Anandvan Resort

What People are saying

Nice Resort but very overpriced....beware of road conditions

akashsaxon 16/08/2017 08:30

I and my wife are avid travelers. Last weekend, we both traveled from Pune to Bhandardara and stayed for 1 night at Anandvan resort. Our overall experience was somewhat mixed and therefore I have segregated my review in three categories: Good, Bad & Ugly. I would also like to caution you from our learning so that you go better prepared and have a wonderful experience.

The Good Part:
- Undoubtedly, the Resort is beautiful and one of the best option to stay at Bhandardara. Rooms are spacious and if you are lucky (Read the Bad part), you will get a room with your choice of view (Hill View / Lake View)
- All the meals served (Buffet: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner) were delicious and had a variety of Veg & Non-Veg delicacies
- Since it was night of 14th Aug, they had Gala Dinner clubbed with a Ghazal night and performer was very good and professional

The Bad Part:
- After staying there for a night, we concluded that this property is very overpriced. We paid INR 15,500 (after negotiation) for 1 night all meals inclusive package.
- The management is not transparent and they don't disclose their room prices and availability neither on their own travel portal nor on other travel sites like booking.com / tripadvisor etc.
- At the time of booking, I was offered 1 bedroom cottage with Lake View but immediately after I made the online payment and get a confirmed Invoice receipt, I was told that I can only get Hill View option as others are sold out. Although they offered me alternate dates for Lake View, but there was never an option of refund. So I went ahead with available option but felt cheated as a customer.
- Please note that this Resort's weekend rates are very higher from weekday rates as they force all meal plan to the customers on weekends even if customer want only bed and breakfast option.
- No matter which room you get, please beware that you will have to climb quite a few steep steps to reach out to your room, so people with walking and back problems should avoid staying here.
- My front desk experience was also not so great and I firmly believe that they are under staffed as I observed several cases of internal disputes within management and staff.
- Some of the very basic stuff was missing in the room. Example Tea/Coffee stirrer. Also, they don't have side tables alongside Bed.
- Beware that there is no wi-fi in your room and its only available at the reception

The Ugly:
- Road leading to the Resort (almost 25 km stretch) is in pathetic condition with big potholes that will spoil your mood and will be very bad for car tires and suspension. Those with back issues should avoid until the road conditions are improved.
- If travelling from Pune, please avoid route suggested by GogleMaps (never ever take NH61, MH SH46, MHSH21 and MH SH44 as roads are very narrow and in bad condition). Instead, continue on NH60 even though it is slightly longer but roads are wide and in good condition.

Very Overpriced

VarunPopaton 15/08/2017 19:50

Bhandardhara itself is a very very beautiful place. It is a must visit for a quick weekend getaway. However would not say the same for anandvan resort. The place is very costly for what they offer. I paid for a tree top nest however it was not on a tree like in the machan. Stay in other cottages if there is no other option. Also there were certain activities that were mentioned at the time of the booking however they did not have any. Could have offered some site seeing activities for the cost they charged. The good thing is that the staff is good. They gave us buffet breakfast in the room also. The club room was good for mid day entertainment.

Overall a thumbnail for bhandardhara but not for anandvan resort.

Awesome place

Pratik1310on 15/08/2017 06:02

We visited the resort on the extended independence day weekend.. the place is simply awesome.. the resort is also very good. We took the lake facing room.. amazing weather.. don't forget to carry umbrella in the rains.. if travelling with kids then monsoon is not good to stay in resort as it rains continuously and so kids can't enjoy.. food is good.. many small waterfall in and around resort.. one will get a guide outside the resort for 800 to show the places around but beware as the roads to roam around are very very bad.. so don't cover all the places which the guide says.. overall a very good experience.. food and all a bit expensive but worth every penny spent..

Luxury within lap of nature

palmanison 28/07/2017 08:28

This is a really beautiful property at a nice tranquil location. If you prefer to be in the middle of nature, and yet do not want to compromise of the luxury aspect of your stay, this is the place to be.

We stayed in the Tree top cottage, which was really nice. The quality of the toiletries provided, the mattress, etc was good as well. Finding all that luxury at a remote location was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately due to excessive rain, we could not explore the place a lot, since we were travelling with a toddler, so treading out with the toddler in such rain was risky. But i would definitely love to revisit Bhandardara, again in better weather and Anandvan would be my choice of resort for sure.

As for the food, would have been better, if the breakfast had more choices, but having said that, the limited choices were very well countered by the quality of the food and the warm hospitality of Mr. Kaul. They were happy to even send part of the buffet breakfast to our room, since it was raining hard and my wife and kid chose not to go to the restaurant in that rain.

As for the price, i didn't really find then too expensive for the quality of service they provide, though yes i found the all meals included package way too expensive as compared to the only breakfast included plan. Don't know how did they calculate that difference !!

It is hard to maintain cleanliness of the rooms, because of such heavy rains, as every room service person who visits, brings with him lot of water in their wet shoes, but extra towels were provided to keep at the entrance. Though yes keeping the floors dry was a bit challenging.

They even had a club-house with a badminton court, table tennis, pool table and couple of carrom boards, so if you're stuck due to the rains, there is some entertainment available.

Overall it would have been a disaster of a trip for us, due to the very heavy rains, but it was the beauty and service of this place which was some relief for us. Hope to visit again in some better weather.

Important tip for anyone planning a visit soon... the roads which lead to this place are in a really bad condition, specially the last 10 kms are very hard on your car tires.

Good place to stay

Deepa Gon 20/07/2017 18:01

We stayed in the tree top cottage. The rooms were good. They provided all toiletries too. Tea / coffee maker in room. Great hospitality. Its just that it is a bit costly. Regarding food I have a mixed view. Some items were really good and some were just ok.