Jun 30, 2009 10:16 AM
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A nice weekend getaway! I was thereon June 20th 2009 weekend. Though I regret staying there for only a night. Youshould plan 2 nights stay.
Approach
We approached from Madikeri side. Wewent to Talacauvery in morning straight from Bangalore. And we reached Kadkaniin afternoon from Madikeri. You need to take road towards Murnad / Amatthi fromMadikeri. Five km before Amatthi, you need to take left from Vontiangadivillage. From there it is 6-7 KM inside. Road is okay all the way up to resort. You canget approach from Bangalore on their website.
Ambience
Monsoon has converted the place intoverdant green. There reception area and lobby are inviting! They have Hibiscusof all the colors. Very flowery. Grass needs trimming. But I think that is dueto off season. They have created artificial ponds between the huts which add alot to charm. River Cauvery flows on side of resort and adds to glamour. Youcan read or just idly away on the river bank. Amazing feeling! You can find alot of Coffee and Pepper plantation in walkable distance. Also, a banana orchidjust across the resort! You can find Wild Mango trees on the river bank. Butplease don’t eat them. Not advisable. My mother tried and she didn’t enjoy it.We also found some lemon plants on the way to Golf course. Golf course is 100mts from the main resort. Resort is spread in around 9 acres of land and Golfcourse is on another 10 acres. This is as per our hotel manager. Smelling theraw lemon is divine! Touch them and then smell your fingers!
No leeches. That is unique about thevillage Pachat where Kadkani resort is located. You will not find this at anyother place in Kerala or Coorg. You can spend a lot of time in a hut next toCauvery on the Golf course side.
Food
We had dinner and breakfast at theirPride of Pachat restaurant. We found good spread at the dinner buffet.Couple of non-veg dishes as well. Since it was off season so no rush. Waiterswere there for personal attention. Service was good. Food was hot and notspicy. I enjoyed the taste. Specially paneer and dal fry. Other dishes werealso fine. Breakfast spread was also good. Boiled eggs, toast, butter, jam, fruits, juices, cereals, Dosa, Puri-Sabji, Sambhar, Chutney, Vada, etc, etc, etc. Most important, good taste.
Services
They asked for welcome drinks(to beserved in restaurant) as soon as we reached. Since we were tired, we requestedto freshen up first and then serve the drinks. They promptly delivered thedrinks to our huts or Dens as they call it. They provided all-out mosquitorepellent on request. Staff was very friendly and courteous. My 3 years olddaughter dropped her slippers. Staff helped me finding that slipper around 10PM at night. High tea & coffee was served around 4-5 PM with biscuits. Ialso ordered veg pakora platter and sandwiches. Having high tea(with family)after long drive from Bangalore, in that scenic beauty was all I needed to relax.I saw a young mother getting hot milk for her adorable baby. So you can travelwith very small babies. No issues.
Accommodation
Three type of accommodations. Youcan get details on their website https://kadkani.com. We stayed at Den. It was comfortableand per night charge was 6K after some discount from Makemytrip.com. Den haveeverything from cable TV, fan(no AC & you don’t need it), hot watershower, dining table, king size bed, couch, newspaper, dental kit, shaving kit, shower caps and other paraphernalia of a 3/4 star resort. They havewindows with mosquito mesh attached. You can open window to get fresh Coorg airwithout fear of mosquito. They tried to create look of a tribal hut in the den.
Premium is for family. It is duplex.Deluxe is more Kerala style huts(our hotel manager told us so, I don’t knowwhat that means).
Facilities & Activities
Fishing: You can catch Mahseer. They have a record of catching a 40KG Mahseer once. But Mahseer can be of 60-80 KG size as well. Fishing takestime. You may need to spend 3-4 hours to be successful. But now they areplanning to arrange the fishing in smaller ponds instead of river. This couldbe faster.
Rafting: Still water rafting. It would cost you 300 per head
River Crossing on rope: This was around Rs 150 per head. Not sure of cost. But Ithink this is across a big pond adjacent to river. And not on Cauvery river.But I am not sure, I didn’t try it myself.
Golf: This is a 9-hole Golf course.And you can utilize services of a world renowned coach to help you learn thegame quickly.
Beach Volleyball: It looks non-functional. May be because of off season, they are not maintaining it regularly. I can see grass on the beach sand. BTW, there is no beach. It is just sand volleyball.
Housie: They arranged a game of housie in the evening. Exciting gifts like discount coupons, T-Shirts, free Rafting coupon, freecandles, etc were sponsored by resort. You just need to buy the ticket. Thiswas fun! I didn’t win anything. Though I was close to winning 2nd row. Theyalso did some quiz session. I won 50% discount voucher in quiz for answering asimple question!
Hobby rooms with carom, chess, hoopla-hoop, Table Tennis, etc can beutilized to spend quality time with family.
Swimming pool is very inviting. Clear and chlorinated water is perfect. Itook a dip in the morning. And stayed for more than 30-40 mins to enjoy water!You can look at the wilderness, flowers, nicely laid walkways all around thepool. Or you can close your eyes, lying on your back and soak the sun &water.
Trek: You can always go for hiking in the nearby estates. Orwander around in Madikeri and Coorg.
Monsoon: Enjoy rains on its peak with a nice book in your hand!This is what I call vacation! Total relaxation
