WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi

A fantastic Hotel with a very warm crew. Formerly, the Palace of the Ghorpade family, Sandur and the seat of their power, it was converted into a heritage palace in 2011-12. This place has had minimal effects of commercialization (in a positive way) and has thus, retained much of the old world charms. The floors, the switches, the setup easily regales you. It takes you back in time and makes you feel like you are living in a palace and not some fancy WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi that calls itself a palace. The property is huge and is surrounded by lush green environment. There are Nilgiri Langoors on the property - a whole troop perhaps! While they may exchange stares with you an indulge in monkeying, they keep to themselves. Exotic birds add to the charm. The palace corridors can take your breath away. The dining hall isn’t large neither is the menu exhaustive. Yet, the quality and warmth with which the food was prepared was simply superb. There was a personal touch to everything. The property has only 12 Deluxe rooms, each of which is so huge that you might think it to be a suite. The bathroom is as big as most budget size WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi bedrooms. In addition there are two other suites. So not many families and therefore lot of privacy and personalized attention. Drinking water comes at a premium at most fancy properties - not here. They are generous. In fact that is another stand out point of this property - they are not greedy - they are proud of their palace and want the guests to feel at home. WiFi within the palace was good. Swimming pool was maintained in pristine condition and had a steam bath adjacent to the changing room. There is an activity room with games in case your children want to have some fun. The palace also serves as a mini museum with a small collection of vintage cars (previously owned by the Royal Family) and another of hand wielded weapons. Just walking around the corridors, the library, the billiards room, the various lounge rooms, etc. all takes you back in time. Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Hampi and its stream of tourists, this palace is a family’s delight if you want some “we time” in solitude in the lap of nature. It’s royalty for sure. But, make no mistake, this is not Hampi. It is a good one hour’s drive from Hampi. So if you are planning to cover Hampi over two-three days, you might like to take that into consideration. The Ghorpade family which now manages the property through a trust has created a remarkable setup. They invested in people more than the infrastructure. It was so obvious that every member of the crew was beaming with pride as though we were their personal guests. Mr Joseph, Mr Lokesh, Mr Praveen and Mr Debashish (from the restaurant) are just few of the gems that the property boasts of. Strongly recommended for those who wish to indulge in earthy royalty, a little solitude and nature. This palace shall bestow you with memories that you can cherish.

Location - the WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi is around 90 minutes drive from Hampi - the roads are reasonably okay (being a mining town there could be a lot of truck traffic plying on the road with its associated issues). Room and Facilities - The room that we were provided was extremely spacious and well appointed with all the facilities required for an extremely comfortable stay. There is a small Car Museum within the campus (contains 4 vintage cars used by the erstwhile Maharaja's whose palace has been converted into this WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi), an Arms museum (again arms and ammunition used by the erstwhile Maharaja's for hunting), 2 small shrines, a variety of photographs of the general area (seems like one of the Maharaja's was an avid nature photographer and has published a number of books of his photographs) and around 25+ acres of space (very poorly maintained) to move around. Some monkeys in the place. Food - mostly Buffet style (across all meals for the day). Good stuff and the staff can get you anything extra (within reasonable bounds for sure !!. Service - to us this was the highlight of the stay. Right from the welcome we received, escorting to the room, making food available at an odd time (we reached there after lunch was closed - but they had called that morning to confirm our time of arrival and made sure that Lunch was available to us when we reached), escorting us around and showing us the place, arranging for taxis and guides (top class guide) etc. Etc. - Everything was done wonderfully well. Kudos to them. Value for Money - I think the pricing is a bit high for a place like Sandur - but I have nothing to crib about given the service and the facilities on offer. Would definitely recommend this to anyone (who can afford the price that is) as a good place to stay for a family.

This WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi is a hidden gem. We took a risk by booking this WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi only based on the reviews and photos. And we were very satisfied with the overall experience. The WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi is located 30 kms from Hospet and one has to take a scenic road trip from Hospet to get here. The road trip is excellent with green hills on both sides. The WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi itself is actually a palace converted to a WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi. It is very well maintained and every room in the WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi exudes class and heritage. We booked a deluxe room and it was very spacious and thoughtfully decorated. Food is excellent and they cater to your personalized needs. The food tastes very homely. Since there are only around 12 rooms, there is not much of a crowd and you hardly realise that there are other people as well staying in the WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi. The staff were excellent and went out of their way to get everything resolved. I would definitely come back to stay in this WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi!

We wanted to visit Hampi and started to do a search for an exclusive play to stay. Shivavilas Palace heritage WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi became the first choice at it was situated add in the middle of greenery an exclusive 22 acre serene environment. Though little far from Hampi but it had all the trappings of a luxury holiday. As be approached the gates the doorman courteously inquired about our name and purpose of visit and thereafter it was an extremely smooth check in and entry into the room. The staff is very simple but very very courteous. The room was well appointed with all the trappings that could facilitate a great stay. The palace is a home away from home, it has acquaint feeling of having been lived in without overpowering you. The food is as per your order and enough variety exist whatever is required. We love the place and we would recommend it to anybody who would like to visit Hampi and at the same time stay in a royal palace.

The palace is beautiful. But what made it really beautiful is the staff. The front office staff was always so polite and courteous, and attend to is well beyond the usual welcome. I was a little unwell during my stay, so we requested front office for kit Hindi over phone, the lady at the reception not only honored the request but also was kind enough to bring up to a tiny bowls of delays to have us choose, which Dal kichidi would I like to have. That was great. The restaurant staff was also extremely courteous. Especially the gentleman that leads the restaurant. They accommodated our requests for small customisations in our food and made sure that we left happy after every meal. The staff at the swimming pool was also very helpful, including settings up the steam room for us, quickly supplying us with towels and robes. The room was neat and clean and quite large. With a nice balcony.

The WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi is easily located when you reach Sandur or Hospet. Sandur can be reached by car in about 5. 45 hrs from Bangalore. The shortest route is via Sira, Hiriyur and Kudligi. The WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi is located on the road which goes to Hospet from where interesting tourist places like Hampi, Badami, Statical can be reached. The WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi is very comfortable for a relaxed stay. The staff are excellent. Food is excellent ( both buffet and a-la-karte and value for money. The WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi has lot of green cover and very nicely maintained. Do not miss the library where some antique books are kept and also the car museum in the Hotel. Please do visit the Kumaraswamy temple about 11 kms from the Hotel.

We had the privilege of staying at this lovely property for 4 days and our experience has been nothing short of wonderful. There is so much to do and so many things to enjoy. The royal ambience coupled with the most courteous staff we have seen in a while made our stay really memorable. The rooms are big and super cozy and cleanliness is top notch. The food despite the limited menu was certainly one of the star of our stay here. There is so much to explore around the property itself and if you have kids or are travelling in large groups , you can really have a ball because there are so many activities that you can do like swimming, playing snooker, table tennis, badminton, cycling and a host of other games. We enjoyed every bit of our time at Shivavilas palace thanks to their near perfect services.

If you talk about hospitality. It was amazing in word. Staff is so courteous and feeling like extraordinary. I want to mention about Mr. Joseph manager at WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi. Was such a gentleman. Palace is very good. Specially stay at sunder is amazing. It is surround by Hills. Have read that Gandhi Ji. Visited in 1930 and gave term oasis. Little bit far from Hampi but very well connected with concrete Road. It takes 30 min to reach Hampi. We had dinner at Palace really good. All hunted animals specimen is very well maintained in Palace really good to See. I personally recommend to stay at this WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi. Value for money. With royal hospitality.

When you spend quality time with your family, you feel to go again and again in same place. Same thing happened in heritage Shivavilas Palace.

Hotel Shiv Vilas Palace is a great place. Very spacious outdoor and excellent and friendly staff. One point to note is that the palace is in sandur which is approx 35 km from Hampi. Therefore if you are touring for Hampi, then factor extra travel time each way.

It is the ancient home of the ruling family of Sandur. Do not Miss the family car collection behind the house, the oldest one being a dodge 1928.

Best location, best food, best hospitality, great staff, best manager. All in one place room is maharaja suite feel like king. I appreciate for great service.

We like this property and keep returning once in 2-3 years. Great hospitality, keep it up.

The property is well maintained with acres of space available for your evening stroll, it was a great stay while the location is a little off Hampi.

Royal stay at Palace. It's a Palace turned into Hotel. We received a warm welcome with a welcome drink and we had been guided by a receptionist to the room. Room is very big with vintage interior. Bathroom is also very big with a bathtub facility. One will definitely feel like living in a Palace. Place is very near to sander City. Easily noticeable from Road.

Travelling from Hyderabad we found this palace WelcomHeritage Shivavilas Palace, Hampi and we were treated like royalty indeed. Must stay to relax. We were there on new years eve and they organized an awesome live barbeque dinner for us.

Perfect place to go if you want peace, quite, away from hustle and bustle. Good food. Friendly and very helpful staff.

We admire that the originality of the palace has been maintained. Our room had a spacious balcony with the view of the swimming pool and the mountain too.

The staff was courteous and warm. It is a small beautiful royal palace with all the amenities required for an urban stay. The food was delicious. Would like to thank Tejaswini, Praveen, Lokeshand joseph (front desk staff) sa her-the manager who take care of all our small requirements, their driver Faiyaaz for showing and guiding us during our sight seeing for Hampi. Thanks to chef and his team for delicious food. Would love to come back.

Awesome and Silent destination away from City life good comfortable stay