Yusuf Pathan

OT Favourite hotel in the world

Yusuf Pathan The Rajputana Palace Sheraton Hotel in Jaipur. It is a beautiful hotel with a grand structure, lovely interiors &mdash the aesthetics are very good and they have recreated the Rajasthani ambience very well. The design uses a lot of marble and ethnic Rajasthani artefacts. The ground floor is enormous and the lobby is very impressive. It felt like I was staying in a palace.

OT Last visited

Yusuf Pathan I stayed there for nearly a month while I was playing for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL Season One matches of 2008. The entire Rajasthan Royals team was there. While I was there, my parents and sister came by for a visit for 4-5 days and watched two matches, and they also stayed at the Rajputana Sheraton.

OT The experience

Yusuf Pathan The hotel is in the heart of the city &mdash very near the railway station in fact &mdash and yet it is very peaceful and quiet inside. The ambience is very soothing. We would be rather busy the whole day and the weather was typically hot at that time of the year and it was always nice to come back to the serene atmosphere of the hotel. The staff are all very friendly and hospitable, and I can&rsquot think of a single negative experience in my entire stay there. My room was spacious and beautiful and it overlooked the swimming pool.

OT The food

Yusuf Pathan Excellent. They have a wide range of very good non-vegetarian dishes. I particularly enjoyed their biryani and mutton korma. The daal-baati was also superb. Actually, all the food was good. They have made the restaurant look like a typical Rajasthani village, but all very luxuriously done up. I used to enjoy the live ghazal performances during dinner.

OT The hotel&rsquos &lsquoUSP&rsquo

Yusuf Pathan Its atmosphere &mdash this is how royalty must have lived. It was amazing.

OT Repeat visit

Yusuf Pathan Obviously, I will surely like to go back again. But I have only been able to think about it &mdash the trip has not happened so far. There is never enough time.

The information

Location Jaipur, Rajasthan

Accommodation 218 rooms and suites

Tariff Rs 5,225 onwards

Contact 0141-5100100, www.starwoodhotels.com