Pramod Ranjan, designer and co-owner, at the cantilevered lobby
The gal has raved about Vivanta by Taj, Madikeri – Coorg before, and she will do so again, and again. It is one of those luxury Indian hotels, like The Wildflower Hall, and so many places in Rajasthan, and Falaknuma Palace, that provide oases from the rest of life and take you back to history and/or nature. Interestingly, both The Wildflower Hall and Vivanta by Taj, Madikeri – Coorg are not exactly easy to get to, but, once there, you forget about the journey. Vivanta by Taj, Madikeri – Coorg is just about to open a new road, skirting the golf course, which does take ten minutes off the journey (every little helps).
View from the main all-day restaurant, Ferntree
Once there, you are driven to the main lobby, open front, open rear, from which you look out across a fan-shaped decorative pool, cantilevered three floors up above the ground, which in turn slopes steeply down to the valley far below. Beyond are the Western Ghats. This is a mesmerizing first impression. Many just stand for ages, hypnotized by the silence, by the clean air – you are 4,000 feet above sea level. Staff offer drinks, but perhaps it is a meal time. The all-day dining, Ferntree, inside or out, gives yet more amazing views, but we dined far down in the valley, at The Grill, with big flares and fires, to give warmth, reflected in the main outside pool.
Cut-your-own sprouts, at breakfast
There are so many memories of every visit to Vivanta by Taj, Madikeri – Coorg. This time I did not cycle, or hike, or have a Boy Scout early breakfast, in a clearing on the way back, with good estate coffee and home-made biscuits to whet the appetite. This visit I breakfasted properly, in Ferntree, which has a great buffet that includes cut-your-own-sprouts, scissors provided. A chef stood in one corner doing eggs to order, and I also made a yummy sandwich of a light na’an, hotel-grown iceberg lettuce and camembert.
The signature guddha bath
Sadly I was not able, on this particular visit to this amazing luxury hotel, to visit the spa, which has the signature gudda bath. I remember first time here sitting in the treatment-room-in-a-treetop, looking out at the greenery. The attendant heats water in a copper caldron, which is ladled over you before a full-scale body scrub. OK dear readers, if I did NOT do all these things this visit, just what DID I do? Tomorrow will reveal…
