The Blackbuck Lodge

Drive the road through Velavadar National Park and, in the lodge's own words, "it is easy to believe you are in the African Savannah". This is Gujarat's Bhal region, a flat sweep of golden grassland in Bhavnagar district that holds Blackbuck National Park, and The Blackbuck Lodge sits right amid it, with the antelope the park is named for visible from the rooms themselves.

Stone walls, plunge pools, grassland views

There are four ways to stay: The Villas, The Plunge Pool Villa, The Pool Villa and The Blackbuck Suite. All are built facing the grassland, with rough-hewn stone walls, wooden furniture and wildlife portraits inside, and each comes with a patio and seating area pointed at the view. The pool categories add private water: a private plunge pool at the Plunge Pool Villa, a full private pool at the Pool Villa, and the Blackbuck Suite pairs a swimming pool with a kids' pool. Expect open showers, air conditioning and Wi-Fi throughout, with round-the-clock room service in The Villas and the Plunge Pool Villa.

A lodge where the safari begins at your patio and the blackbuck come to you.

Jeeps, birding walks and dinner in the bush

The lodge runs guided park drives in custom-designed open jeeps, each stocked with binoculars and field guides, with drivers and guides trained by well-known naturalists. Safaris go out at 7am and again at 4pm. Beyond the park there is a sundowner ritual: a 6 km jeep drive to a nearby village, a birding walk along the riverside, then a drink as the sun drops behind the grassland. On prior notice the kitchen will also lay a bush dinner under the stars. Back at the lodge, the restaurant Lettuce Eat cooks Indian, Continental and Chinese, plus vegan and gluten-free dishes drawing on the property's organic garden.

In our view this is one of western India's most rewarding wildlife addresses precisely because it is not tiger country: the open savannah means you actually see the animals. Bhavnagar Airport is the air link the lodge points guests to, and the temple hill of Palitana and Harappan-era Lothal make worthwhile detours.