Ananyamaya Nature Lodge

The name is two Hindi words: ananya, unique, and maya, which the lodge reads as property. It stands at Ranwal village on the Ranthambhore road, a ten-minute drive from the park gate and fifteen kilometres from Sawai Madhopur town. Jaipur airport is about 185 kilometres away.

A garden they planted themselves

The lodge's own line is that its focus is conserving the native trees of India, and it has put a thousand of them in the ground here: neem, mango, amaltas and others. The rooms look over them to the hills. There is an outdoor pool, a lawn with white cane chairs and a small cinema the lodge calls the Showshaa theatre.

A thousand native trees planted around the rooms, and the park gate ten minutes down the road.

Three ways to sleep

The Luxury Hut is 325 square feet with an open area, a personal balcony and a garden view. The Luxury Room is 375 square feet and faces the pool. The Suite is 525 square feet with a living room, a bedroom, two bathrooms and a dressing room, and the lodge pitches it at families and couples who want the space. All the rooms open onto a balcony or a patio.

Spectraa

The restaurant is on the ground floor, 700 square feet and 24 covers, and serves a multi-cuisine menu with a chef's special menu cooked from local ingredients. Breakfast runs from 8:30 to 10:30, lunch from 1:00 to 3:00 and dinner from 8:00 to 10:00. A safari morning starts before breakfast, and the lodge is used to that.

Our take: this is the small, new, well-kept end of Ranthambhore, close to the gate and priced well under the famous camps. It suits a couple or a family who want the park and a pool, not a palace.