After researching(read it as googling) quite a lot about all available resorts in Kodai, I zeroed down on this resort for our much awaited Dasara vacation!Though there were many conflicting reviews about this resort on the web(Mouthshut, Trip Advisor, travelmasti, oktatabyebye etc), I chose this resort over others and I am glad that I made a right choice & would like to share my holiday experience whilst I stayed in this property!
All my queries on availability was promptly answered by their Chennai office, and after speaking to their Customer care Manager Ms Kalpana/Karpagam, I was able to get a good offer for a 3 Night package – Rs 12, 149 which included all breakfast & dinner and ½ day sight seeing trip. Upon transferring the money, I promptly got a booking voucher confirming my reservation.
My preferred choice of stay in any hill station is typically out-of-town, away from all chaos & noise and this resort is situated about 5 Kms away from Kodai town centre which suited me best. The road leading to the resort is pretty good & the property is scenically located nearby an idyllic village, on a nice sloping landscape & overlooks a beautiful hill! Wow! A beautiful small gate on top of a hill leads you down to the property through a curly road and you get a bird’s-eye view of the complete property while you drive down!
Accommodation mainly comprises of Deluxe rooms, Deluxe Suites & Deluxe cottages and my package was confined to a Deluxe room which is a pretty neat & airy room with a nice large window that gives you a pleasant view of the hills & the park downstairs. Check-in staff was very helpful & in no time, we managed to settle down in our room.
Let me try to put in what I loved the most about this place:
The Food & restaurant Staff: Honestly I was very impressed with the food that was served in their restaurant & though the menu was not very vast, it had a nice range of Indian(South & North) and Chinese dishes. During our stay we tried most of their chicken & fish dishes which were very good(comparable with the best of B’lore restaurants) and we also liked their breakfast dishes especially Idly, vada, Dosas & Poori! The best thing during breakfast is that they serve 4 varieties of chutneys made from – regular coconut, carrot(my personal best), ginger & one more thing which I failed to decipher! The serving staff is very friendly & caring and they really pampered us though they had sizeable tables to attend.
The Location: The property is spread around I presume 8-10 acres max and it’s a well maintained resort with ample gardens, play areas, water springs & beautiful landscaping! I never felt like going out of this property and loved lazing around in the garden while my daughter was stuck in the play area all the time!
Things to do: This resort has couple of play rooms with various games to entertain the guests including a Nintendo Wii console, TT & Pool table & board games! They also play movies in the evenings in one of their conference halls where we got to watch 3 idiots with blaring volume! Bon fire is an everyday affair & though we never got to witness it, we could smell burning wood when ever we came out to dine!
Sight seeing package: ½ day sigh seeing package was really cool and we could cover most of the tourist attractions in this trip(not to mention, I did get to know about all roads in & around Kodai). Its always advisable to avail this as you do not want to drive around too much in an un-known location where conversing in local tongue is a real problem.
They also have an ayurvedic centre in the property which specializes in all sorts of kerala ayurvedic treatments & massages and though I badly wanted a massage, I never found time to schedule a session!
Some things that you may need to watch out for:
If you do not have your own mode of travel, its pretty tough to be put up in this resort as its about 5 Kms from Kodai and there is no means of regular conveyance from this resort to the town
For Kodai standards, this is indeed a pricy resort and I would strongly recommend that in case you decide to visit this place, please avail an offer that includes breakfast & dinner at least! Food items at the restaurant are priced very steep, a pot of tea is Rs60, Dosa is around Rs80, most side dishes start over Rs 200. A decent meal for 2 would cost at least Rs600 & above!
Though I found lots of buffet cutlery, all food items had to be ordered – A la Carte including breakfast! So, do not expect to pick & choose but surely you can expect your food items to be served piping out as per your request!
That apart, it’s really a wonderful place to stay & I would strongly recommend this place to anyone who is looking for a nice romantic vacation at the “Princess of Hill Stations”!
You can refer to their portal for more information & pictures!