Six Months Late to Rashmika and Vijay's Wedding: Our Stay at Mementos Ekaaya Udaipur

Confession: Mementos by ITC Hotels, Ekaaya Udaipur was not our original plan. We had just spent two nights being thoroughly spoiled at Fairmont Udaipur Palace, and as loyal Accor Platinum members we were all set to continue the romance at Raffles Udaipur. Then a few friends who had stayed at Mementos practically staged an intervention: "Forget Raffles this time. You have to try Ekaaya." Fine. We listened.

There was also the small matter of Rashmika Mandanna and Vijay Deverakonda choosing this very resort for their wedding six months earlier (Outlook Luxe reported the venue too, and everyone at the resort confirmed it). Two of Hyderabad cinema's biggest names, one very private Udaipur wedding, and us arriving half a year late to inspect the venue. Shaadi ka invitation toh nahi aaya, but a room booking works too. 😂

The Property: Big, Remote and Built for a Group Holiday

Mementos is not the Udaipur of crowded lakeside roads. It sits away from the city, tucked into the Aravalli hills, with 117 suites and villas climbing across a vast green property. Golf carts are less a perk here and more a transport system. You don't book this as a base for sightseeing. The property itself is the destination.

By the end of the stay we kept saying the same thing: we should come back with 15 or 20 family members. This place makes sense for a big celebration. Clearly Rashmika and Vijay were onto something. Bas unka guest list thoda bada tha.

Check-In: 35 Families, Zero Forms

We booked the Unseen Udaipur package, which included airport transfers and 20% off food and spa treatments. The team kindly agreed to collect us from Fairmont instead of the airport, which made the hotel-to-hotel move easy.

Then we reached the lobby and walked straight into chaos. Around 35 families were checking in at once, children were running everywhere, and we exchanged that silent married-couple look that means: this is going to take forever. Except it didn't. Deba from Fairmont Guest Relations, who had started her career at Mementos, had called ahead for us. No queue, no life history at a desk, no mountain of forms. We were walked straight to our villa.

Who gets the credit for that effortless arrival, ITC or Deba? Let's call it a hospitality relay race, with Deba running the winning lap. Unfortunately, once the glow wore off, the cracks started showing.

The Villa: Lake-Facing, Minus the Lake

We had been assigned a Lake View Villa (484 sq ft, one queen bed), which promises panoramic views of a private lake and the Aravalli hills. There was only one tiny issue: we could not see a lake. Anywhere. 😭 We had emailed in advance hoping for an upgrade and it didn't happen. Yes, an upgrade is never an entitlement. But we had just walked out of a Deluxe Suite at Fairmont, so the emotional adjustment was real.

Then we were told a butler had been assigned to us. He never appeared. Later we learnt there had been a miscommunication and we would not have one after all.

Activities: Plenty to Do, Poorly Explained

There is no shortage of things to do: bowling-machine cricket, archery, shooting, and fish and duck feeding, among others. The problem was that none of it was explained to us. Nobody told us which activities were complimentary and which were chargeable, and we only found out some carried a fee when the charges showed up while we were signing receipts.

High Tea: Fairmont Won the Room, Mementos Won the Food

High tea was the first pleasant surprise. Live Rajasthani folk music, a generous spread of savoury snacks, and excellent tea and chai. The variety was much better than the sunset high tea we'd just had at Fairmont, where the setting did most of the heavy lifting. Here, the plates had more to say.

Breakfast: The Weakest Part of the Stay

I wish I could be equally generous about breakfast, but this was easily the low point. The resort was close to full, with well over 100 of its 117 villas and suites apparently occupied, and the restaurant felt it. The crowd was heavy, live orders took over 20 minutes, and the quality was not what I expect from an ITC breakfast. Non-vegetarian options were almost nonexistent beyond eggs.

I've had far better breakfasts at other ITC properties, and coming straight from Fairmont made the gap sharper. A full hotel is not a surprise to the hotel; breakfast has to work even at high occupancy.

Kaya Kalp Spa: My Husband Found the Best Use for 6,000 Points

The Aravalli setting made my husband feel an immediate and urgent need to visit the spa. Funny how the hills do that. 😂 He redeemed 6,000 ITC Green Points for a one-hour signature treatment at Kaya Kalp, followed by time in the jacuzzi, and came back calling it one of his best spa experiences. The treatment room looks over the greenery and feels calm, private and properly removed from the busy parts of the resort. Meanwhile, I supported this important wellness research from a safe distance.

Rock Bar: The Moment the Stay Turned Around

Then came Rock Bar. The name reminded us instantly of Rock Bar at AYANA Resort Bali, perched on a cliff above crashing waves, which is a dangerous comparison for any bar to invite. Mementos did not embarrass itself.

You travel up to a high point overlooking the resort, where dim lighting, sweeping night views and live Hindi music change the mood completely. The singer sits on a rock-like perch with the property glowing below. It is dramatic without trying too hard, romantic without getting cheesy, and easily the highlight of our stay. The cocktails were excellent. The food selection could have been better, but we were there for the setting and the music. We spent 7:30 to 9:30 PM at Rock Bar on both evenings, which tells you everything.

Kebabs & Kurries: The Dinner That Sealed It

From Rock Bar we headed straight to Kebabs & Kurries, and this is where the food story changed completely. The meal was outstanding. We hit it off with Chef Nikhil Merchant, who spent a generous amount of time talking food with us and sharing a few stories from Rashmika and Vijay's wedding. For two Hyderabad visitors who had arrived partly because of that connection, it was exactly the dinner conversation we had secretly hoped for.

The galauti kebabs were among the best we have eaten, made for us by Chef Muzaffar Raza Qureshi, who we were told is a fourth-generation member of the Qureshi family associated with Lucknow's legendary Tunday kebabs. The texture, spice and richness were spot on. And then the team kept feeding us. Over the next couple of days, galautis, biryani, chicken starters, gulab jamuns and more arrived on the house. The warmth felt personal rather than scripted.

We had arrived noticing every missing detail. We left remembering the people who made up for them.

Checkout and the Airport Ride: Two More Characters

By checkout, the property had grown on us. Ashfaq from the front office handled everything quickly but still found time to swap travel stories about his stint at The Ritz-Carlton Koh Samui, where we had stayed the previous year. The team also gave us a parting gift, which was a very sweet and unexpectedly warm end to the stay.

Mementos saved one last character for the finale: Mr Dileepji, our celebrity chauffeur for the airport drop included in the package. The one-hour drive flew by as he told us story after story from weddings and celebrity stays at Raffles, Fairmont, Taj, ITC and other luxury hotels where he had worked, including the Rashmika-Vijay celebrations, where he had been assigned as a celebrity chauffeur. Forget an airport transfer. This was a private podcast episode with wheels. 😂

Final Verdict: A Rough Start, a Strong Finish

Mementos Ekaaya did not win us over immediately. The invisible lake, the butler who vanished before he existed, activities nobody explained to us and a disappointing breakfast all stood out, especially after Fairmont. But somewhere between the galauti kebabs and the second night at Rock Bar, we realised we were having a very good time.

Would we return? Yes, but with 15 to 20 family members, full clarity on which activities cost extra, and perhaps a pair of binoculars to locate that lake. 😄