The Serai Bandipur

What People are saying

Luxury personified

Mahuyaon 26/08/2017 08:44

If you think you have been to The Serai, Chikmagalur, and nothing can beat the beauty and luxury of it, you are wrong. Come, visit The Serai, Bandipur. The pampering starts as soon as you arrive with the welcoming beat of drums. Then you have your regular hot towels, and welcome drink. But what set the experience apart for me is the first brush with the lush green, probably because we visited right after the monsoons, and the spotless clean walkways and driveways. I also noticed the very open, and spacious reception area. That set us up for the breathtaking cottages that was going to be our home for the next two days. As I kept gushing about the antique decor, and the bougainvilleas against the white cottages, I discovered the tiny temple which was designed out of a tree trunk, where the locals still come and pray during festivals.

The Serai property is of 36 acres, but the actual resort is built on 18 acres, allowing the animals to use the other half in their natural surroundings. The resort/operations manager will be there to welcome you and give you a briefing of the resort and the available activities.

You have an option to choose between three room types: the sprawling mountain view courtyard, the rustic log huts, and the premium residences surrounded by the lush greenery of the Western Ghats. We stayed at the courtyards which were small white cottages with the bougainvilleas spread across - it looked straight out of the Greek island Mykonos. There's a little garden at the front as well as a verandah with a view at the back. If you are looking for a real jungle experience, the quaint log huts are for you, raised on stilts and fully wood-panelled insides. The Residences stand apart with a personal terrace (and a gazebo) and guaranteed peace and quiet. Check the pictures to have an idea of the luxurious living rooms.

All the bathrooms, inside the rooms, at the reception, near the swimming pools, and behind the restaurant are neat, with very quirky, rustic designs. I loved them. For example, the wash basin in the reception area bathroom, looks like an open trunk. The attached bathrooms are huge - with brass basins, and uneven rock walls.

The beds and other furniture were clean, and very, very, comfortable. Should you want to not get out at all, there's TV in the rooms with all the major channels available, and then there's free wifi too in the rooms, and the reception areas - so even if you are away from it all, you can choose to be in touch with your city world, if you so wish.

The restaurant, aptly called 'The Sanctuary' is a beautiful retreat, which overlooks the mountains. You can plan for a 20 mins meal, or a 2 hrs meal, with all your preferred dishes magically appearing at your table, cooked to perfection, and offered with a smile. :) The buffet is quite comprehensive, and I was satisfied with the appam, and the danish pastry alike.

My friend and I had an aroma spa at the Luxury Oma spa, and it was top class. I highly recommend it.

The Jungle Walk with the legendary Kutappan is probably the highlight of the trip, because his knowledge of the ecosystem, and his passion for animals, and his stories about the cobra bite, or the leopard attack, will make you ask for more. You cannot miss him, because he kinda plans all your activities throughout the day. Feel free to take them, or not, as you wish - the nature walk, the Jungle Safari, the Bullock Cart ride with a mini picnic, the spa, the gopalaswamy betta trip, or a drive to Masinagudi.

When we left the resort the final day, the chef packed so much lunch for us, that it lasted us till the day after. I am writing this as I am munching a paneer roll that he packed yesterday. :)

I give it a 5 star in every aspect - location, service, architecture, experience, beauty, cleanliness.

I will definitely go back and I very, very, highly recommend this place for a 2N/3D getaway.

Outstanding service and a paradise to stay!

F1_Fanatic_10on 22/08/2017 04:40

I'm already missing this place. It so beautiful with at least 90% of greenery with amazing view of the forest. Especially my mom who really enjoyed this place as it was really nice to walk around the property and explore. very few resorts have this luxury. Special thanks to the F&B team, they are a real gem. They are such well trained and make the guests feel so special. Hats off to the F&B manager for grooming them. Majority of them are from nearby local villages and feel really proud of my state. The reception staff are also excellent and make the guests so welcoming. The senior naturalist was amazing, enjoyed the morning walk around the property fence where we spotted an elephant and a wild boar. As per his instructions, we took a drive to the dam near masinagudi and we spotted lots of wildlife. It has been the best drive from long time, good roads and dense forest around. Don't even miss this drive when you are at the property. A return trip takes only 2 hours – I’m sure you will spot more wildlife than safari, 3.30pm is ideal time to start.
I didn’t have a good experience with the reservations team and resort ops manager. This guy didn’t even allow me and my family to have lunch after checkin and interrupted me to payup the tariff for extra adult. They literally made it a hell experience initially. I called make my trip and they said everything was paid during booking, love their service. Its important the property has to contact customer prior to checkin and sort out all these issues. The property must contact the account manager of make my trip to sort out what their internal issues are, not sure why the customer has to be dragged into this. They must handle on their own. This was extremely unprofessional.
But this is nothing to do with the resort staff, choice of food and the beautiful setting of the property amidst the jungle.

Excellent Property, good staff but food and activities could be improved

Amit Jon 20/08/2017 20:26

Visited here in Jan for 2 days. Property is really beautiful and very well located, staff here is very good and do take of any requests or complain you might have.
Food is something which need some improvements and they need to have more activities other than just bonfire and nature walk to keep guests engaged.
Overall a good experience and my daughter really enjoyed it here,

Excellent Resort

Kariathon 20/08/2017 02:58

Stayed for 2 days here. One of the best resorts I have been too. Courteous staff , serene place, well maintained rooms and good food make it a great place, The roof top on Residence cottage is wonderful to spend time watching nature. Lots of spotted deer and boars come close to the resort in the morning. Highly recommended.

Serene !!!!

NishaSanghavion 18/08/2017 11:41

True luxury and Serene experience!! Warm welcome at the reception. Good widespread food option. Very courteous staff. Very good Spa experience too!!
The Bartender was an amazing personality and we had gud time there in the bar too.
The view from dining and bar. Along with the pool is also very nice.
They have 2 times nature trails with an environmentalist which was also a very gud experience. Further they show documentary in the evening which talks abt the nature and the wildlife.