"Tree houses and villas on 150 acres of Wayanad rainforest"
Vythiri Resort began life as six kerosene-lit row houses for coffee plantation workers, found by its founders on 150 acres of untouched Wayanad rainforest in 1993. Twelve villas were added in 2000, and the property has grown carefully since, with every cottage and villa placed to avoid felling a single tree. The tree houses remain the calling card: perched 30 to 90 feet up in the canopy, they were chosen by India Tourism for its eco-tourism campaign at Copenhagen Airport during the World Climate Change Summit in December 2009.
A natural stream runs through the resort, crossed by a swaying rope bridge. The stays range from 1,200 sq ft Vythiri Haven villas, through Premium versions with a jacuzzi on the balcony, to a 2,200 sq ft Family Pool Villa and a 1,400 sq ft Honeymoon Villa with a temperature-controlled infinity pool. The 1,800 sq ft Celestial Honeymoon Pool Villa looks down at the stream through a glass-floored bedroom. The 750 sq ft tree houses come in couple and family versions.
We embraced a 'no TV, no AC, limited network' approach, a concept that guests found unusual at first but that ultimately won them over.
The hills do the cooling, the Malabar whistling thrush does the alarm call, and guided walks cover more than 350 species of flora and fauna, with birdwatching and butterfly spotting on top.
All meals are buffet-style at Thinna, the multi-cuisine restaurant, building through the day to dinners with live cooking stations, with high tea at half four. The Ayurveda Centre runs Abhyanga and Shirodhara treatments from 9 am to 6 pm. Pookot Lake is 6 km away, Chembra Peak 22 km, Edakkal Caves 35 km; Calicut and Kannur are the listed international airports. For a digital detox with proper comforts, this is the Wayanad original.
In Vythiri, Kerala. The nearest airport is Kozhikode (CCJ).
They are genuine tree houses anchored onto living trees rather than stilts, sitting 30 to 85 feet above the ground and reached by 15 to 65 steps. Most stand about 400 metres from the main campus, so the resort treats them as an adventure camping experience.
Children under 12 are not allowed in the standard tree houses; only the Family Tree House accepts them. Guests with cardiac, arthritic or similar medical conditions are also not permitted in the tree houses.
No. The resort follows a deliberate no-TV, no-AC, limited-network approach, which it describes as a digital detox that deepens the connection with the rainforest.
There are 36 villas and cottages, including Vythiri Haven villas, Premium Havens with balcony jacuzzis, a Family Pool Villa, Honeymoon Villas with temperature-controlled infinity pools and the Celestial Honeymoon Pool Villa with a glass-floored bedroom over the stream.
The resort sits on a 150-acre stretch of tropical rainforest at Lakkidi in Wayanad, with a pristine stream running through the property; cottages were positioned to avoid cutting down trees.
A spacious 1,200 sq ft villa with a king-size bed or twin beds for up to four guests; there are twelve of these among the resort's rainforest paths.
Six villas of 1,200 sq ft, each with a king-size bed and a private jacuzzi on the balcony, accommodating four guests.
At 2,200 sq ft, with a king-size bed and a kids' bed plus a private pool — sized for four adults and three children.
A 1,400 sq ft private pool villa for two adults with a queen double bed and a temperature-controlled infinity pool; six units.
An 1,800 sq ft villa for two adults with a queen-size bed and views of the natural stream from the glass-floored bedroom.
A 750 sq ft perch high in the forest canopy with a king-size bed — a treetop stay for two adults.
The 750 sq ft family version of the tree house, with a queen-size bed, taking up to four adults and three children.
Founded in 1978, a few years after Ladakh first opened to travellers, and now stewarded by Ladakhis, this slow-travel base sits in Ayu village in the Indus Valley, built in traditional stone-and-mud style. Stay in a mud hut, a chalet or the duplex suite. Televisions have been removed from every room; a shared set waits in the Sarai Hall, which tells you what the place is for.
Rates on request, usually back within the hour
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A contemporary hotel on Old Leh Road, built the old Ladakhi way: thick, buttressed walls of compressed earth blocks made on site. Leh's main market is 350 metres away, Leh Palace just over a kilometre. Juniper, the ground-floor restaurant, works Ladakhi and Tibetan flavours through its menus, and the bathroom floors are heated, which, in a Leh winter, is no small thing.
Rates on request, usually back within the hour
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A small boutique resort between the Kannan Devan and Bison Valley hills, in Munnar's high ranges, with fourteen suites and two pool villas spread across the Muttukadu and Kumbappara hills. Every suite looks over the valley; some add Victorian jacuzzis, plunge pools or copper tubs. The outdoor pool is solar-heated mountain spring water, and the tea lounge is called 300 BC.
Rates on request, usually back within the hour
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