Aurika Udaipur: An opulent MICE and Wedding destination
The first of Lemon Tree’s luxury hotels, Aurika Udaipur, is located on an undulating hilltop. Away from the hustle and bustle of Udaipur, but still a comfortable distance from all that the city has to offer. The regal decor and design, complemented by state-of-the-art facilities, versatile seating arrangements, and thematic menus, make this one of Udaipur’s best event and wedding venues. Sameer Singh, Senior Vice President, Operations, Lemon Tree Hotels, tells us more about the magnificent resort’s forte in the MICE offerings.
Sitting atop its hill, Aurika Udaipur is spread across five acres with grand courtyards, terraced gardens, and ornately gilded interiors. The resort has four blocks, including three room blocks and a public block with Mirasa – the all-day dining restaurant, Ariva – the bar, and extensive banquet facilities, including the ballroom and adjacent courtyard, the boardroom, multiple outdoor terraces, and recreational facilities including Araya – the spa, the fitness center, the outdoor swimming pool, the Library and the Rumpus Room for the tinier guests.
The 139 aesthetically designed rooms and suites offer unparalleled views of this picturesque city’s rolling hills and scenic Aravalli hills and lakes. Moreover, Aurika Udaipur is the only resort in Udaipur with a complete Maharaj kitchen where guests can enjoy preferential meals curated by their personal Maharaj. The hotel’s strategic location places it close to major sightseeing destinations in the city, including City Palace, Jagmandir, Saheliyon ki Bari, Bagore ki Haveli, Jagdish Temple, and the Vintage Car Museum, amongst others. The beautiful Sajjangarh Monsoon Palace is visible from the rooms and public areas and is a short drive from the hotel.
From a MICE infrastructure point of view, Sameer said, “There is over 22,000 sq. ft. of banquet and meeting space at the resort, including the ballroom, Ekaara, the Ekaara Courtyard, and the boardroom, Aurum.
The large pillar-less ballroom, Ekaara, is connected to a 1500 sq. ft. pre-function area and adjacent to the ballroom is the Ekaara Courtyard, which can be accessed either through the ballroom or directly from the main porch. Ekaara and Ekaara Courtyard can be combined to cater to single events or can function independently. The boardroom, Aurum, with its adjoining 1000 sq. ft. terrace, is the perfect venue for smaller meetings and conferences. Aurika Udaipur offers extensive banqueting and unique dining spaces for all manner of celebrations and events, from the grandeur of a royal destination wedding, to the intimacy of a private candlelit dinner under the stars.”
The resort also offers many unique venues for exclusive experiences and private events, including Amritbagh, Suryabagh, Chandbagh, Paheli Bagh, and The Baoli. These scenic venues, spread across the resort, are just right for those intimate occasions. From greeting the dawn with sunrise breakfasts to champagne toasts and sundown canapés at dusk, from romantic candlelit dinners to toasty barbecues with friends, their chefs are always at service to craft unusual experiences and create lasting memories.
Aurika Udaipur has been witnessing an increase in demand in MICE queries, especially in the last few months, and they are expecting a further escalation in the upcoming months with ease in COVID restrictions. Sameer further assures, “We are well prepared to host all manner of events and weddings. In our continued effort to provide a clean, comfortable and safe stay every time a guest visits us, we also remain as committed as ever to our Rest Assured initiative. We have extensively researched, benchmarked, and implemented stringent cleanliness, sanitisation, and social distancing protocols across all our properties, in India and abroad.”
Companies across all industries are gearing up for in-person engagements amid the easing of restrictions and reopening of global travel; conferences, seminars, corporate off-sites, and events are picking up pace, which were on hold for the last two years.
“In the last few years, the hospitality industry has gone through many ups and downs and is now in a phase of recovery and growth. We expect demand for MICE, fundamentally meetings and conferences, and weddings to see substantial growth this year. Since Udaipur is a very well-known wedding market, Aurika Udaipur was designed with expansive banquet and meeting spaces and many outdoor venues to cater to this demand. As global travel resumes, most destinations are betting on a faster revival of MICE and Bleisure tourism this year and since the potential of the Indian MICE market is huge, we are consistently leveraging our position as a MICE destination in both domestic and international markets,” concludes Sameer.