Peacocks and Palaces of Pink City!

For all travel-obsessed princess devotees with a flair for royal girly aesthetics and intriguing narratives, we've found the ultimate staycation and it lies within the Pink City!

- SRUSHTI KULKARNI

Add in its dreamy monsoon-charged greenness, over 200 free-roaming peacocks and voilà—you've got your very own Indian Disney princess reverie unfolding right before your eyes.

Check into Jaipur's Taj Sawai Man Mahal—a tribute to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II, Jaipur's last ruling maharaja and former ambassador to Spain—and suddenly every corner becomes engaging and appears equally, if not more, aesthetic. The rose petal shower and folk dance welcome aside, enter the palace and you will be marvelling at the restored red sandstone fort-like walls, golden gate and weapons wall art in the lobby—an architectural nod to the grandeur of Amber Fort.

With only 51 rooms, this property offers quiet intimacy that grand resorts often lose. Oh and don't be alarmed if you run into peacocks and peahens every 10 steps or find them perched on the rooftop of your palatial suites, because there are over 200 of them roaming free. Speaking of our Deluxe Suite, it was an elegant setting inspired by royalty, with a private courtyard ideal for stargazing.