The Menon's Weekend Getaway to Neemrana Fort Palace

Ever since Adhira arrived, it feels like the hubs and I have been running around like headless chickens. And for some reason, we seem to be tired all the time! :) So when the long weekend came up at the beginning of May, we decided to head off to the Neemrana Fort Palace with some friends for a night. It would be Adhira's first overnight trip with us and we were quite excited and just a little nervous too.

Last year the hubs and I visited Kesroli Hill Fort hotel, another property of the Neemrana group, and I've been wanting to visit Neemrana ever since then. The Neemrana Fort Palace is actually a hotel, in fact one of India's oldest heritage hotels and it's about a 90 minute drive from Gurgaon. It's a beautiful structure that is nestled on a hillock and offers magnificent views of the surrounding area. 

We had a great time there, spent some fun time in their pool, sipped on some cool beers while the kids played, and I, of course, spent some quality time in their Spa. The spa offers some great treatments, although a little on the pricey side, and to be honest, I have had better massages, but they do a nice facial, which I really did enjoy. 

The rooms in Neemrana are pleasant enough, although I think they need a little bit of attention in terms of upkeep. The ac in our room was leaking, but we just couldn't be asked to complain, since we spent most of our time out of the rooms. The food, though, is wonderful and their lunch spread is especially good. A little word of caution, with this hotel though, my view is that the Neemrana Fort Palace hotel, while lovely and romantic, does throw up some issues for infants as well as for anyone with knee problems. There are just so many steps to climb, and everything is spread out over such a distance, that at one point I got lost in search of the lunch room :) For me, Kesroli Fort, because of its smaller size, offers a much more intimate setting, with beautiful rural scenery and you can let your kids run arounds without fear of them toppling down stairs :)

While I wanted to stay on for another night, the hubs wisely decided to keep it to one. According to him, we would need the rest of the weekend to recuperate from the trip. While initially there was quite an animated 'discussion' over this, I concede that in hindsight he was right (for once). Travelling with a child is quite tiring :) In between all the swimming, spa time and running around behind Adhi, I did manage to click a few pics ... enjoy!

[All images by Shalini Pereira. Please do not use without prior written permission]