I had the opportunity to visit The Windflower Resort with my wife - our travel agent recommended it as a nice weekend getaway, far from the maddening city life. The resort was very good and met all our expectations, except for a few glitches here and there. Read on to know more...
The Location / Approach:
The Windflower, Coorg, is very close to Madikeri town, and even closer to Suntikoppa, a small place near Madikeri. One can see huge advertisement hoardings with directions, right from Srirangapatna on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. It is about 120 km from Mysore, and 240km from Bangalore. On SH-88, as one approaches Suntikoppa (Mysore - Hunsur - Periyapatna - Kushalnagar - Suntikoppa - Madikeri) there is a direction board that indicates a left turn, which, from a distance looks like a road to nowhere. One has to be careful not to miss the small entrance from the highway. It is actually a coffee plantation converted to a resort. The approach road from the highway is pretty pathetic - it took us 15 mins to drive 1.5 km - I would not recommend approaching this road after dark. The approach road is unpaved and as wide as a Toyota Qualis - hence, two way traffic is almost impossible for 4 wheelers. As one looks around the thick forests wondering if they took a wrong turn, boards leading us to the resort are finally visible (when we heaved a sigh of relief !!)
The Rooms / Accommodation:
We had got ourselves a Villa for 2N/3D. The villa, as expected, was HUGE, especially for 2 people. The main door opens on to a small veranda, which leads to the main sitting room and master bed room. The sitting room is quite spacious with a sofa and 32" flat-screen LCD TV. It also has a small fridge and an electric kettle. This main sitting area opens onto an open air private sit-out which has some amazing views of the forest. There’s also a private Jacuzzi here - wonderful for relaxing in the lap of nature. The main bedroom is pretty huge and has an AC and another 32" LCD TV. The dressing-n-bath room is attached to the bedroom - and is pretty HUGE! There’s an open glass-shower, toilet, sink, wardrobes, etc., here. Overall, rooms are fantastic!
The Food / Restaurant:
The resort has a nice line-up of delicious veg/non-veg food. Our plan included all 3 meals; breakfast, lunch & dinner. All meals are buffet-based and one can find a huge variety of food - easily enough to satiate one’s appetite as well as taste buds. There’s also complimentary coffee and tea (with biscuits / pakoda, etc.) in the evening. The restaurant also offers a ’live-kitchen’ where food is cooked right before your eyes - you can order omelets, pancakes, waffles, etc. from this counter. My only peeve with the restaurant/food is that they often recycle food from the previous meal. I can understand - one should not waste food, but, at the same time, we are expected to be served with fresh food when we are paying so much! A clear example of this recycling is this: They serve Vada for breakfast in the morning; the same Vada becomes Curd-Vada for Lunch and Dinner. Similarly, they have fresh cut fruits for dessert - the same cut fruits become "fresh fruit juice" in the next meal. Another example is: Chocolate Brownie converted to Choco-rolls. I can go on with this list (and it’s pretty huge). Also, another point of bother is that there are no insect-terminators, i.e., those purple-blue tube light kinda things, in the restaurant, especially around desserts. The resort is in the middle of a forest and one expects a lot of insects to be around. It saddened me when I found fruit-flies and other tiny insects on the cut fruits (which were kept open, and probably would end up as juice for the next meal).
The SPA:
Although I was not particularly interested in the spa, my wife forced me to get some treatment done - so I chose the cheapest option (@ Rs. 600!!). One should have really deep pockets to experience the exotic treatments listed at the spa. It is very well maintained, and the ambiance is beautiful - serene atmosphere overlooking the forests and soothing music being played, while one is getting treated - feels GREAT! Although the treatments are a bit on the expensive side, one can really relax at the spa. The staff / employees are extremely courteous and will go the extra mile to make you more relaxed and comfortable while getting a massage / treatment.
The Verdict:
Overall, I give a "thumbs up" for the resort. It’s really mind-boggling when you wonder how they got all that equipment into the resort, which is in the middle of nowhere. It has EVERYTHING one can ask for - luxury, comfort, peace, greenery, and lots of relaxation. One look at the swimming pool and you know you’ve entered a place that’s extra-ordinary! The staff/employees are extremely helpful and courteous and offer service with a smile (although it sounds clichéd, it’s good to experience it)!!! They cater to your needs pretty quickly and fulfill all requests within 10 mins. The resort is built on a sloping coffee estate and walking uphill can be an arduous task, especially during lunchtime. One quick call and you have a golf cart waiting at your doorstep to take you to the restaurant! Great service! We had electricity round the clock (when surrounding villages barely get 6 hours of power supply per day)! Oh, and also, there is a small room where one can play carrom, foosball, ping-pong, and other table-top indoor games. There’s a badminton court right in front of the spa and racquets and shuttlecocks are provided upon request. Great value for money, only if you take up the studio room.
On the other hand, there are a few issues that need to be sorted - we did not have a hair dryer at our Villa - we had to request for one (and it was delivered in under 5 mins). The housekeeping staff comes in at evenings, and this was odd - one expects them to finish up by noon. When we asked them to come after 10 mins, they never turned up - and we had to request for housekeeping the next morning! Also, our Villa had a Jacuzzi which was not prepped and cleaned when we arrived - We had to request for the cleaning several times before it was done. Issues regarding the restaurant have already been mentioned above. Finally, I’d like to add that there are no ceiling fans at the resort (specially needed at the dining area/restaurant). Although the resort is situated in a place with generally cool weather, ceiling fans are necessary as the forest / plantation gets pretty humid - especially during summer.
All in all, good place to relax, especially when a long weekend is on the calendar! The place is ideal for couples and families with members across all age-groups. Windflower can be contacted by phone / website for bookings - Google for Windflower Coorg and you will hit their website!