Jaislamer - great experience, great place

My fiance and I have recently arrived back from a great 7 week round the world trip and would like to provide some tips on Rajastan: Jaipur is often described as dirty, hard capital city etc but we found it a lovely city and quite cosmopolitan.. we also got some very good Indian emerging art there from the warehouse listed in the LP. Also highly recommend Atithi Guest House. Another highlight was Jaislamer and our stay at the two bed Monsoon Palace. This was a very elegant and well run 2 room hotel inside the fort - Babu looked after us and made great chai every morning on the small rooftop balcony. Just the two of us stayed there, but I think it would be ideal for a foursome. The owners are Jitu and Fifu (brothers), ably assisted by their charming and caring father - a well regarded former Professor and Guide to the town. These brothers went over and above the call of hospitality, organising a fairly priced (and fully guided) camal safari, looking after us fully in our stay, and inviting us to their other (larger) hotel, Fifu's Guesthouse. Fifu and Jitu are locally raised, and care about their city. After seeing Fifu's Guesthouse (which is outside the fort), being treated to their hospitality on the rooftop, and hearing about the degradation of the fort, my fiance and I will choose to stay at Fifu's next time, because it is outside the Fort. If you do want the fort experience (and it is magical) then go to Moonson. Happy also to advise on the art we bought if other people are looking in the way of art.

Most interesting that the day after someone writes a very scathing comment about the Fifu guest house, a glowing report appears and from someone who has only 1 previous posting in the last 2 years...

I smell a tout.

Z.

Zoltan, your sense of smell is quite good.

These guys are the ultimate con-artists; indeed, they conned me for quite some time, so much so that I stayed there several weeks and learned quite a lot about the inner workings.

The lies begin with the fact that Fifu and Jitu are not brothers (not a huge lie in India except when it's used as such a marketing tool). Fifu's father is indeed a former Professor; Jitu comes from a family of tradesmen, plumbers in particular. The lies continue on to many more serious offences, including the fact that his expertise in web use was spurred by the fact he bought a laptop computer from funds from a European NGO which were funneled through the Guest House in order to build a school in a nearby village. The justification was that a laptop was needed for 'bookkeeping'. I've seen the school, which is lovely, but I don't even think it has electricity. A laptop is hardly a priority for it.

Fifu admitted to me that he uses this site to post his own reviews (I also find it a bit suspicious he's ranked #1 on Trip Advisor with taglines straight from his website), and even asked how long I'd been a Thorntree member and if I would post for him, as his posts were often uncovered as frauds.

The place itself is quite nice and peaceful on the surface, but if you're looking to support and ethical and honest operation, I'd suggest you look elsewhere.

Happy travels!