DAY EIGHT
What to do?
No palace would be complete for my kids without a palatial pool, and RAAS Devigarh delivers. My sons also made full use of the billiards room, ping pong table, and various game tables around the property that also boast killer views. During the evening, you can watch your choice of movies in the lounge, complete with popcorn. While at the hotel, make sure to take a historical tour of the palace with your kids. It’ll provide some context to your stay. Simply ask for a guided tour at the concierge desk.
Get a glimpse of Indian village life by exploring Delwara either on bikes, borrowed from the hotel, or on foot. Or you can take a tour of Delwara that’s guided by specially-trained boys from the village. You’ll see the stepwell that the hotel now maintains, Hindu and Jain temples, the hunting tower, and Sadnha workshop, an NGO that employees local women. Tour cost: about $5; all proceeds go to the guides and a local youth center.
Or you can arrange a day of sightseeing in popular Udaipur through the hotel, including sites like the City Palace, Jagadish Temple, Sahelion-ki-Bari Gardens, and Lakes Nichola and Fateh Sagar. To be honest, these sites didn’t really interest by teenaged sons, so we stayed in Delwara during our stay.
Where to eat?
Whatever you choose to do with your day, make sure to have dinner at RAAS Devigarh, the site of our most memorable meal in India. We enjoyed a private Thali dinner, which featured a selection of various small dishes served on a platter with naan. But it’s the setting that was absolutely stunning! We dined in the restored Sheesh Mahal, or mirror room, where Devigarh’s kings entertained their queens and special guests, surrounded by candlelight and flowers. It was simply magical. We were all wowed, including my not-easily-impressed teenaged sons. Cost: about $55 per person.
KidTripster Tip: Make a dinner reservation for the Sheesh Mahal when you make your lodging reservation, as it’s a very popular venue.
DAY NINE
Getting there
Today, you’ll say goodbye to road travel and fly from Udaipur to Mumbai. RAAS Devigarh provides complimentary car service to the airport. There’s multiple flights to Mumbai daily. We flew budget carrier IndiGo for about $46 per person. The flight is about an hour.
When you arrive in Mumbai, take a cab or better yet, Uber from the airport to your hotel. It’s far cheaper than the hotel car service. You’ve now arrived in India’s largest city and home to upwards of 23 million people! (For perspective, New York City has a population of 8.5 million people.)
Where to stay?
The St. Regis Mumbai is a sophisticated, centrally-located big city hotel that typically caters to business travelers. However, you’ll find the staff here – including your own private butler – welcoming to families, as well. Your kids will likely head straight to the infinity-edged, rooftop pool with spectacular views of the city skyline and the Arabian sea. In fact, nearly every room at The St. Regis boasts spectacular views. Prepaid SPG Member rates start at around $193/night; otherwise, it’s $287/night.
KidTripster Tip: With a roll-away bed, we found the Deluxe, Grand Deluxe, and Premiere rooms to be too small for our family of four. If you’re traveling with at least two children, I’d recommend a suite.
KidTripster Tip: The St. Regis is located next to three high-end shopping malls, if you’d like to do some window shopping.
For a full review of The St. Regis Mumbai, click here.
Where to eat?
Seven Kitchens is the most family-friendly of all the restaurants at The St. Regis. It serves a global menu for lunch and dinner; you can either choose off the buffet or order off the menu. If you’re hankering for French fries, you’ll find perfect ones here!
After dinner, catch a movie – maybe even a Bollywood movie – at the nearby cinema.
DAY TEN
What to do?
If you only do one thing in Mumbai, take Reality Tours and Travel’s tour of Dharavi Slum. Yes, a slum tour. You may have to drag your kids “kicking and screaming,” but take them. I don’t care how many third world countries that you have visited, you’ve never seen anything quite like this. Dharavi is one of the largest slums in Asia. Nearly 1.5 million people live in a space half the size of Central Park. (Let that sink in for a moment.) The slum gained international attention after the release of the award-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire; the movie is based on Dharavi. But there’s more to this tour that squalor; it’s a lesson on survival. Both of our guides, Nano and Raj, grew up in the slum. You’ll learn about the micro industries that operate in Dharavi. You’ll tour both the Muslim and Hindu residential areas. At one point in the tour, we turned into an area where the 2-story “houses” (which are the size of an American bedroom) were separated by an alleyway; here only one person could pass at a time. We felt as if there couldn’t possibly be enough oxygen for everyone to breathe. This 2-1/2-hour tour is memorable, difficult, and important. Cost: about $13/person. I’d recommend the tour for kids 12 and up.
KidTripster Tip: Watch the movie Slumdog Millionaire with your kids before you go.
Where to eat?
If you have teenagers or well-behaved young foodies, try one of The St. Regis’ award-winning restaurants – By the Mekong, which specializes in Asian cuisine including Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese or Yuuka, which serves Japanese entrĂ©es and fresh sushi rolls. Look around – a Bollywood star may be dining at the next table!
KidTripster Tip: Make reservations well in advance, as both these restaurants book quickly.
After dinner, take a cab or Uber to Marine Drive and walk along the seaside promenade.
DAY ELEVEN
What to do?
It’s your last day of sightseeing in India! While Reality has a group sightseeing tour of Mumbai, I’d actually recommend booking a private tour with them for around $100 for a family of four. I think most kids are like mine and lack the interest and stamina to see everything that’s on the regular tour. In about two hours, I’d recommend seeing Dhobi Ghat (the world’s largest outdoor laundry), Gateway of India (mostly as a photo op), Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (formerly Victoria Train Station and site of the last dance scene in Slumdog Millionaire), and Churchgate Station just before lunchtime to learn the story of the amazing dabbawalas. I’d skip the Jain Temple, Banganga Tank, Mani Bhavan (National Gandhi Museum), and Chowpatty Beach, which is not a swimming beach.
KidTripster Tip: Several companies, including Reality, offer Mumbai Street Food tours. My recommendation? Don’t take them, as you really can’t afford to get sick.
Getting home
International flights nearly always depart late at night or early in morning. Again, to save money, take a cab or Uber to the airport. Arrive with plenty of time before your flight. The line through immigration took us nearly two hours!
KidTripster Tip: Ask for a late checkout at The St. Regis Mumbai. The hotel may even accommodate your request without an extra charge.
This writer received some discounted or complimentary stays, activities, meals for the purpose of this review. However, all opinions expressed are solely her own.
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