Narain Niwas was built in the 1928 by General Amar Singh, Thakur of Kanota, Commander of the Jaipur State Forces and confidant of the then Maharaja, Sawai Man singh. General Amar Singh was the grandson of Thakur Zorawar Singh, founder of the Kanota family. Thakur Shivnath singh, (General Amar Singhji's brother) supervised the actual construction. The new mansion was named after their father. Thakur Narain Singh, who had been Chief of police in Jaipur State as well as a minister at the neighboring princely state of Alwar. Narain Niwas was a country residence to which Amar Singh could withdraw when he wanted a change from his busy administrative and court life, and from the cares of the Kanota family's Haveli within the walled city. Like other noblemen of old Jaipur State, he built his "garden house in the vicinity of Rambagh, the pleasure garden and palace whose construction was begun in the 19th century by Maharaja Ram Singh (1835-1880). Until world was II, Narain Niwas surrounded by jungle where Amar Singh could go for pig sticking (hunting with boar), to shoot game birds, and to hunt black buck and the occasional panther.

Amar Singh's reputation as a soldier, administrator and a sports man is exceeded by his reputation as a diarist. His diary, kept in English for 44 years, from 1898 to 1942, in 89 folio volumes, 800 pages per volume, provides and unparalleled ethnographic account of Rajput life in princely India in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Visitors can now enjoy traditional rajput hospitality at Narain Niwas Palace Hotel Jaipur. This property is being run as a Heritage Hotel by the Kanota Family.

Care has been taken to maintain the traditional furniture and decoration to provide an unforgettable Rajasthani experience to the visitors.