilli fritters, and afterwards the roof that had the sunrise has a telescope for the stars.