I don’t even remember when I traveled last. When an opportunity presented itself and we got everything prepared for the upcoming vacation trip to Yelagiri, I was all excited. I really got my hopes up and was dreaming of green scenic visuals and cool breeze blowing over my face. But Yelagiri was anything but that. I don’t even know where to start about why Yelagiri was such a big disappointement.
1. Let me state a fact. Yelagiri is not a hill station. In case you missed reading it, let me say it again – it is NOT a hill station. Agreed it is at an elevation, but it has got nothing to call itself a hill station. It is not cooler, in fact it is hotter than Bangalore.
2. It is not scenic. It is not even green. I mean Bangalore, with all its gardens, is much greener than Yelagiri. It is like going to some rural place south of Bangalore, staying in a furnace for a day and coming back.
3. Let me add to the previous point. Visiting Yelagiri is like going going to some rural place south of Bangalore, staying in a furnace for a day and coming back AND paying a huge price for it. Whoever labeled Yelagiri as Poor Man’s Ooty has never visited this place. Poor man? If a poor man can afford to pay 1500 per day for a shabby room and 150 for breakfast and 200 for lunch, I would really like to meet this man please.
4. Now the resort. I don’t know why they call their place as a resort! It’s like a school made over to suit the needs of a resort. The rooms ‘look’ clean at the first look, but there are spiders and cobwebs behind the curtains and the doors. Bathroom was clean, thank God, but the room had a stale air and feel. They have different tariffs and we were staying in a ‘cottage’ – two bedrooms with an attached bathroom each and a living room. A TV in each room. An air cooler in one room, a fan in the second bedroom and two fans in the living area. Gives a pretty good picture, right? Did I mention that there is no power from 9 to 12 during the day? And when the power went off in the middle of the night, I freaked out. Imagine pitch darkness, a baby sleeping next to you who can wake up screaming any minute and your pounding heart – not a good picture, after all, eh?
5. There were no towels, no soap. There was no drinking water in the room. How about that?
6. Lunch was exorbitantly expensive. Chapati, curry, rice, rasam, sambhar, chicken curry for 200 bucks a plate. No dessert, no salad, no soup! They had a ‘special’ meal for dinner which had noodles, Kerala paratha and their special dish – peanut masala!
7. I don’t even have any words for breakfast. Idly, dosa, omelette, pongal, puri – I agree that’s a lot for breakfast, but who can eat all these, right? At 150 bucks a plate, this was the most expensive breakfast I have ever had. And it was not even tasty! And there was no coffee or tea after breakfast. Why? Because it was over. Ha!
8. I happened to ask for some milk for my toddler. While a litre of milk costs 20 bucks, the owner of the resort, Mrs. Sally charged me 15 bucks for 120 ml of milk. Was that special goat’s milk, Ms. Sally?
9. There is a lake in the town which has boating facility. We didn’t get a chance to see this because you see, we cut short our trip and returned the very next day.
10. We did visit the Nature Park and witnessed the musical fountain. Loud music, conked out controls, horrible song selection – screaming baby in my arms – NOT happening.
11. It would be very wrong if I end this post with just the negative points. Sally did went out of her way to get the bottles sterilized. She did not charge me for this. How sweet.
12. When I pointed out that the noodles and parathas are not suitable for my kid, she got chapatis made for my kid. I really appreciate her gesture, but that does not justify her ridiculously expensive rooms and meals.
13. The drive from Bangalore to Yelagiri is heavenly. Nationaly highways, toll roads, smooth hairpin bends for the last 14 kms or so – the drive was the best part of the journey.
Even after reading my post, if you still want to visit Yelagiri, here are the details:
Bangalore to Yelagiri
Distance: Around 170 kms.
Route: Bangalore – Krishnagiri – Vaniyambadi – Yelagiri
There are enough signboards on the way. Just follow them.
Places to stay:
I stayed at Le Auroville Resort and don’t recommend it at all. Some other places you can check:
Peter’s Park – This seems to be the best choice. They were booked when I called them.
Zeenath Taj Garden – This seems like a good place too.
Sterling Resorts – They have one in Yercaud which is good. If that is anything to go by, this one should be good too.
I believe there is a TTDC hotel there. You might want to check.
Oh my goodness, you had me laughing with your write-up although I’m sure that your experience at this resort was no laughing matter. But you have written about your experience so well!!! I will definitely keep this in mind when planning a future trip. We have always booked our stay with Orange County Resorts and have never been disappointed, but the long drives to OC put us off. Yelagiri seemed closer, but now I think we’ll stick to the long drives!!! Thanks for sharing your story…you should post your review on Trip Advisor.
Oh God, that sounds like a nightmarish trip! I’m so sorry… I can imagine how disappointed you must’ve been. But thanks for sharing the review… others will definitely be informed.
I’m sure you’ll have a better vacation soon, so chin up!
Nice review there. My wife and I went to Yelagiri about 3 years back. The place where we stayed was equally bad, in fact your experience eerily mirrors ours, down to the season of travel. But there were a few plusses with our trip
1. Walk around the lake. Its a small one but good from a birding point of view.
2. Climbing Swamimalai. Lovely views from the top and the trek was not too taxing.
Not too many people around which is nice. Lovely drive to Yelagiri which is nice too.
@Preeti & Anu: It was a nightmarish trip. I am hoping my next vacation will not be this disappointing.
@Kartik: We didn’t stay long enough to take a walk at the lake or to trek. The first few hours were nightmarish enough to drive us out of the town.
oh thanks dude…for the review…can u tell me where i can go for 1 day trip from bangalore within a radius of 70km???reply soon or message to 9535492624
Hi Anaamica,
I am a travel writer based in Bangalore. I came across your blog while searching for some information on Yelagiri. I am going there next week. I was planning to take my parents along with. But after reading your blog, I am having second thoughts on taking them along.
Your experience of the ‘resort’ in Yelagiri where you had put up reminded me of some of the homestays in Coorg which offer a similar standard of service.
With warm regards,
Sanjay
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