“We booked two nights and stayed five. By the third morning the cook knew how I take my tea and nobody had asked.”
A paper merchant's house · old city, Udaipur · since 1887
Twelve rooms, folded around a courtyard
- 12 rooms, no two alike
- 1887 the year it was built
- 8 min on foot to the lake
- 3 courtyards and a roof
- 4.9☆ from 1,240 guests
- 0 televisions
01
The house
fold openKaagaz means paper. For four generations this house sold it: account books for the bazaar, wedding cards for the city, and the handmade sheets that the palace painters asked for by name. The shop closed in 1994. The family stayed, and in 2017 opened twelve of the rooms to guests. The paper is still everywhere. It is in the lampshades, on the walls of the suite, and in the notebook on your pillow, which is made in the back courtyard and is yours to keep.
- Old city, Udaipur
- Family-run, fourth generation
- Breakfast always included
- Check in from 1 pm
- Check out by 11 am
- Children welcome
“The quietest sleep I have had in a city. You hear the temple bell at six and then nothing at all until breakfast.”
02
The rooms
six sheetsThe Kaagaz Suite
The merchant's own rooms: a sitting room lined with his paper samples, and a bed under the only painted ceiling in the house.
- King bed and a day bed
- Private jharokha balcony
- Sleeps three
₹14,500 a night, with breakfast Check dates
Chhatri Terrace Room
Alone on the roof with its own domed pavilion. You see the lake from the bed and the whole old city from the bath.
- King bed
- Private terrace with chhatri
- Sleeps two
₹11,600 a night, with breakfast Check dates
The Jharokha Room
A carved stone window seat hangs over the lane. Sit in it at seven and the whole street walks to the temple beneath you.
- Queen bed
- Window seat for two
- Sleeps two
₹9,800 a night, with breakfast Check dates
The Bahi-Khata Room
The old counting room. The ledgers are still on the shelves, the safe is now the wardrobe, and the desk is the one he used.
- King bed
- Writing desk and reading lamp
- Sleeps two
₹8,400 a night, with breakfast Check dates
Courtyard Rooms
Four rooms that open straight onto the main courtyard and its neem tree. The coolest rooms in the house from March on.
- Queen or twin beds
- Step-free from the door
- Sleeps two
₹7,200 a night, with breakfast Check dates
The Neel Rooms
Small, indigo-washed and quiet, up under the roof where the paper was hung to dry. The ones our returning guests ask for.
- Double bed
- Roof access by the back stair
- Sleeps two
₹6,400 a night, with breakfast Check dates
03
Price your stay
a folded bill
04
Things to do
eleven stamps
01
Block printing at the long table
Two hours with the printer who made your bedspread
02
The lake at six
A rowing boat from Gangaur Ghat before the motor boats start
03
Paper-making afternoon
Pulp, mould and deckle in the back courtyard
04
Dinner on the roof
Five courses, one table, cooked on the wood fire
05
The old city on foot
Ninety minutes with Hukam, who was born in this lane
06
Miniature painting lesson
A squirrel-hair brush and a very patient teacher
07
A morning in the kitchen
Shop the market, then cook the lunch you will eat
08
Sunset from Sajjangarh
We pack the tea and book the jeep
09
Letterpress your own notepaper
Set in metal type on the 1921 press in the hall
10
Cycling the Fateh Sagar road
Bicycles are at the gate, flat all the way
11
Nothing at all
A day bed, the neem tree and a pot of tea on the hour
05
A day here
five stripsTea on the roof
Chhatri terrace
Masala chai and the first light on the lake. The parakeets arrive at about the same time you do.
Breakfast in the courtyard
Under the neem tree
Poha, fresh fruit, eggs any way, and a paratha that changes with the season. Included with every room.
The long table
Back courtyard
Block printing, paper-making or letterpress, depending on the day. Come and watch even if you do not join.
Tea and something fried
The sitting room
Tea is poured at half past four whether or not anyone is there to drink it. Someone always is.
Dinner on the roof
By reservation, twelve seats
One menu, written that morning after the market. Mostly vegetarian, always Mewari, cooked on wood.
What guests rate us
Breakfast97%
The staff98%
Rooms95%
Quiet at night93%
Location90%
Value91%
How full we are
October to December94%
January and February89%
March and April62%
May and June31%
July to September58%
Diwali week100%
From the kitchen
Grown within 40 km82%
Vegetarian dishes74%
Cooked on the wood fire46%
Recipes from the family68%
Made that morning91%
Spice we grind ourselves100%
The building
Original 1887 stonework88%
Power from the roof61%
Rainwater harvested77%
Furniture made in Udaipur84%
Linen block-printed here100%
Plastic bottles0%
06
In brief
gold foil
07
Included in every stay
no extras- Breakfast in the courtyard, until half past ten
- Tea at 6:30 on the roof and 4:30 in the sitting room
- A handmade notebook, yours to keep
- Bicycles at the gate
- Filtered water in glass, refilled twice a day
- Wi-Fi in the rooms, none on the roof
Not included: televisions, a swimming pool, a lift. The Courtyard Rooms are step-free.
08
Write to us
a letterWrite to the haveli
Weddings, long stays, a room for your parents. A person answers, usually before tea.