Think back to where you stayed on your last trip. Was it simply a place
to rest your head, or did it immerse you in local colour, surround you
by wildlife and fire your imagination? We asked Lonely Planet’s authors
and editors to nominate the most extraordinary hotels and hostels around
the world. Our panel of travel experts whittled them down to 10
breathtaking choices - see which one inspires you to travel in 2014...
Mihir Garh sits in splendid isolation amid the Thar Desert near
Jodhpur.
It looks like an enormous sandcastle, a mirage; but there is nothing
insubstantial about this ‘fort of the sun’. It took 150 masons, artisans
and craftsmen two years to build what the owners describe as ‘a dream
realised'. Certainly, it has the feel of a place where commercial
considerations play second fiddle to the unbridled pleasure of creation;
hence the decision to have just nine huge - and hugely extravagant -
suites. But the luxury isn't as important as the pervasive sense that
someone has granted you access to their fantasy world.
From fireplaces fashioned from cow dung and clay to
equestrian-inspired curtain holders, everything is custom-made. And how
artfully it reflects the landscape: the rounded edges echoing the huts
of the Bishnoi, a local tribe; India’s national bird fanning a
bejewelled tail across a frescoed wall as peacocks shriek in the acacia
trees outside; the mural of a Rajasthani beauty mirroring the elegant
women in bright, block-printed saris at the roadside… The word 'bespoke'
doesn’t begin to cover it.
“Few hotels are created without compromise; Mihir Garh is a
rare example. This is not just a unique place to stay; it’s a shrine to
the artistic and architectural traditions of Rajasthan in general and
Jodhpur in particular.” -
James Kay
