AN APP PLANNED MY DREAM TRIP

Five-star hotels, unparalleled access, cold Diet Coke on a silver platter. It seems there's nothing a new breed of digital travel experts can't do.

- BY ADAM RATHE ILLUSTRATION BY KONSTANTIN KAKANIAS

I thought for sure the maharaja would give me the slip.

A meeting had been scheduled with Gaj Singh II, known to almost everyone as Bapji, the day before, but our tête-à-tête had been delayed. A call to my room at Jodhpur’s Umaid Bhawan Palace, which was formerly His Highness’s family home and is now a 71-room hotel with a wing where the royal family still resides, let me know he'd be available that afternoon—probably.

At the appointed time I beelined to the property’s cavernous lobby to wait, while a traditional musical trio played the soundtrack to my anticipation. Eventually a hotel employee approached and beckoned me to follow her; we made our way through a series of grand hallways that looked nearly identical until we reached a door where a group of guards gave me the once-over before breaking into smiles and bringing me to a sitting room chockablock with family photos, silver trinkets, and porcelain figurines.