I came to mumbai 7 years back, alone, without knowing a single person in the whole place. within a first couple of weeks I reached the stage of almost total breakdown from the crowded trains, noisy neighbourhood and work pressure. then came a holiday. I asked one of my colleagues, a mubaikar by birth, to name a decent place that can be reached easily and without asking direction from anyone (as my communication in hindi and english was much much worse than what you are going thru right now). being a mumbaikar with a limited world view (limited within pune to pav bhaji)he suggested lonavala.
accordingly next morning two of us came to the then vt and after asking a tte boarded the udyan express for lonavala.after reaching there we went towards the highway and was totally disappointed with the scenario. we were almost cursing us and the friend who suggested that place aloud when someone suggested us to go to the other side of the rail line towards the lake.
after a little walk we reached near the lake at the mtdc resort. that being an off season, it was totally empty and they offered some discount and took us to show the room. there are six to seven rooms on one side. the entrance is towards the main road. but after entering the room there is a small balcony on the opposite side almost in the middle of a jungle with old tall trees all around. the place was so calm and quiet we liked it instantly and took it. the night was even better. with no one around it was totally silent. we swithced off the light and sat on the cold floor with our drinks. after the noisy mumbai it was a total change that has made a permanent mark on my memory.
after that I had gone there 3/4 times. everytime I have noticed the sound level increasing a bit by bit - the scenario changing from old bunglow pattern lodges to concrete jazzy hotels and all. but i’m still in love with the place and those rooms in the mtdc resort.
i know it is not comparable with most of the hill stations because of all the reasons mentioned in other reviews. but even then the calmness, particularly when compared with our surroundings in mumbai, is something I still like very much