The short answer: by the year the building went up, the oldest palace hotel in India is SUJAN Rajmahal Palace in Jaipur, built in 1729. The Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur (1743–46) is the oldest purpose-built palace and the oldest run by Taj, while Rambagh Palace was the first palace in India ever turned into a luxury hotel, opening in 1957. Below, the six oldest, ranked by construction date, with how each one became a hotel.
By Marcus Ellison · Last updated: June 12, 2026
We may earn a commission when you book through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Rankings are editorial — we never accept payment for placement. Every founding date, operator and conversion year below is attributed to a named source and cross-checked against the property's current website; we list only palaces verified as operating hotels in 2026.
Quick comparison
| Palace | City | Built | Became a hotel | Operator |
|---|
| Rajmahal Palace | Jaipur | 1729 | Modern era | SUJAN |
| Taj Lake Palace | Udaipur | 1743–46 | 1963 | Taj |
| Jai Mahal Palace | Jaipur | 1745 | 20th century | Taj |
| Rambagh Palace | Jaipur | 1835 | 1957 | Taj |
| Taj Falaknuma Palace | Hyderabad | 1894 | 2010 | Taj |
| Umaid Bhawan Palace | Jodhpur | 1928–43 | 1972 | Taj |
How we ranked and verified this
This list is ordered by the year the palace itself was built, which is what "oldest palace" actually means, rather than the year it opened as a hotel (a different, later date we give separately for each). Founding dates and operators were checked against each hotel's current website, Wikipedia and recent coverage. Two honest caveats: building dates for some palaces span years of construction or later expansion, so we give ranges where the record does; and "oldest" is not the same as "first hotel", Rambagh Palace, built later than the top three, was nonetheless the first palace in India converted to a luxury hotel. Every property here was confirmed as a currently operating hotel in 2026.
The ranked list
1
Jaipur, Rajasthan
SUJAN Rajmahal Palace
Built 1729 · the oldest structure on this list
Why it tops the list: built in 1729 by the Maharaja of Jaipur, Rajmahal Palace is the oldest building here by a clear margin. It later served as the royal family's private residence and hosted state guests, from Lord Mountbatten to Jacqueline Kennedy, before being reborn as an intimate 14-suite hotel run by SUJAN, a Relais and Chateaux member. The look today is anything but stuffy: heritage bones wrapped in bold, contemporary colour and print.
Who it's for: travelers who want a small, design-forward palace over a grand institutional one, it feels like a private home rather than a 100-room hotel. Where it is: in the city of Jaipur, easy to combine with the Amber Fort and the old city.
Honest note: with only 14 suites it books out far ahead, and the bold modern styling will not suit purists who want their 1729 palace to look untouched.
Source: RAAS / Rajmahal Palace; Scott Dunn.
Compare Jaipur's palace hotels →
2
Udaipur, Rajasthan
Taj Lake Palace
Built 1743–46 · hotel since 1963
Why it's here: the most famous palace hotel in India, and the oldest purpose-built palace on this list. Constructed between 1743 and 1746 as a summer retreat for Maharana Jagat Singh II, the white marble palace covers a four-acre island in Lake Pichola and appears to float on the water. It became a Taj hotel in 1963 and has 65 rooms and suites; you reach it the way the maharanas did, by boat across the lake.
Who it's for: honeymooners and anyone chasing the single most romantic arrival in India. Setting: the lake-island position is the whole point, with the City Palace and the Aravalli hills as backdrop.
Honest note: the boat-only access that makes it magical is also a small logistical commitment, and in a dry year low water levels around Lake Pichola can dull the floating effect, worth checking the season.
Source: Taj Hotels; Wikipedia.
Read Oberoi Udaivilas vs Taj Lake Palace →
3
Jaipur, Rajasthan
Jai Mahal Palace
Built 1745 · Taj heritage hotel
Why it's here: built in 1745, Jai Mahal is one of Jaipur's oldest palaces and now a 100-room Taj heritage hotel set in 18 acres of formal Mughal-style gardens. Of the palaces here it is the most resort-like, with the scale and grounds to feel like a retreat inside the city, which makes it a popular base for weddings and longer Rajasthan itineraries.
Who it's for: travelers who want a genuine 18th-century palace with the space, gardens and facilities of a full hotel rather than a boutique house. Where it is: central Jaipur, walkable to the city's sights.
Honest note: at 100 rooms with a busy events calendar, it trades some of the intimacy of Rajmahal or the drama of the Lake Palace for capacity and convenience.
Source: Taj Hotels; MICHELIN Guide.
More of the world's historic grand hotels →
4
Jaipur, Rajasthan
Rambagh Palace
Built 1835 · India's first palace hotel (1957)
Why it's here: not the oldest building, but the most historically important on this list. The structure began in 1835 as a modest garden house, grew into a royal hunting lodge and then the principal residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur, before Sawai Man Singh II opened it to guests in 1957, making Rambagh the first palace in India turned into a luxury hotel. Today it is Taj's flagship Jaipur palace, all marble corridors, peacock gardens and the celebrated Polo Bar.
Who it's for: guests who want the full grand-palace experience and the sense of staying where the format itself was invented. Detail to seek out: the Maharani and Maharaja suites carry genuine royal provenance.
Source: Wikipedia; Taj Hotels.
Read Rambagh Palace vs Oberoi Rajvilas →
5
Hyderabad, Telangana
Taj Falaknuma Palace
Built 1894 · hotel since 2010
Why it's here: the grandest palace on the list outside Rajasthan, and arguably the most dramatically sited. Built in 1894 and later the residence of the Nizam of Hyderabad, once reckoned among the richest men in the world, Falaknuma ("mirror of the sky") sits about 2,000 feet above the city. Taj reopened it as a 60-room hotel in 2010 after a decade-long restoration, preserving its Venetian chandeliers, a 101-seat dining table and the Nizam's library.
Who it's for: travelers who want imperial-scale opulence and a sense of arrival, guests are traditionally welcomed with a shower of rose petals up the grand staircase. Setting: a clifftop above Hyderabad, reached by a winding private drive.
Honest note: at 60 rooms inside a vast museum-grade palace, the public spaces can feel busy with day visitors and event traffic; the suites are where the privacy lives.
Source: Taj Hotels; Wikipedia.
See the world's most expensive suites →
6
Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Umaid Bhawan Palace
Built 1928–43 · hotel since 1972
Why it's here: the youngest palace on the list but one of the most extraordinary, a 347-room Art Deco-meets-Rajput colossus built between 1928 and 1943 for Maharaja Umaid Singh, and among the largest private residences on earth. It has been a Taj hotel since 1972 and is unusual in being three things at once: a luxury hotel, a museum, and a living royal residence, with the Jodhpur family still occupying one wing.
Who it's for: guests who want scale, golden-stone grandeur and the frisson of sharing an address with a sitting royal family, it routinely tops lists of India's most expensive hotels. Detail: the domed central hall and the original Art Deco suites are the signatures.
Honest note: only part of the palace is the hotel, so some of the building is off-limits, and the rates are firmly at the top of the Indian market.
Source: Taj Hotels; Wikipedia.
See the priciest suites in the world →
Oldest palace, or first hotel? The distinction worth knowing
The phrase "oldest palace hotel" hides two different questions. If you mean the oldest building, the answer is Rajmahal Palace (1729), with the Taj Lake Palace (1743–46) and Jai Mahal (1745) close behind, all genuinely 18th-century structures. If you mean the oldest hotel, the honour goes to Rambagh Palace, which in 1957 became the first Indian palace to take paying guests and effectively invented the category that the others later joined.
It is a useful distinction when planning, because age of the stones and age of the hospitality buy different things. The earliest palaces, Rajmahal and the Lake Palace, deliver the deepest sense of history and the most singular settings; the longest-running hotels, Rambagh above all, deliver the most polished, decades-honed palace-hotel experience. Either way, all six are operating in 2026, and all reward the trip.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the oldest palace hotel in India?
- By the year the building was constructed, it is SUJAN Rajmahal Palace in Jaipur, built in 1729 and now an intimate 14-suite heritage hotel run by SUJAN. The Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur, built between 1743 and 1746, is the oldest purpose-built palace on this list and the oldest run by Taj. Rambagh Palace, however, was the first palace anywhere in India to become a luxury hotel, opening to guests in 1957.
- How old is the Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur?
- The palace was built between 1743 and 1746 as a summer retreat for Maharana Jagat Singh II, on an island in Lake Pichola, so the structure is nearly 280 years old. It became a hotel in 1963 and is now run by Taj. You still reach it as the maharanas did, by boat across the lake, which is part of its romance.
- Which was India's first palace converted into a hotel?
- Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, which Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II opened to guests in 1957, is widely credited as India's first palace turned luxury hotel. The original structure dates to 1835, when it began as a modest garden house before being expanded into a royal residence, and it is now Taj's flagship Jaipur palace.
- Who runs India's palace hotels?
- Taj Hotels operates most of the famous ones, including the Taj Lake Palace, Rambagh Palace, Jai Mahal Palace, Taj Falaknuma Palace and Umaid Bhawan Palace, the last still a working royal residence with the Jodhpur family living in one wing. SUJAN, a Relais and Chateaux member, runs the boutique Rajmahal Palace in Jaipur. Several remain partly owned or occupied by the original royal families.
- Can you stay at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur?
- Yes. Built between 1928 and 1943 and one of the world's largest private residences, Umaid Bhawan has been a Taj hotel since 1972, occupying part of the palace while the Jodhpur royal family lives in another wing and a third section is a museum. It is consistently among India's most expensive and sought-after hotel stays.
- Are India's palace hotels hard to reach?
- Less than you might fear. Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Hyderabad all have airports with good domestic links, so the palaces themselves are easy to add to a Rajasthan or southern India trip. The memorable arrivals are part of the appeal: the Taj Lake Palace is reached by boat across Lake Pichola, and Taj Falaknuma Palace sits about 2,000 feet above Hyderabad, up a winding private drive once climbed by horse-drawn carriage.
