The perfect Rajastani homestay
Rebecca Hawkins wrote a review Feb 2023
We stayed at Dev Shree for a week at the end of October 2022. I had stayed there before in 2018 and thought that it would be the perfect place to introduce our children to India. It surpassed expectations. Shatrun and Bhavna have created the most beautiful paradise on the edge of Deogarh which is a small rural archetypal town brimming full of Indian charm. Its situation makes it a perfect place to dip into the intensity of an Indian street and then retreat for some peace, which was really brilliant with a youngish family. Dev Shree is set in beautiful palm fringed grounds on the edge of a lake (which was sadly dry when we visited due to drought) but the bird life is glorious and there is an idyllic pool in the shade of some of the Palm trees which is unheated, (and surprisingly Refreshing!), so perfect for cooling off after wandering around in the heat of town. The children were in the pool the whole time, and its a relaxing space to lie with a book or have a massage. Bhavna, Shatrun and Bhrigu were completely wonderful with our children who were 7, 11 and 13. Bhrigu helped taught them how to light camp fires from stones and sticks during sundowner drives, and set up a rifle target range with balloons on my youngest daughters birthday! They made a delicious cake and lit fireworks for her. Our stay also co-incided with the festival of Diwali so the following night we all gathered on the roof to set off fireworks and watch them going off in town. We were ALL amazed by the power of an Indian banger!! The house and gardens were the perfect setting for chilling between activities, whether painting, playing cards, reading or swimming.
The town itself is easy to wander round unhindered although its worth having a guide the first time as there are a lot of little pockets of interest down the back streets that you might not find otherwise. Deogarh is a perfect place to wander round with the children,- lots of cows and buffaloes wondering the streets and very little hassle, although because the girls are both blonde, there was lots of friendly interest and opportunitities to interact with the local people. Everyone is very friendly and the girls loved all of the bangle shops and bought Saris, and my son and husband had very good haircuts with the barber! There are no other real options for eating and drinking within the town so Dev Shree is very much a destination home stay. We went on 2 wonderful india train rides which the children loved most of all because they could sit on the edge of the door way with their feet hanging out, and the train was invaded by monkeys at one of the stops which the children thought was the best thing ever! Its a great way to interact with and chat to local people with a guide too. We were super lucky and saw 6 leapards over 3 sundowner drives - this is very rare so no-one should expect to see this all the time, but we saw a mother and her two cubs in the dusk which the children were obviously thrilled by. Evenings of jeep drives take you into the countryside around and give you a glimpse of rural life in Rajasthan, as well as glimpses of birds and wildlife. Bhavna and Shatrun are very good at catering for children who aren’t up for the usual Indian spice and went out of their way to make pizza on a couple of the evenings. Breakfast were a real treat with pancakes and delicious Masala omelettes.
Dev Shree has big airy comfortable bedrooms with roomy en-suite bathrooms. It is however a functioning home so there’s a plethora of dogs around, who my children loved, and meals are taken at one long table in the dining room which is great as over the week we got to see a lot of guests come and go, and had a lot of interesting conversations.
If you are looking for comfortable peace and tranquility within a rural authentic Indian stately house and setting, this is your place - thank you Shatrun and Bhavna for being so welcoming and bending over backwards to give us a completely magical and unforgettable week.
Date of stay: October 2022
Room Tip: As with all travel in india, bring earplugs in case there is a wedding or festival or dogs...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.