Hotel The Dera Kumbhalgarh

Running a hotel in Kumbhalgarh is mostly about keeping the rooms ready and making sure the kitchen has enough supplies for the week. We are located over in Kelwara, not too far from the main sights that people come to see. It’s a family-style operation here at The Dera. Some mornings are very early because guests want to head out before it gets too hot in the afternoon. We spend a lot of time checking linens and making sure the water is running right in every bathroom. It’s an old-fashioned kind of job, really. We see travelers from all over, some staying for just a night and others hanging around much longer. The building needs constant attention because of the dust and the weather out here in the hills. We don't have a fancy front desk with a hundred people, just a small crew that does everything. Sometimes the internet is slow or a lightbulb flickers, and we just go fix it as soon as someone mentions it to us. Food is simple, the kind of stuff we eat ourselves in our own homes. It gets loud when a big group arrives, then goes completely silent once they leave for the fort. We stay here through all the seasons, even when it’s quiet and there are no tourists around. It's a lot of work keeping a place like this going, but we like being in Kelwara. It feels like home to us, and we just share that space with whoever is passing through the area.