Built in the late nineteenth century as a private residence, Shiv Niwas Palace, a crescent shaped edifice on the southern end of the City Palace Complex is today an outstanding luxury hotel. The hotel overlooks Lake Pichola and provides spectacular views of Jagmandir a manmade pleasure island which houses exhibitions and the renowned Lake Palace Hotel and the Aravali mountain range as a backdrop. True to the architectural style of Mewar, the hotel is dotted with projecting balconies of perfect proportion and elegance. Crowning it are domed pavilions and hidden courtyards. The suites, every one of which is distinctly different, are decorated superbly with original furniture and paintings. Each is a visual treat in itself, for it brings back the feel of the fairy-tale past. The harmony of light and colour inside the rooms almost parallels the beauty of their windowscapes.