Villa Palladio, a new Boutique Hotel in Jaipur that suddenly transports you into a dream: An atmosphere of beauty, perfection & surprise. The founder Barbara Miolini and interior designer Marie-Anne Oudejans are the duo behind the picturesque Villa Palladio. They created this nine bedroom Boutique Hotel to take you on a brief departure from reality into an imaginative fantasy. The atmosphere, the spaces, the location, the details they all work to craft a feeling of stepping into a floating world.
IRMA: What makes you dream at Villa Palladio Jaipur?
BARBARA MIOLINI: We are really nestled in the countryside, at the foot of two hills and on the banks of a lake. I think Villa Palladio looks most beautiful in the night, as the sunsets and the gardens are bathed in pink. Or when the lamps are lit and the walls seem to dance in the silence of the night. There is quiet, there is beauty and the property always feels like a private home. So there really is so much material for a good dream.
IRMA: Your signature colour is bright red, please tell me about this colour choice?
BARBARA MIOLINI: Each of our colours arrive by a beautiful coincidence. It was not a conscious choice initially, however, red kept on returning and all these beautiful reds everywhere. Once you open your eye to a certain colour you cannot stop seeing it everywhere. Red was like that for me and Marie Anne Oudejans, the designer I have collaborated with for this project. The more we began dreaming of Villa Palladio the more we became certain that red was the only story we could tell.
IRMA: Every corner of the hotel looks like something out of a Wes Anderson film or simply a modern interpretation of Jaipur in the 21st century. What was the original idea to create a hotel in Jaipur?
BARBARA MIOLINI: I wanted to create a hotel that felt like a home. That was wild and wonderful, but intimate and homely. I have always imagined it as a countryside home of a favourite aunt or fairy godmother. I wanted that there was a feeling of excitement, surprise and secrecy. Hotels are often too big or too grand and I knew Villa Palladio should feel like a home.
IRMA: Tell me something about the perfect leisure time at Villa Palladio?
BARBARA MIOLINI: Waking up late with tea served in bed. Opening the windows (winter is such a beautiful time of year in Jaipur) putting on our gorgeous block printed robes and walking upstairs to breakfast. The breakfast veranda is a Mughal fairy-tale. Laid out on the table are so many gorgeous pastries and delicious cakes. Sitting and starting the day with a two-hour breakfast. That is the start to a perfect day in my opinion. Lounging by the pool and a massage in the afternoon.
IRMA: Do you offer special retreats or programs at the hotel? If so tell us something about your signature one.
BARBARA MIOLINI: We are lucky that the hotel is situated at the border of two leopard sanctuaries, so we are able to offer wildlife safari and guests have spotted leopards each time! This imagine in a hotel only 30 minutes outside of Jaipur and there are leopards nearby.
IRMA: Which dish or menu may I look forward to when traveling to Villa Palladio?
BARBARA MIOLINI: Our breakfast is really something so extravagant. I spent months perfecting each and every detail from the eggs, to the muesli ,to the breakfast cakes and croissants. I wanted that breakfast was what gave guests the fuel to explore Jaipur or a reason to stay in at home. It is just such a beautiful spread.
IRMA: Anything I should bring back home from Jaipur which I will not find anywhere else?
BARBARA MIOLINI: This is the city of gems and jewellery. And there are treasures waiting in Johari bazaar that are beyond your wildest imagination.
IRMA: Which book or movie gets me in the traveling mood for Villa Palladio?
BARBARA MIOLINI: Anna Karenina is the perfect novel.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & her Lover is a lovely movie for its scale and grandiosity
In the Mood For Love for its sensuality and aching beauty.
IRMA: Staying at Villa Palladio seems like a movable feast. Which is the fondest memory I will bring back home regarding the interior world.
BARBARA MIOLINI: I think you will find the red to be so seductive, but never overwhelming. There are so many different rooms and so many different motifs and patterns and thing to discover. I believe our guests feel like children when the reach, wanting to explore and see and dream in each corner.