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| The Woods where we had our late lunch on arrival - buffet laid out! |
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| We used these as our tables and had a nice lunch here - under the dense canopy of leaves |
I loved my first visit here - we booked a 2 night visit and it lived upto all my expectations which were very high, in line with the cost.
For those who don't know, The Machan is a luxury eco resort beyond Lonavala on the way to Tungi and Shillim. It is a private forested reserve and is off grid so uses wind and solar energy. Presently it has 21 machans and 2 more are being added - they are of differing size and correspondingly priced differently. The machans are built on stilts to preserve the trees and forest floor.
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| Our Canopy Machan |
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| Room view |
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| Hammock on the deck |
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View of our deck from the room
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| View from our deck |
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| The tub on the deck |
The Canopy Machan we'd booked was spacious and nicely done up. We loved the tub on the deck- a nice touch! imagine sitting there in warm water after sunset overlooking the tree tops and the nearby sheer rocky cliff side! it was only the drought that prevented us using it lavishly! Love the wooden floors, the jali on the windows to prevent creepy crawlies etc entering (actually not too many around!), the small fridge as i do so love drinking cold water. It was even stocked with diet Coke!
The room was provided with an air cooler for use during the daytime it being summer. Surprisingly, the nights were pleasant despite not using the cooler.
The food was good considering the location and decently priced. Loved the al fresco candle light dinners! we had our 1st lunch in "The Woods" as we arrived very late and the next day in the shade of a tree along with the others.
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| The dining area - under the trees |
The service was attentive - whether at meal times or room service.
We will return maybe in the monsoons to see the seasonal streams and waterfalls or in winter.
The loo was spacious with my fav Biotique toiletries and a separate shower stall.
The machans on the property are so well laid out that each machan has its privacy. hence the large numbers of honeymooners! But don't worry if you aren't honeymooning - you can still enjoy the peace here - we saw groups of women, families with young kids.etc
Wicker picnic baskets are used for room service which was very prompt. We had chili cheese toast at "tea time" daily..Ice was delivered to the room and cold bottled water - the property has RO water and said we don't need to use mineral water. The property charges Rs 100 corkage per bottle of hard liquor and i'd urge you to carry your own. (i didn't see anyone having alcohol in the public areas and its not on the menu either).
No TV, and intermittent mobile connectivity - this makes it a real break from our "connected" lives
The walk around the property with the environmentalist was informative and good.It ended at Sunset Point in time for sunset. One of our group saw the Malabar flying squirrel that morning in the tree outside her room and had clicked some pictures of it, Barking deer live on the property too, so its quite a wildlife haven. Lots of birds so i awoke every morning to the sound of birdsong.
Its so close that i'd urge you to visit soon.
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| Sunset at sunset point |
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| The solar energy system |
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