WelcomHeritage Bandhavgarh Jungle Lodge Reviews

It was wonderful. The staff at the jungle lodge in Bandhavgarh is excellent. The cook is also great. I would like to thank everybody sincerely. Although it might be beyond the perview of your company, I would like to suggest a few areas for improvement. The driver of the vehicle which enters the forest, as well as the local guide (not the naturalist from the lodge) need to be sensitized and trained to understand that a jungle safari is supposed to be conducted by creating minimum disturbance to the animals as well as the plants. I admit that this is a difficult task, but it is required for sustainable eco tourism.

Best Experience: The care-takers at the lodge were always prompt at satisfying the requests we had, no matter what. We requested for buttermilk to be served to us during the first meal we had in the lodge and then it was served without a request during all the other meals (the remaining four days that we stayed there). Tea was also prepared to our exact specifications. This kind of service is incredible.

Worst Experience: The driver who dropped us back to katni station was impolite, arrogant and drove too fast for our comfort. Inspite of several requests, he was not ready to slow down. We even warned him that we will lodge a complaint against him, but he said he does not care.

The ambiance of the resort is lovely, the food great, the rooms clean & functional. Bandhavgarh is good from a Tiger viewing perspective. However, far too many vehicles in the limited forest area disturbs the peace in the jungle and I don\'t think the animals enjoy it!

Best Experience: The kitchen & service staff at BJL are extremely cordial. The dishes were different for every meal (all of which we enjoyed thoroghly) and served with a smile.

Worst Experience: Well, the stay itself was enjoyable barring some minor transportation issues (for the jungle game drives) - some of the vehicles are very old and ready to break down at the drop of a \'safari\' hat, literally. But the worst experience has to be the trip back, when the driver of the vehicle that dropped us back at the station refused our requests to drive slowly and kept \'flying low\' at 100 kmph on narrow roads. We kept banging our heads together for the entire duration of the trip. Finally got off at the station with our hearts in our mouths & heads a little soft from all the banging. To add insult to injury, the driver made it clear that he would not have condescended to pick us up if he had known that we are a complaining bunch!

The theme of the resort is rustic and borders on being cheap. If one can make out the difference between cheap and rustic. I would suggest one should check out Camp Mewar, which is shade expensive than Jungle lodge, but definitely much superior, for the cost conscious I would suggest the Jungle Inn which is located in the quiet village of Tala.The Jungle Inn offers similar rooms and facilities as the Bandavgarh Jungle lodge at 1/6 the cost. The Jungle Inn although has a hotel format whereas the Jungle lodge has cottages also to offer

Best Experience: The chef of the resort is extremely talented and comes up with awesome delicacies right in the jungle. The location of the resort is also wonderful one gets a feeling of being right in the jungle as it is right on the boundary of the tiger reserve, after the night falls one hear all kinds of growling and howling from the resort room.

Worst Experience: The rooms are very very basic and the facilities are non-existent. So much so that the bathing soap provided in the room is 1/4 the size of your palm. The shampoo is provided in a bottle which is reluctant to let the shampoo leave it. The electricals i.e. lamps, lights and wires are all of cheap quality and one is worried of getting a electrical shock. The room does not have an air-conditioner nor a heater (a must for a destination like this where the mercury rises to 45 degrees in the summer and falls to 0 degrees in the winter) We were frozen for the entire stay with only blankets and hot water bags which go cold by mid night) There are not many charging points and except for BSNL no other network is available. The room does not have a telephone nor a TV. The entire resort has only one erratic phoneline, which the hotel administration is reluctant to share. Be prepared to be cut off from the entire world all through your stay as the resort is located far away from Tala village and road to the village is not safe to walk after sunset as it frequented by Tigers. It is just not a 5 star resort it is made out to be.

the trip was excillent and we enjoyed a lot

The resort has a very rustic & ethnic look and feel about it. It is set in beautiful surroundings with fantastic service. We truly enjoyed our experience and would not hesitate to go back again.