Soulacia Hotel & Resort

The setting

Soulacia's origin story is its best credential: founded in 2009 on a barren stretch of land adorned with only four solitary trees, the resort says it has grown into a thriving ecosystem of birds, butterflies and greenery. It sits at Village Khatia, a two-minute drive from the Khatia entry gate on the Kisli side of Kanha National Park, which means dawn game drives start at the front of the queue, not forty minutes down the road. Kanha itself needs little selling: the resort notes its Bengal tigers, leopards, sloth bears, wild dogs and more than 300 bird species.

Rooms

Accommodation is scattered rather than stacked. Eleven jungle cottages sit in two clusters of five and six, each with a private verandah and en-suite bathroom, nine of them with open-air showers. Luxury tents stand in the grasslands with separate sitting and bedroom areas; three air-conditioned safari tents suit photographers who want mod cons under canvas. Two family villas offer two-bedroom suites with an 1,800 sq ft living area, and, genuinely rare in Indian jungle lodges, two accessible chalets are designed for differently-abled guests and elderly travellers, placed near the restaurant. Deluxe rooms round out the list.

The table

Dining is spread across the grounds: Bar A Singha overlooks the pool and bamboo groves with farm-to-table cooking and vegan-friendly options; Neelaambar does candlelit dinners under the stars; Azad Ki Grill handles wood-fire barbecue around a bonfire; and Chai Tola pours adrak chai for post-safari debriefs, with the Jungle Tales Cafe and an open-air verandah besides.

The wild bits

Expert naturalists lead safaris, nature walks, birdwatching and guided bicycle tours; village visits introduce the Baiga community, and a night safari runs in the park's buffer zone. Stargazing comes with a telescope, a Sky Scout and resources from National Geographic. The sustainability claims are specific rather than vague: solar panels, double roofing for insulation, waste management and composting, local staff and locally sourced produce, though the resort admits, refreshingly, that it is not yet plastic-free.