I recently visited Ooty also known as Udagamandalam on a 3 day trip. We reached Coimbatore through flight and booked a cab to Ooty. Reached Ooty in the next 3 hrs, and after going through lots of reviews on different hotels, we zeroed on Hotel Lakeview as it was under our budget.
We booked the hotel some 2 days before we planned to reach Ooty.( Do book beforehand during season time and long weekends) . They have got some 108 cottages(delux as this is the only category which is available there) with a tarriff of 1500 bucks per night. After going through lots of mixed reviews on Hotel Lakeview, I expected least on this hotel. But to my surprise I found it much better than what I expected.
The cottage was very decent, with 2 rooms, a bed room with a big cupboard, dressing table and attached toilet. And the sitting with a tv, a dining table, and sofas with a very homely feeling(Room heaters are avilable on request). The only con over here is that the cottages have a glass door which doesnt looks that safe, but again on the other hand I have found the hotel pretty safe. The individual cottages gives you full privacy .
The bathroom was pretty big and clean with geaser to keep you warm in the chilly weather of Ooty. Over all the rooms were pretty decent and you would enjoy your stay here.
In terms of food, the pricing was bit overpriced for room service, and it normally takes 45 min for the room service. The breakfast, lunch and dinner are not included in your tarrif and you have to shell out extra bucks on that. The food was pretty good.
The only thing which I disliked about the hotel was, the Housekeeping. The housekeeping guys do not come and clean your room untill you ask for it. So the people who are really cleanliness freak, wont like it. But again on the other hand it also gives you complete privacy from uninvited guests to your cottages;). As the hotel is located at a distance of about a Km from the Boat House, the hotel travel desk also helps you to get an auto right at your door step for you to go out to the city at eveining hours.
We took the hotel’s travel plan, as it was pretty cheap in comparison to book a cab from outside for sight seeing, but if you have got your car then nothing great than that.
Day 1:
We visited the Ooty boat house(Lake), Botanical Garden, Thread garden, Doddabetta peak(must visit) and Coonoor - Valley View, Tea Estate( bought some wonderful masala tea and chocolate tea), Sim’s park, Lamb’s Rock and Dolphin Nose.
Day 2:
Visited Pykara Boat House via Wenlock Downs, kamarajsagar dam, 6th Mile(Pine forest), 9th Mile(Landescape) and Nilgiri’s Niagara(Waterfall- Must watch)
We also went to visit Madumalai Tiger Reserve but to our bad luck, we dint have a chance to even visit the forest as the tickets for the forest vehicles which take you inside were all booked. So if you plan to visit Madumalai Tiger Reserve for all you adventure loving people out there, do book your tickets before hand, else you would only manage to watch some wild Elephants as I did:(.
P.N.: Please do watch movies Roza and Raja Hindustani before planning your trip to Ooty because as per the tour guides, both this movies were shot in the above locations, and you may to need to relate with it when the guides tells you that:P.
Day 3:
As we had to leave from Ooty on the day 3rd to catch our train from Mettupalayam we decided to visit the Lake and do some boating there. Also enjoy the fun rides at the Lake like dashing cars and the 3D animation theater. Also take a Horse Ride if you wish too from the Lake. But they definately charge you a bomb for that.
Do enjoy the home made chocolates and the tasty tea from the tea estate. You can also buy some Nilgiri Oil if you wish too.
The best possible way to visit Ooty is to book the toy train from Mettupalyam to Ooty. But you need to make prior bookings for the same, and again you can’t really count on this train as most of the times the train gets cancelled for some or the other reason( as per other’s experience). To travel back you can either book a cab to Coimbatore or catch a bus from Ooty to Coimbatore or Mettupalayam.
It was fun to visit Ooty and who so ever wish to run away from their daily routine to a calm place with a wonderful weather and full of nature’s beauty Ooty is their place to be!