Hotels, Villas, and Cottages in Mahabaleshwar

This blog post is a guide for everyone who is planning to go for a holiday trip to Mahabaleshwar in Sahyadri Hills, Western Ghats, Maharashtra to get  better stay in hotels in Mahabaleshwar. This spectacular mountain range starts from the state of Tamilnadu, goes through Kerala, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. In Tamilnadu and Kerala, it is called Anamalai hill range. In this blog post, you will know about various staying options such as cottages, and villas, hotels in Mahabaleshwar.

We are living in a ‘high-speed’ communication era. Information is available at our palm. We threw away bulky telephone directories and ‘hard-to-read’ yellow pages to look for hotels and restaurants while we were planning a holiday away from our hometown. We can book accommodations that suit our budget through the Internet. We take the help of travel blogs to choose hotels or cottages. The reviews by travel bloggers are honest and to the point.

Indians’ most preferred holiday destinations are hill stations. In most of the Indian states, there are one or more hills stations and the travelers choose one that is nearby to their hometown.

Mahabaleshwar (height- 4500 feet) is very conveniently located close to Mumbai and Pune.  First, let us briefly know about its location, distance from the nearest city, and list of places to see and then look at the staying options in Mahabaleshwar such as hotels, cottages, villas, and lodges.

Distance:

Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar is 260+ km

From Pune, it is 120 km

The nearest railway station is Satara and from there, Mahabaleshwar is 56 km via Panchgani.

A visit to the hill station is not complete if wildlife spotting in their natural habitat is not done. Mahabaleshwar’s forests are home to bisons, deer, wild boars and jackals. For bird lovers, Mahabaleshwar is a paradise. Some of the rare birds that can be spotted in Mahabaleshwar are:

• Bulbul of many species
• Jungle Myna
• Malabar Crested Lark
• Nilgiri wood pigeon
• Purple Sunbird
• Indian Paradise Flycatcher

Hotels, cottages, and villas in Mahabaleshwar

Tourists’ preferences are mostly predictable; they first look for an accommodation that costs within their budget. Other criteria for hotel selection are:

• One or two restaurants should be attached
• A bar is an extra option
• Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food should be served
• Room service
• Free Wi-Fi

These are considered very basic facilities that we expect in a hotel these days; anything over and above are luxuries.

Another very important condition while looking for accommodation is the location; it should be either close to the market and bus stand or near to important sightseeing places.

Let us look into the various types of accommodation in Mahabaleshwar that meet either of the above two preferences.

Hotels near the market.

The rates of hotels located on the main shopping street would be invariably budget hotels with a few exceptions of high-end hotels.

There are two good choices in this category.

1. Sai Cottage and Bungalow

Facilities and Amenities:

• Free Internet
• Attached bath with hot water
• Free toiletries
• 24-hour room service
• Restaurant attached

2. Hotel Laxmi

Features:

• Very near to Bus stand
• Television
• Attached bathroom
• Restaurant
• Travel assistance

Note: Most of the restaurants in Mahabaleshwar serve vegetarian food only.

Hotels or cottages near major sightseeing locations:

The following are the major sightseeing places in Mahabaleshwar,

• Arthur’s Seat
• Lingamala waterfalls
• Wilson Point
• Venna Lake
• Panchgani point
• Elphinstone Peak
• Baghdad Point
• Koyna Dam
• Bombay Point

All the place names that are ending with ‘point’ are viewpoints or observation points that offer a spectacular view of the Sahyadri hills and dense plantations of Strawberries, Mulberries, Raspberries, and Blueberries.

Let us look at the hotels near Arthur’s seat point.

The price range of hotels in Arthur’s seat is from Rs.1400 to Rs.7000. The least priced hotel is Savoy Village which costs Rs.1300 plus per night and the most expensive is hotel Mayfair. It charges Rs.7000 per night.

Hotels near Venna Lake

This must be an excellent location because of lake view rooms in the hotels. As such, being a prime location, there are more than 150 hotels and villas in the vicinity of Venna Lake. While hotel Laxmi Residency costs less than Rs.1000, hotel Le Meridien is priced above Rs.9200 per night. Since the number of hotels near Venna Lake is more than 150, there must be something for every wallet size.

Accommodations near Lingamala Water Falls

There are only 3 hotels listed near this place because of its distance from the main town.

The hotels are:

Gugal Residency

Hirkani Garden Resort

King Garden Hotel

Cottages in Mahabaleshwar.

Some tourists prefer spacious accommodations that offer 100% privacy. Self-contained cottages fall under this category. Most of the cottages are located in Satara road and Panchgani road. The Treebo JP Cottage appears good and costs less than Rs.1000 only. More than 12 locations in Mahabaleshwar offer cottage type accommodation.

Villas in Mahabaleshwar.

The villas are obviously very expensive because of the size and privacy. One or two of them such as Breeze Inn Bungalow charges Rs.14600 per night. I wonder whether they worth the money!

Looking at the various options of hotels in Mahabaleshwar, there is no dearth of accommodation irrespective of the season.