My Stay At The Best Home Stay in India : Victorian Verandaz.
Just before finalizing my trip to Karnataka I had a very brief chat with one of my fellow Travel blogger Anuradha Shankar of A wandering mind. She was the one who had suggested me to stay in a Coffee Estate if I am visiting Madikeri, to put it in exact words I am adding her suggestion “If u havent settled on a place to stay in coorg, stay at a plantation its beautiful and u can take some nice walks. lots of trails adn stuff.. less crowded too “. It was her suggestion which altogether changed my whole trip, in a very best-est of sense. Next thing for me was to search for a Coffee Estate who offers Home Stay as well. After reading lot of Articles I ended up deciding for Victorian Verandaz. Though still confirmation for them was required which I got later on after one or two calls. Read More
It was the month of october when Phialin cyclone was going to arrive at Andhra pradesh and Odisha , every thing and every one was in a state of shock whats going to Happen ? But thanks to the Government authorities whose hard work and pre evacuation programme saved many a lives. I dedicate this blog of mine to all those who suffered and to the Government Authorities.
I was suppose to visit Puri in Odisha for a 3 day holiday with my wife in November , Thanks to The Hans Coco Palms. Things were bit different now , situations had changed and so was mood of my family thanks to Phialin. I had to enquire to The Hans Coco Palm staff about the situations there , and they told me it was all perfect now , Phialin was going to struck Gopalpur district and Puri is somewhere around 250 Km away from there , though it had given some heavy showers there but rest of all was perfectly fine.
Me and wife took an afternoon flight to Bhubhaneshwar , we reached there by 5.30pm in the evening , The Hans Coco Palms driver was waiting there for us with a placard in hand , though it has happened with me before also but this time it was very different , Now below my name My Greedy Backpack was added…. Wow…
We were going to travel some 2 hrs more on road to reach Puri from Bhubhaneshwar , day was becoming very tiring , thanks to the two and half hour flight.
Trust me , flying now a days has seriously started to take away all my mood , i still remember when i sat in a flight for first time when i was a kid it was such a joy.
Sometimes i even think ” Whether i have become too tall or they have shrunk the plane way too much , but suddenly one thing comes in my mind that my dad used to sit very comfortably with a very nice leg room and i am not that much taller than him , it gives me my answer that they have shrunk a lot “.
My room at The Hans Coco Palms
Whatever i used to think , that was a secondary thing now primary thing for me was now to have a hot water shower , i knew only that could ease me a bit but for that first to reach was The Hans Coco Palms.
Atlast after two and a half hour drive we were at The Hans Coco Palms , time to check in.
They had given me the Suit room , and just a glimpse of it had taken half of tiredness away from me. But i would accept, my wife was more happy and seeing her like this , suddenly she was looking like my 4 yr old niece as she almost imitated her in her movements.
After a hot water shower, we thought of going outside but after a suggestion from Hotel staff we prefered to roam around the hotel swimming pool only , we wanted to relax a bit before having dinner.
Candle Light Dinner at The Hans Coco Palms
After relaxing a bit and taking some pics of swimming pool , now was the time to sit and eat. We wanted to have dinner outside at the pool side , as i could feel not a single mosquito was troubling me and i was loving the cool breeze coming from the sea , sea was roaring like a lion , amazing music to hear.
I just walked in to the restaurant and asked them if i could have dinner at pool side ? Thanks to Mr. Niranjan to whom i talked that time for Dinner outside , he said Yes , and trust me i think it took less than a minute for them to arrange a candle lit table for us on the pool side.
Dinner was ordered , just simple food , appetite had gone down due to tiredness.
All the time one waiter was standing right next to us , the time when food had not come while we were eating and even after we were finished , i had to tell him i am over and now i wont be needing anything so you can rest boss, then he left wishing us goodnight.
We sat there for some more time , i was loving the roar of sea , may be i couldnt see the tiger at Sariska National park recently thats why i wanted to suffice myself with roar of sea only.
Swimming pool at The Hans Coco Palm
Next day , early morning at 7.00 am i got up , please dont laugh, for a tired man sometimes its early morning.
I could feel the mist in air , it was bit foggy outside, sea had lowered its high pitch. I went for a little walk to the swimming pool , it was bit dark when we had reached to the The Hans Coco Palms , so till now i had not seen the whole resort even.
I had never guessed ever in my life , that morning would be so pleasant walking at that pool side feeling the mist in air.
The Hans Coco Palm
Then came the right time , when i could see The Hans Coco Palms resorts full wide angle view, it was awesome. Sorry for Blurred image , my greedy camera was tired and his soul was in the charging mode.
Sea right in front of my room
After some hours , when sun was out and we were ready to move out towards Jagannath Temple , i came out to the balcony of my room , this awesome view was in front of my eyes. Sea was just in front of me , i could feel the waves coming towards me like they are calling me.
This is the best part of The Hans Coco Palms , all the rooms on first floor has sea view and all the ground floor one;s have swimming pool view. Water water everywhere and the eye soothing greenery , The Hans Coco Palms has been receiving the best green resort award in Odisha from some years and the proof was in front of me.
This Beach belongs to Us … aka .. The Hans
How could i deny the call of beach , we went for a bath as its considered sacred to go for Jagannath Temple after taking the bath at Puri beach.
I would say , it was the cleanest beach i have ever seen , compare it with any other beach of India , so far i found it to be the cleanest off , and i am not talking of the private beach area of The Hans Coco Palm only , the whole stretch is very neat and clean.
We went on towards Jagannath Temple , sorry i had not taken any pics of that as camera is not allowed there and didnt wanted to cheat Lord Krishna.
Just went through the archives of my blog and came to know that I forgot to include the best stay I have ever had in my resent concluded Rajasthan tour. Heritage Mandawa , more than a century old haveli now turned into a Heritage hotel. I happen to stay here on my Mandawa visit.
What else i could have expected in my life , day long journey coming from Bikaner travelling around 300 Km in some 6-7 hrs , knees had been paining without finding much of stretch for them , tired of sitting on a seat and last one hour was too bumpy , i was just looking for nice stay to spend my night and start again rejuvenated the next day. Gave a call to my brother and he arranged a stay for me at Heritage Mandawa , thanks for their prompt response.
Maiden visit to Mandawa and so to Heritage Mandawa , had heard a lot from my brother who had been here on a family trip a year back.
My driver had told me a bit about this hotel , it was once a haveli of a Marwari family from Rajasthan , built somewhere around 1860. Some years back it was turned into a Heritage Hotel.
We checked in to our room and for the first time my wife came with response on first look ” Aaaahhh its Awesome ” , bell boy smiling and staring at her and i staring and smiling seeing bell boys look watching my wife clicking the pics from her cell phone and giggling again and again ” wow , its wow this is the best “.
Wish i could have spent some more time at Mandawa and Heritage Mandawa too , but no worries at all i know i am again going to visit them.
Next day we had to check out , they had arranged special Indian breakfast for us as most of other guest’s were foreigners and they were happy with Banana , cornflakes and black tea. Specially for us Heritage Mandawa staff arranged Parantha’s , cheese omlette and toast and all of it was amazing.
It was the checking out time but something was still left , my brother had told that they have renovated two rooms , and had told me to have a look to them.
One of that room was Sheesh Mahal or can say a room decorated with glasses. As soon as i had entered into it , i was getting a feeling like i have come to a set of some old bollywood movie like Mughal – e – Azam.
Just walk into the tiniest of stairs i have ever seen and you enter into this lounge area of Sheesh Mahal , maybe those stairs date back to that time when this Haveli was built and that time stairs width was kept to minimum.
Next to enter was the Kamra – e – Nakkashi ( Painting room ) or if i be too specific it was the room decorated with Frescoes all over it , not an inch left.
Truely it was one of those unexpected things which happened to me on this Rajasthan tour of mine.
Truely and amazing place to stay , if anybody visiting Mandawa i would strongly recommend Heritage Mandawa.
Looking for a tour whether a week long or a day long one main thing to keep in mind is to think where i would be spending my night. On my latest trip to Bhangarh fort and Sariska National Park same thing was going in my mind, after a long search and enquiring some i finally decided to be staying Alwar Bagh near Sariska National Park. It was the first time i would be staying in this resort but my brother had been there before on a official trip , it was he only who suggested me this resort.
Next thing was to ask for the fare , and thankfully it was the first time when i resorted to online travel portal TRAVELGURU for this , they offered me lesser amount than any other travel agent i asked or even directly asking the Alwar Bagh Resort.
Alwar Bagh Resort
We had booked two Deluxe rooms there and it was the time to check in.
Here , the best part starts which impressed me the most.
We were made to check in to our rooms , but somehow for the first time i was acting bit fussy about the rooms interior , though i have stayed in the very normal and infact being more specific much lesser budget hotels but dont know why i was not impressed by the room which they gave me for first time.
I wont say that room had some problem , it was something which i think i realised that day , i was having some problem with the Rugged look they had given to their furniture , paint of the furniture was done in that way that it looked like and gave an unfinished look.
I called the reception and told my problem , they told me to wait for just 5 minute and let us check the availability of any other room in which they could shift me. They offered me another room and it was a surprise and the most impressive thing for me , they had given me the Super Deluxe Room.
Best Part of staying at Alwar Bagh …
This new room was double the size of my previous room , previous room dint had a mini bar and sofa but this one had the perfect couch. Previous room had just one window and this one was loaded with 5 windows , all facing towards the Amla farms of resort owner.
Amla farm view just outside my room window
It was a much delight for my eyes , watching a farm of Amla , tree’s fully loaded and i would surely accept that plucked some as well as a souvenir.
Owners Haveli just adjacent to Resort
Owner of Alwar Bagh Resort lives in resort only in their big haveli , early morning Chauhan Family sitting in their open area sipping tea , having conversation with the tourist giving a feel of home away from home , being very courteous and looking after the needs of the guest.
Kunwar Aditya Singh Chauhan
What a surprise it would be when a small kid comes to you and asks you about your stay , where you from ? what you have seen till now in Alwar.
Me and my wife were clicking some pictures of the garden area , suddenly from the back came a labrador dog and one loud kiddish toned voice following him ” Dont get scared , he only loves , he doesnt bite ” .
A small kid coming towards us , said hello and on the next instant he was in my wife’s lap asking her about from whe she came ? Is she Scared of dogs ? Did she went to Bhangarh ? Watched tiger at Sariska ?
He was shooting questions dint even waiting for answers and i was just smiling. Then i asked him what his name ? came the reply K. Aditya Singh Chauhan.
It was a kiddish tone , his accent was not clear so i had to twice or thrice i think. I was not understanding the meaning of K in the name. Then my wife asked him his full name and he replied bit angrily but smiling as well ” Ufffff Dont you understand in one time , Arre Baba its Kunwar Aditya Singh Chauhan ” .
Then he moved on with his dog after giving a kiss on my wife’s cheek. Though we met him again when we checked out , he was doing drawings sitting on the reception of resort.
We were heading back towards New Delhi , but i would say the gesture of Alwar Bagh staff , the way understood my fussyness towards the room and upgrading my room to Super Deluxe Room and the meeting with Kunwar Aditya Singh Chauhan , were those things which i had experienced for first time , totally impressed with Alwar Bagh.
Though pricing of food is on a bit higher side , but looking at a situation where there is no restaurant or any food joint nearby that pricing seemed bit fine.
I would totally recommend Alwar Bagh Resort if anybody going to Bhangarh fort or Sariska National Park.
I had heard of this resort some time back , and that time only it was added in my bucket list. On this trip to Jaipur i was going to visit it just to do the Reiki of the resort.
Just 1hr Before Jaipur , not far that it cant be stayed when visiting Jaipur , Its location gives it a feasibility that one who is on the trip to Jaipur and want to live in Different Luxurious Resort then he can choose this. Yes , I would rate it as a Different Luxurious Resort , though there are many luxury resorts and haveli’s in Jaipur but it has got a edge above all.
Barren Land just before the Resort
Travelling just 0.9 km down the lane from the New Delhi – Jaipur highway and taking a off road crossing these barren land , i was bit confused whether i am going right but the sign boards were guiding me and i was moving forward leaving my confusion aside. Little bit of Rain had added some green colour to the picture otherwise it had been the typical Rajasthan brown shade which would have been giving it a proper barren look.
After some 1 km happen to see the guard sitting, and stopping us for the entry . Still there was no sign the resort , he guided us and told just to go straight but keep your car speed below 30km/h . It surprised me more , what am i going to find in this place which would come in my way.
Tree House , Bamboo covered entrance of the Resort.
Atlast after some 10min i was in front of this great , beautifull mansion style made hut. It was the entrance of the Resort. Well decorated , bamboo’s giving it a all together different feel.
On the Entrance this piece of wood shaped like a boat camouflaging small plants in it had given the signs that i was about to visit something which is going to surprise me in every sense.
Going for a walk with the Staff
They had arranged one staff member for us to take us for a long walk . Yes , it had become a long walk after we had returned as i was tired , this resort is awesomely huge and beautiful.
Tree House
Tree House
Atlast i was in the actual Tree House for which his name has been coined. Tree coming in from the floor and passing through the roof , just on your side of bed you will see a tree passing and this was something amazing. Have seen tree houses at many places and in sanctuaries it is very common but this something very different , air conditioned room with bathroom attached with all the best of facilities available.
Though walking on a wooden floor always gives a risky feeling but here it was not a issue , a whole flat or can say 6 separate deluxe rooms have been settled on well set group of some 4-5 tree’s and bamboo shoots giving them support as well from the down.
Name of the apartment
Every apartment has been named after different species of bird. As was told some 24 species of birds can been seen here. Tree house has been built on such a height that you just have too sit on your room window and the whole tree is below the window and one can easily see the flora and fauna of the resort. One can never even imagine that they are staying in a place which almost in the middle of barren land of Aravali’s.
Rabbits at tree house
Saw these Rabbits when we stepped out and came down from the room. They even have duck pond and peacocks and hyena sound is very easily heard in the mornings.
Dirt Bikes
Keeping the activities section in Mind tree house management has got Dirt bikes and cycle safari for the visitors. A separate sports area having badminton and tennis court was there , very nicely designed soothing swimming pool and in the end they provide Jungle Safari also.
On asking they claim if your luck favours and the season is right then one can see leapord also in the jungle safari. But a claim is just a claim unless it is proven right so i would say this is what they claim , proving it right is in visitors hand.
An extremely well thought designed and well maintained resort. Any one visiting Jaipur or nearby , its the best place to stay if one wants to stay in luxury style being not far from the main Jaipur city .
For query regarding availability and rates CLICK HERE
