The entrance to the hotel.
Courtesy Mihir Garh
A luxury fortress resort with cow dung and clay fireplaces in the middle of Rajasthan’s Thar Desert has been named by Lonely Planet as the world’s most extraordinary hotel beating resorts in New York, Laos, and Italy to make the top spot.
Mihir Garh, or the Fort of the Sun, whose turreted walls and honey-colored towers are described as “an enormous sandcastle,” by the travel guide, was purpose-built in India’s largest state by area in 2009.
The hotel lobby.
Courtesy Mihir Garh
Designed by husband and wife Sidharth and Rashmi Singh, it has eight suites each of 1,700 square foot and one slightly smaller, some with their own pools and private courtyards.
Room rates at the resort, which was built in just two years by over 100 local artisans and carpenters, range from 17,000 to 33,600 rupees ($273-540) a night. Robert Plant, founding member of Led Zeppelin, has stayed at the hotel, according to the owners.
A restaurant in the hotel.
Courtesy Mihir Garh
James Kay, a writer at the Lonely Planet, which is owned by US-based NC2 Media, described Mihir Garh as “not just a unique place to stay; it’s a shrine to the artistic and architectural traditions of Rajasthan.”
Located 55 kilometers from the ‘blue’ city of Jodhpur, everything in the Mihir Garh is custom-made and reflects local traditions, right down to the flooring, which was created using a special plastering technique known only to one man in the region, according to the hotel’s website.
A room at Mihir Garh.
Courtesy Mihir Garh
“It’s located in the middle of the Thar wilderness. The entire area is extremely tranquil and peaceful. That’s the USP,” said owner Mr Singh. “It’s built on a small sand dune, we have the height and the elevation and commanding views,” he added.
Rajasthan is one of India’s most popular travel destinations. In 2012, over 30 million Indian and foreign tourists visited the state – more than at any other point in the past four decades, according to figures from the state’s tourism department.
The bathroom in one of the rooms at the hotel.
Courtesy Mihir Garh
Other places in the Lonely Planet’s top 10 list of the most extraordinary hotels include a lodge nestled in the Tasmanian bushland, a treehouse resort in Canada and a lighthouse converted into a bed and breakfast 100 miles from New York City.
The publisher this week also unveiled two other top 10s – the best value stays and outstanding eco-friendly hostels – neither of which features hotels in South Asia.
Last year, Sikkim, India’s tiny Himalayan state, topped another Lonely Planet list of best regions to visit in 2014.
This isn’t the first award for Mihir Garh. Last year, the resort was voted by the Boutique Hotel Awards, a London-based competition, as the world’s best boutique hotel.
Corrections and amplifications: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Lonely Planet was owned by the BBC. In fact, the BBC sold the travel guide to U.S.-based NC2 Media in 2013.
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