Villa Palladio Villa Palladio
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Villa Palladio Is Jaipur's Real Life Version Of Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel

Disha Bijolia

A lavish 19th century hotel perched aloft on rugged, snow-capped peaks in the fictional province of Zubrowka, The Grand Budapest Hotel in Wes Andersons's comedy drama created an iconic visual aesthetic with the grandiose palettes of red and pink. But what if this impressionistic eastern European architecture was reimagined in the pink city of Jaipur in India?

Creators of Bar Palladio, Barbara Miolini and Marie-Anne Oudejans along with Vikas Soni have designed a homegrown version of The Grand Budapest Hotel called Villa Palladio, 20 mins from Jaipur. Built in the 1980s by the late Thakur Abhay Singh of Kanota, this nine-room boutique hotel began life as a typical Rajasthani haveli. Now it's an opulent, maximalist visual feast that stands amid a landscaped Mughal garden with strict geometries next to Lake Kanota.

Villa Palladio

The hotel has stark white structures enlivened with vibrant splashes of red and pink. Doors, arches, umbrellas and pillars all sport a variety of the colour like alta, sindoor, cardinal, pomegranate, Ferrari and tomato in a variety of eye-catching ways with light-handed layering of texture, colour, materials, methods, histories and stories. 

Villa Palladio

The interior is saturated entirely with vivid shades of red, interspersed with occasional pinks and greens. Bold vertical stripes that wrap around entire spaces, intricate frescoes of roosters and palms, and gorgeous stained glass details serve as compelling visual highlights. The lattice pattern is a motif used everywhere in the hotel with the Baroque-style brass sconces made locally.

Echoing the dominant hues of Jaipur, Villa Palladio is an entrancing tribute to Rajasthani heritage and a romantic crimson dreamscape whose philosophy of 21st century hospitality is stated as: “The return of a grand simplicity rooted in each guest’s individual experience of delight.”

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