Vythiri Resort - Great Experience. Review on Vythiri Village Resorts, Wayanad

Website: https://vythiriresort.com/

Package: 3 Nights, 4 Days. Modified package for stay at tree house for one night (package included candle-light dinner, massage@spa and half day sight-seeing)

Cost: 28000/-

Visit Date: Mid October, 2009

Weather: Cooler side throughout the day and a little nippy at night. Scattered showers.

Recommended Clothing: Suggest contacting the resort to find out about the weather before deciding on your wardrobe. Weather forecasts (Google search) indicated 31 deg C for Wayanad and this held true but the weather in the resort is always cool. Umbrellas, Torch.

Booking Experience: Overall booking experience was good. We interacted with one Mr.Roy Chacko from Lezeldor (Vythiri Marketing Office, I guess). He was very clear in conveying information about tariffs, package options and walking us through the booking process. Booking options are through the phone or over e-mail. Payment can be done via cheques or through NEFT.

Full payment needs to be made to confirm booking. To me, this is the one area where I wish they would improve. Would have felt comfortable if they had a payment gateway which generates a receipt. Felt a little uncomfortable transferring the full amount through NEFT and getting only an e-mail confirmation.

Arrival: We took a night bus from Bangalore, we were to arrive at Vythiri at early morning on the day of check-in. We got a call the previous day and were given the mobile number of the jeep driver. We were given directions on where to get off and to call the driver when were at Kalpetta(20 mins from Vythiri). We did this and we did not have to wait beyond a couple of minutes before we were picked up at the stop. Driving through the forest area is prohibited in the night.

So the night buses stop at the checkpost at the border in the night and start off at 6:00 AM in the morning. We were lucky to get seats behind the driver and so had a clear view of the forest through the windscreen. We saw an elephant by the side of the road and a deer crossed the road right in front of us. The drive is a treat to the eyes. The drive from the Vythiri town to the resort is about 5 kms long with most of the road being mud and stones. This takes about 20-25 minutes.

Stay:

Ambience & Decor: One of the first things we noticed about the resort was the peace and calm. There is a small wooden bridge with a fish pond beneath, as you enter. The reception has a huge sitting area which faces the pond on one side and opens on to the resort on the other. There is a hanging bridge in the middle of the resort. It runs over the stream that cuts the resort into two. We stayed in a cottage that has a balcony that faces the stream. The constant sound of the gurgling stream stays with you all through. The cottages are neatly spaced and staggered so that you don’t end up staring into your neighbor’s balcony.

In fact, though the place was fully booked, we rarely ran into people at any time other than lunch/ dinner times. The tree house is situated around 600m from the main resort. It is about 30 feet in the air, with only tree-tops and a mountain to be seen in the distance. It does get a bit desolate at night but they have a security house with a guard in it from evening till morning and there is a bell pull available at the tree-house through which you can call him if necessary. We woke up in the morning to thick mist all around us and to the distant sounds of a woodpecker pecking away and an owl hooting.

Food/ Meals: All meals are buffets. The variety available is elaborate but taste is average. Nothing to complain about, though. The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating facilities. The candle lit dinner is arranged outside in a separate limb of the seating area which gives you a sense of privacy. You can choose a chef’s special as a starter. This, a cake and wine are served at the table. The main course is again self-service at the normal buffet.

Things to Do: Laze around, read books. The place seems to be made to laze around all day, listening to the stream. There are quite a lot of other things to do and we managed to do most of them :-). The recreation centre has facilities to play carrom, table-tennis and pool. Of course you can choose to just sit and chat or sip beer at the bar. Snacks and coffee/ tea are served where you sit. There is also a swimming pool, badminton (outdoor) and basketball (outdoor) court available. Of course, you can just walk all day soaking in the atmosphere.

The only problem being leeches outside the resort. There are no leeches inside it. There is a guided trek through the forest area and through the tea estate. Both are not very tiring. The only problem being leeches again. Apart from this, our package included a half-day trip to Soochippara Waterfalls / Edakkal Caves / Banasura Earth Dam. We chose Banasura Dam. The place was quite good with a boat ride (not included in package) that was pleasant. It was enroute to the dam that we realized that the pleasant cool climate was limited to the resort only. The sun was beating down so hard that we just couldn’t wait to get back to the pool in the resort :-)(There is a boutique shop with swim wear available, in case you forget to carry them with you).

Service: This paragraph may seem excessively large but it is so because no amount of words are enough to describe the quality of service. Each and every member of the staff is extremely courteous and friendly. Forget grumpy, we do not remember seeing a single face that was not smiling. Have to commend whoever is behind staffing the resort. They seem to have put together a group of people who are always smiling, genuinely friendly and very well trained.

You really have to experience their courtesy to know what I mean. To give an instance, on our first day we went walking outside the resort. When we got back in, one of the resort guys accosted me and pointed out that my foot was bleeding. I assumed that I must have struck a stone and cut it. He indicated that it most probably was a leech and said that it was nothing to worry about since it wouldn’t cause infection. We went into our rooms to clean the wound. Five minutes later, we heard a knock and the same guy was smiling at us with a bottle of dettol and a cotton wad. We did not ask for cotton/ dettol. No one would have known if he had not gotten it!!! The tree house needs a jeep to ferry you to and from the resort(due to leeches enroute).

Since there are no phone lines going to the tree house they ask us to either call the resort number from our mobiles or indicate the time of pick-up to the driver when he drops us. We indicated the time of pick-up to the driver. He was there to pick us up at the exact minute we had indicated. We were pleased since we are quite punctual ourselves. This happened each time he had to pick us up! By the third time, we just needed to hear the jeep making its way to the tree house to know what time it was. And last but not definitely the least, not a single one of them drags his leg waiting for tips! There is a gratitude box at the reception where you can drop in tips if you are happy with the service. We definitely were happy. Overall, it was a great experience staying at Vythiri. Don’t miss it.