Umaid Bhawan is an icon of Jodhpur. The palace is a tourist destination in itself: a stupefyingly-large sandstone edifice - something of a mix between St. Paul’s and the Taj Mahal - which sits on a hilltop and thus has Jodphur’s finest vantage points outside of Mehrangarh. Commissioned by Maharaja Umaid Singh in 1929, construction employed some 3000 workers, and took some 14 years to complete. Two-thirds of the complex have been run as a 64-room luxury hotel since the early 90s, with the current royal family still residing in the other third. Rooms are of an excellent size, and despite thorough modern restoration retain their heritage air. As one would expect facilities are lavish and numerous: indoor and outdoor pools, two restaurants, several colonial-era bars, as a gym, spa, yoga studio and tennis courts.