Udaipur Lake Palace Hotel dining "inexpensively"?

Is there an inexpensive way to see the Lake Palace Hotel for photographing - perhaps, a “cheap” buffet lunch? drink[s] at the bar? How can one get on their boat to get there without it costing an arm and a leg? Or is what LP describes as “the ultimate dining experience” worth an arm and a leg? And, how much is that anyway??

my approach to "getting in" to luxury hotels: afternoon tea! don't cost an arma and a leg and you get to experience a great service and the inside of the hotel also can spend as much time as you want, or as your teapot lasts...

almost all British hotels or from former colonies have afternoon teas

almost all British hotels or from former colonies have afternoon teas

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Lol its such a stereotype as well!!!! lol lol

Good idea though volga.

The lake Palace is one of the most expensive Palace/hotels in INDIA, so you will not find the cheapest of lunches. However, you can certainly go to the Lake PALACE for lunch or dinner buffet, and it will not cost you and arm and a leg, rather something like $25-$32 per person, lunch/dinner(without drinks)I do not remeber exactly, but a ball park..Of course this is very expensive for a lunch/dinner per person iNDIAN standards, but it would be safe to say one spends this quite easily in the west, so the choice is yours, so i think it is less then a arm or a leg....About the boat, well a few things..If you have reservations at one of the lake palace resturuants for lunch/dinner, u can take the private lake palace boat from the boat landing acrosss from the palace gratis.most likely ur names would be listed there..OR ELSE, if you are not a guest or have reseravtions, u can hire the private boat for a swirl, but that is quite costly!...The best way to go for lunch/dinner, actually the only way is to make reservations beforheand.!! .do not just show up at the boat landing or simply stroll into the hotel in season, as the place is very busy, and first priority always goes to the guests..i would suggest to plan this out a bit in advance, and have guarentted reseravations at the resturant of your choice, there are actually two. The buffet is fine as buffets go, but the best food will be found a la carte, for a price.......a tip**, if ya want to go, when u arrive in UDAipur, jaipur, or wherever in the region, have someone call up the lake palace hotel for you and make you lunch/dinner reservations and see what is avaialble....the most economical will be the buffet, so find out the timings and what is open and the going price... Generally speaking, reservations are only accepted for non-guests if there is space in hotel/resturants, so the earlier the better, and things looks to be mighty busy this seaon. ...About this being the best dining experince in INDIA, as said by LONLEY PLANET, well, that is one persons opionion, or two, or three...Yes, it is a beautiful, historic, and fascinating Hotel, and the location is breathtaking, and the food, well, it can be hit or miss, but the atmosphere and the beauty, and the once in a lifetime experince of dining in a PALACE on a lAKE in UDAIPUR at a property owned by the MAHARANA of UDAIPUR/MEWAR, Shriji, wellll, that is a once in a lifetime experince!..and of course, if you go for lunch or dinner, u get the free boat shuttle, and yes, u can take ur camera and carouse around the premise and even have a drink in the lounge,.,U might even run into the royalty..however, everyone has differnt opinions of what is the most breathtaking defining moment/ultimate dining experince of a INDIAN trip!!..for some it is a simple meal out in a desert by camp-fire under the moonlight and amongst the endless sand dunes of the Thar desert, for others it can be a lavish meal at a Indian wedding, or even the ultimate may be a simple meal at a local dhaba with the everyday Indian folk, eating with your fingers, and taking in all of India in the most basic and simple ways one thing is certain, on a trip to INDIA, u will have many memorable and not so memorable meals, but it is the experinces that will define the journey........ .hard to say..take care, happy travels