Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The main pool at Mihir Garh “Royal families used to support artists. Now it’s tourism that keeps art and tradition alive,” says Avijit Singh, the director of India’s House of Rohet group of small luxury hotels. He’s speaking about his family’s ancestral home, Rohet Garh, their city hotel in Jodhpur and their most magical tourism endeavor so far, Mihir Garh .
The hotel feels like a primeval fort in remote Rajasthan, the kind of place that’s risen from the sand since forever. But just two decades ago, it existed only as a dream. The site, atop a dune in the windswept Thar Desert, was once a picnic site for guests of Rohet Garh.
When Rohet Garh’s popularity took off, the family realized their desert dream. Their Fortress of the Sun rose with the efforts of more than 100 artisans. They spent more than two years constructing every detail from the murals in the dining room to the mirror-mosaic fireplaces that grace many of the rooms.
The temple courtyard at the entrance The nine eco-friendly guest rooms are enormous, each around 1,700 square feet, and have unheard-of desert luxuries like plunge pools and open-air Jacuzzis. Their decoration was largely chosen by Avijit’s mother, Thakurani Rashmi Singh, and it leans toward rich colors, opulent dark wood furnishings, carved headboards and elaborately patterned rugs, all produced in the region. The bathrooms, with their curved surfaces and smooth floors and walls, s.