Mr & MRS Smith Raas Chhatrasagar

Great rooms with terraces overlooking the lake, a very nice pool, beautiful gardens and a very good restaurant. Only some chairs in the restaurant were not ideal as they were either too low or too soft which made dinner slightly uncomfortable.

Extraordinary from arrival to departure. Top quality organic food from the garden, fabulous service, gorgeous rooms. The birdwatching boat tour on the lake was a nice activity although if you’re a serious twitcher you might be disappointed. We did see osprey, cormorants, egrets etc but mostly from a distance (binoculars provided). Sundowners on the hilltop rounded out a perfect day. A nice break from the frenetic cities.

If you want a break from the hustle, bustle and noise of the cities, and a chance to relax and unwind, then this is the place for you. The hotel is 16 “tents” built on top of the dam of a reservoir. At one time before RAAS took it over, they were actually tents, although rather grand ones. Now they are normal fixed structures with fabric interiors to achieve a tent look, which does work. Every room/tent overlooks the reservoir with a magnificent and peaceful view from your veranda. The rooms are reasonably large with the facilities you would expect. The central dining/ bar area is also on top of the dam with same great view. Dining is the usual mix of Indian and international (ie Italian) and is very good quality. Note that there are more than 50 steps from the drop-off level up to the dam top level where everything happens. If this is a problem because of mobility issues, do ask the staff for assistance. There is not a guest elevator, but there is a service elevator which they will willingly show you to if you need it. The hotel offers an open top jeep trip visiting the surrounding rural area, which in our case included a school and a family fam. It also offers boat trips on the reservoir. We did both of these, both led by Gauss, the hotel naturalist, who has extensive knowledge of birds, nature and the local area. When we were there in late Feb the main bird migratory season had largely passed so there was not an extensive variety of birds on the reservoir. However, this was more than made up for by our unexpected sighting of a leopard, apparently contemplating a feral cow as its next meal. Both trips were well worth while, although ( without the leopard) the boat trip would be better in Nov - Jan for bird life. It’s difficult to convey just how relaxing this place is. We really loved it - probably our favourite property of our whole trip. Yes, it’s not luxurious, but it’s certainly not basic either. It’s really comfortable, well appointed with everything you could need. We absolutely loved this place and would highly recommend it.