🏨 110+ Rooms & Suites
🐾 Free No Pet Charges
🌿 12 Acres Natural Grounds
The Royal Retreat Resort & Spa is a five-star property spread across 12 acres of natural surroundings in Village Hawala, on Badi Hawala Road, near the Sajjangarh Monsoon Palace in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The resort explicitly declares itself a pet-friendly hotel on its own website , "All furs and feathers are welcome" , and Booking.com confirms pets are allowed at no extra charge. With 110 rooms across 7 categories, multiple swimming pools, a spa, and 2 restaurants spread across its Aravalli-facing grounds, this is one of the most substantial pet-friendly stays in Rajasthan for travellers who refuse to leave their dogs behind. For anyone planning a road trip to Rajasthan with a dog, finding a five-star property that openly markets itself as pet-friendly , and backs that up with a zero-charge confirmation on a major OTA , is genuinely rare. This one clears that bar cleanly.
✓ Verified by the Pet Friendly Places team
The Royal Retreat Resort & Spa is confirmed pet-friendly. The property's own accommodation page states "We are a pet friendly hotel - all furs and feathers are welcome." Booking.com independently lists pets as allowed with no extra charges. Pet charges beyond this have not been confirmed , call ahead on 091160 14964 to clarify any specifics for your dog's size or breed.
The Setting: 12 Acres at the Foot of the Aravallis
Located in the Hawala village area on the outskirts of Udaipur, The Royal Retreat sits at the foothills of the Aravalli range, close to Sajjangarh Fort , a setting that immediately separates it from the city-centre heritage hotels that dominate most Udaipur travel lists. Those properties are beautiful, but they're also dense, vertical, and built for sightseeing rather than walking a dog in the morning. The Royal Retreat is the opposite: horizontal, open, and spacious in a way that a 12-acre campus allows.
The grounds are designed to be walked. Rooms and suites are connected through landscaped walkways that loop around the swimming pools, and the property is described by long-term guests as "brimming with culture and art" , every corner features artefacts from the owner's personal collection, which makes the walking experience more interesting than a standard resort corridor. The resort is run by Mr Dushyant Periwal and his wife Mrs Ayesha, and repeat visitors specifically note the personal attention the ownership brings to every stay. For a pet parent, this kind of owner-operated ethos typically translates into a more accommodating, less bureaucratic experience than a corporate chain property , someone at the front desk who actually makes a decision, rather than referring you to a laminated policy sheet.
Distance context matters for road-trippers: the resort is approximately 6 km from City Palace and Sajjangarh Fort, and 8 km from Lake Pichola, according to Booking.com. Maharana Pratap Airport is 31 km away, and the property offers airport pickup and drop service. Free private parking is available on site , relevant for anyone doing the Jaipur–Udaipur highway stretch with a dog in the back seat. The road approach through Hawala village is quieter than the city lakefront, and the Aravalli foothills give the surrounding area a green, unhurried quality that holds even in peak season.
Pet Policy: No Extra Charges, All Species Welcome
The resort's pet policy is one of the most openly stated we've come across from a five-star property in India. The website doesn't mention pets in the fine print , it leads with a dedicated pet-friendly declaration on the accommodation page, accompanied by a photograph of a Shih Tzu on the property. The tagline "all furs and feathers are welcome" is not accidental phrasing: it suggests the hotel accepts dogs, cats, and birds , not just small lap dogs who can be quietly ignored. This is a property that has thought about its pet guests, not one that grudgingly tolerates them.
Booking.com confirms this with a "Free!" badge against the pets entry, stating explicitly: "Pets are allowed. No extra charges." In a category where many five-star properties either refuse pets outright or charge a nightly pet fee of ₹500–₹2,000, a zero-charge confirmation from both the property and a major OTA is a meaningful signal. This is one of the clearest no-pet-fee confirmations available for a five-star resort in Rajasthan , and for travellers doing a longer Rajasthan circuit, that adds up.
What the sources do not specify: whether there are breed restrictions, weight limits, or a cap on the number of pets per room. Before arriving with a large dog like a Labrador or Golden Retriever, it is worth calling the property directly to confirm they are comfortable with your dog's size and any specific requirements you might have. The phone number listed is 091160 14964. In our experience, properties that photograph a Shih Tzu on their website tend to skew toward smaller dogs in practice , worth a two-minute call to confirm before a long drive.
Facilities Worth Knowing About
The resort runs two restaurants offering Indian, World, and Fusion cuisine, a spa and wellness centre, a fitness centre, a bar, and a year-round outdoor swimming pool. Golf cart transfers are available within the property , genuinely useful when you've just arrived with luggage, a dog, and a long drive behind you, and your room is on the far end of a 12-acre campus. The hotel also provides butler service, doctor-on-call and first aid, airport transfers, laundry, high-speed WiFi, and 24-hour room service. Breakfast is served Continental and Buffet style.
For guests travelling with pets, the scale of the property is the single most important facility detail: 12 acres of walkable grounds means your dog is not confined to a corridor or a balcony between meals. The resort's location near Sajjangarh also means early-morning walks on Badi Hawala Road are genuinely pleasant , relatively quiet at that hour, with Aravalli views rather than city traffic. The surrounding area does not have the lake-view drama of central Udaipur, but it has something arguably more useful for a dog: actual walking space and low vehicle density.
The property has a Booking.com location score of 8.2. Guest reviews consistently highlight cleanliness, food quality, and the staff's attentiveness. One repeat visitor noted they have been returning annually for seven years, specifically citing the ownership's personal involvement in maintaining standards , that kind of long-term loyalty from guests tends to be a reliable signal that a property delivers consistently rather than just at launch.
What to Confirm Before You Visit
The pet-friendly status is clearly confirmed from two independent sources. A handful of details are still worth verifying directly with the property before booking. First, whether pets are permitted inside guest rooms , the sources confirm pets are allowed at the property, but do not explicitly state whether your dog sleeps in the room with you or in a designated area. Second, whether specific room categories are preferred or designated for guests travelling with pets. Third, any breed or size considerations the resort may have in practice, even if none are publicly listed.
On the practical side: the hotel accepts American Express, Visa, Mastercard, and JCB , cash is not accepted at checkout, so plan accordingly. Check-in is from 2:00 PM to 11:00 PM and check-out is from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM. If you're arriving late after a long road journey with a dog, the 11:00 PM check-in window is worth keeping in mind , later than that and it's worth calling ahead to arrange. The property's phone number is 091160 14964.
