Rawla Narlai sits directly beneath Elephant Hill, a single enormous granite monolith that rises out of the village with temples on its flank and a stepped path to the top. The haveliHaveliA traditional townhouse or mansion built around one or more internal courtyards.Read in the glossary was a seventeenth-century retreat of the Jodhpur family and opened as a hotel in 1996 under Rani Usha Devi and the late Maharaj Swaroop Singh.
It is in the Godwar belt on the Aravalli flank, midway between Udaipur and Jodhpur — leopard country, shepherd country, and some of the least-travelled road in Rajasthan. Thirty-two rooms and suites, terraces and jharokhasJharokhaAn enclosed balcony window projecting from an upper wall, carved and canopied, from which those inside could watch the street unseen.Read in the glossary, and that rock filling every upward glance.
Why We Place Guests Here
- The Stepwell Soirée is the single most theatrical dinner in Rajasthan — four courses by lamplight in an eleventh-century stepwell, guests brought in by bullock cart.
- Godwar's leopards and its 130-plus bird species are reached on the hotel's own expert-led expeditions, not a shared jeep from a gate.
- The village walk here is a real one — temples, lanes, grazing land — because the hotel is in the village rather than fenced off from it.
The Table
- Jharokha Café — Indian and international
- J-Bar — spirits, wines and cocktails
- The stepwell, by arrangement
The Elevated India Signature
The StepwellStepwellA well reached by a long descending staircase, so that water can still be drawn as the water table falls.Read in the glossary Soirée: bullock cart down at dusk, four courses by lamplight in the eleventh-century baori.
Questions, Answered
What is the stepwell dinner at Rawla Narlai?
The hotel lays a four-course dinner inside an eleventh-century stepwell near the village, lit by hundreds of lamps, with guests brought down by bullock cart or jeep. It is arranged in advance and is the reason many guests come.
Can you see leopards at Narlai?
Narlai sits in the Godwar belt, the same granite-outcrop country as Jawai. The hotel runs expert-led wildlife expeditions for leopard and birdlife; sightings are never guaranteed anywhere, but the habitat is genuine.
Journeys That Take You There
Photography: Photograph courtesy Rawla Narlai