Wednesday, May 30, 2012

A retreat for a weekend: Jaypee palace at Agra...



If you are looking for a quaint green place for an extended weekend retreat, you could think of going to Agra. No, not for the Taj Mahal but a green and peaceful place adjacent to it.

I am talking about Jaypee Palace hotel and convention center. I was at this place with Sid Khullar and Charis for a day this weekend and loved everything about this property.

We took an early morning train from Delhi Reached Agra a bit sleepy being greeted by a blazing sun early in the morning. We were picked up from the railway station and welcomed at the hotel with a turmeric tikka.

After the introductions we checked in to our rooms to freshen up. Later we had breakfast at their ground level restaurant and then a tour of the property. Sprawling gardens and a few water bodies strategically made to reflect the lights in the night.

Go there if you are a connoisseur of tea. With a fairly good range of teas in their nicely done tea room, you wouldn't complaint a bit... A great place to be if you choose to read or even write....



Or if you love to walk around a well maintained green heaven...


Being a birder, I liked the good variety of birds chirping there...Here is a Jungle babbler giving a call...


And a Drongo perched on a Sheesham tree getting disturbed by paparazzi ...


This was around a cool swimming pool...


We had our lunch at their Chinese restaurant called C'est Chine with the senior Vice President Mr. Rajiv Narain and food and beverage manager Mr. Amit Sehgal.

The restaurant overlooks the huge gardens on one side and must be a nice place to be in the night.

I liked this fried sweet corn kernels...


Chicken Siew Mai, the open faced dimsums...


And this steamed fish ...


There were a few more popular Chilly paneer and chicken dishes too...


The dessert was a crunchy Darsan with a delectable ice cream that tasted like home made. On inquiry we were told this was a local brand called Madhu.

The Date stuffed Litchi was good too.


You would like to be in this place for other reasons too.

The most inviting aspect of the hotel is the huge green peaceful lawns.


I would like sitting on that bench in the evening with a book and a cushion may be :-)

There are many fun activities for the kids too. A bowling alley, a few board games, a private theater and a bar and a few Kathputli shows would definitely intrigue a whole family there. We saw more than one Kathputli shows being organised around the place, some excited kids and the picture was complete.

6 comments:

  1. hmmmmmmmm this all looks so beautiful ...

    Bikram's

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. and i also suddenly rememebered WE stayed there too in 2005.. I had gone to india after about 5-6 years time and so me , parents and a few cousins all drove to Agra but we stayed only for the night .. saw the taj in morning and then headed off to fatehpur sikri .. I missed this all , should have stayed for some more time then .. ah well next time now

      Delete
    2. Yes Bikram. You must stay for at least a weekend to enjoy the beauty here.

      Delete
  2. Its a nice place. Reminded me of my 5 years stay at Agra. Got a chance to visit Jaypee Palace in 2010 on quite a memorable trip to Agra... I am glad you enjoyed the trip :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. lovely place sangeeta!... and i love that drongo pic!

    ReplyDelete