Balaram Palace Resort takes business meetings, conferences of up to 75 people theater-style, team-building days, product launches and destination weddings with accommodation for 110 guests. Lawns and gardens host the larger outdoor functions, and day groups of up to 200 are accepted. The resort occupies the former hunting palace of the Nawabs of Palanpur at Chitrasani, in Banaskantha district in the north of Gujarat, close to the Rajasthan border.
Seminars and company events
The resort sells half-day and full-day conference packages to companies. Meeting venues include a Big Conference Hall and a Small Conference Hall, as well as three garden sites that can be booked for sessions or functions: the Mughal Garden, the Crocodile Garden and the Helipad Garden. The main air-conditioned conference hall seats 75 theater-style or 30 in a U-shape and comes with a projector, screen, whiteboard and cloakroom; further audiovisual equipment can be added. Business meetings, team-building exercises and product launches are all on the list. For outdoor team activities, the forest setting allows nature walks, trekking, birdwatching and village visits, and camel cart rides, horse riding and pottery can be arranged on request.
Weddings and receptions
Destination weddings are a large part of the business. The wedding package includes one night of accommodation for 110 people and the use of one lawn, with catering and decoration arranged separately. The resort also offers a pre-wedding package for photo shoots, with outdoor locations and a changing area, and hosts family gatherings. Film and television crews have used the palace as a location.
Rooms and capacities
The main conference hall seats 75 theater-style and 30 in a U-shape. The resort lists a Big Conference Hall, a Small Conference Hall, the Mughal Garden, the Crocodile Garden and the Helipad Garden as event venues, and describes its lawns as very large. Capacities for the gardens are not published, so the team confirms numbers for each function. Day groups are accepted from 25 to 200 people.
Accommodation
The resort does not publish its number of rooms, but its wedding package covers 110 guests for one night. Facilities include a swimming pool, a health club and a children's play area, which helps when families travel with a wedding party.
Catering
The resort has its own restaurant and caters for groups on site. Day packages include breakfast, lunch, high tea and dinner, and wedding catering is quoted separately from the accommodation.
History and setting
The palace was built between 1922 and 1936 by the 29th ruler of Palanpur as a hunting retreat for the Lohani Nawabs. Its architecture combines neo-classical and baroque elements. The estate lies in the Aravalli hills, within the Balaram Ambaji forest reserve, a protected area of 542 square kilometers along the border with Rajasthan. A helipad is on site.
Getting there
The resort is off the Abu-Palanpur highway (NH 27), about 35 km from Kadi Circle. Palanpur, on the main railway line between Ahmedabad and Delhi, is the nearest town with a station. Ahmedabad has the nearest international airport, a few hours away by road.
