Mahabaleshwar: Hotel Valley View Review

During our recent trip to Mahabaleshwar, we stayed at the Valley View hotel. It was recommended by Ritesh, one of my tennis partners. He had stayed their in his previous trips to Mahabaleshwar. He made the booking on phone.

Once we reached Mahabaleshwar, everyone hit the pool. The best thing about the pool here is that it is indoor and temperature controlled. So, there was no worry of cold water and anybody catching cold. All the kids enjoyed a lot swimming in the warm water. The elders played a small game of water polo. At the end, we just spent time sitting in the warm water of the pool, chatting and having fun.

The next best thing about the hotel is its food. We had the unch first after swimming. The food is typical Gujarati and Marwari fare. There was lots of variety in terms of sweets, vegetables, etc. We had special Jain vegetables made for us. All the items were delicious. The waiters were courteous and overall service was prompt. The chinese dinner too was lip-smacking. The best was left at the end. The pineapple souffle was too good. Deepal asked for the recipe and made it for me in two days at home :).

There are some indoor games like carrom, table tennis, board games at the top floor of the hotel. There is also a pool table and a few video games at the ground floor. The condition of all these was great unlike at some other places where such facilities are not maintained well. The valley view from the top floor is nice. And when the clouds surrond the hotel, it is a great feeling.

We stayed in a non-AC room as the weather was pleasantly cold outside. The rooms were clean and well maintained. The room was big enough for a family of four to accomodate easily. Apart from the big anouhg bed, there is also a sofa-cum-bed which is very convinient. During the day it serves as sofa and at night as bed for the kids. So, there is no need to ask for an extra bed. The room service too was good and prompt. There is another section of the hotel which houses AC rooms. This section has been created exceptionally well. All the rooms are valley facing and this is the picture of the hotel you see on their website. The interior of this side of the hotel is done very well.

The not so good part of the hotel is its location. It is located near what looks like slums. I have no idea about how this came about to be, whether the slums first or the hotel. But, this could be turn off for some people. Once you enter the hotel, though, there is no indication of the slums around. As mentioned earlier, the interiors are exceptional and the feeling once inside it that of some 3 or 4 star hotel. The hotel is also some 10-15 mins walk from the main market and the bus stand.

Overall it is a great place to stay with its great food, great service, great interiors and the cool indoor swimming pool.

Click here for the map of the hotel.

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

A perfect family weekend in Mahabaleshwar

We had decided on family outing with two of my friends. Two of my tennis partners also joined and a plan was made to have a family outing in Mahabaleshwar. The best part about developed hill stations like Mahabaleshwar is that they have excellent hotels, food and loads of activities for all age groups. All the kids were very excited about the trip. They were eagerly waiting for Saturday to arrive and start the trip.

We started off in 5 cars at 7 in the morning. We took the old Katraj tunnel route and the drive was smooth. After a small break for food after the tunnel, all the cars drove off to Mahabaleshar. Being off season, there was less traffic as we approached Panchgani. This made the drive even more pleasant on the ghats.

Once we reached the Valley View resort, everyone hit the swimming pool. It was a temperature controlled indoor swimming pool. So, there was no worry of either rains or the cold weather outside. The kids enjoyed the company of each other and elders enjoyed a game of water polo.

Now it was time to have lunch. The lunch was excellent and had lots of variety. It was difficult to choose what to eat at any point of time.

The hotel had a superb view of the valley from its top floor. We started with a round of 'Judgment' card game and after a few rounds the weather outside started changing. The clouds were coming towards us and in no time the entire hotel was engulfed in the clouds. So, we decided to take a walk in tha hotel's garden outside. We next decided to go to the Venna lake.

When we reached there, the entire place was covered in fog and visibility was hardly few meters. We hired 3 boats and went for boating. It was just magical to boat when there was hardly anything else visible around. Myself and Dharam, tried out hands at boating. It was quite a task to get the row move the way it should in the water. Deepal and Kalpak also tried their hands and it was lots of fun.

All the kids took a round of horse riding. after having corn butta at the lake, we headed off back to the town. It was dark by now and the market was bustling with people. It was difficult to believe that there are so many people in Mahabaleshwar in this off-season. The ladies did lots of shopping and the kids spent their time playing various games in a games shop.

The dinner again was wonderful and the everyone enjoyed chinese food and excellent deserts.

We played a round of Tambola. One of the kids, Krina, managed to win away the first three prizes, while I managed to win the first full house.

The next day, I woke up early morning to catch Sunrise at Wilson point. I was not disappointed at all. The view and the rising sun looked magnificient from that area. The area itself is very huge and you can catch a glimpse of the Sunrise from almost 180 degrees of area and not just a narrow patch. To add to the beauty, immediately after Sunrise a really huge patch of dark clouds surrounded the Sun and the sky looked just fabulous. After taking some more snaps, I moved further and snapped a beutiful bird a liitle further away. I called up Jayesh and he was ready to join me in further ventures. So, I picked him up near the hotel and we moved towards Bombay Point which is famous for its Sunset.

So, we made to to the Sunset point early in the morning !!! And we were again rewarded by some great pics of the Sun rays coming through the dense forest. We also got a great view of the Pratapgadh from there. We moved back and went to the Elephant Head Point. We can't take the car straight to the Elephant head point. We need to park at a place and walk about 15 minutes to reach the point. On the way is the Loardwick point, but we gave it a miss. The Elephant Head point again was really beautiful and it gave us the view of the Konkan side of Mahabaleshwar. we got clear skies and beautiful view of the entire valley from this point. Over here, I saw a really peculiar mountain formation. From the picture below, it looks like that the camera was shaken while taking the picture of some post-processing was done on the picture, but there are actually three identical mountains one behind the other that can be seen from here.

Another interesting thing happened here. While looking at the konkan side, I saw a man climbing up the hill. The same man met us while we were on our way back to the car. The man walks up the mountain for 10 km everyday to come to work at Mahabaleshwar. It was really humbling to see how people still have to walk such long distances early in morning for work. We gave him lift in our car till the market. We reached the hotel in time for the breakfast.

After the breakfast we checked out of the hotel and made way towards Arthur Seat Point. On the way, we paid homage at the Shree Mahavir Swami Jain temple near Hotel Uday. Just before we reached the Marjorie point, the entire area was surrounded in dense fog. We took a small break at Marjorie point and headed towards the Arthur Seat Point. There too, the entire place was foggy. We parked the cars and walked about 10-15 minutes to reach the point. After spending some time in the fog, we returned back. The next destination was for lunch at Mapro Garden.

The Mapro Garden was full of people which were hard to find at other places !! We ordered Pizza and Sandwitches. While, it was being prepared, we checked out the latest offerings from Mapro. They have a very nice system wherein they allow us to taste their products before we buy. We found the Custard Apple really good and their new Falero excellent as well. We bought lot of stuff from them. Had lunch and headed to the OnWheelz Amusement park at Panchgani.

On the way, we took a small break at the Parsi Point. This is a point not to be missed as well, as the view is simply superb.

OnWheelz is a new amusement park which has opened at a beautiful location in Panchgani. It has lots of rides like Rainbow, Dashing car, Mini train etc. We took a unlimited rides pass for the kids, and they enjoyed it to the max. We had to drag them out of the park as it was getting dark and we had to move back to Pune.

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

Mahabaleshwar: Useful Travel Information

Mahabaleshwar is very popular hill station which is visited by over a million people every year. So, most people know about this place. There are numerous packages that are offered to visit it. There are hotels of all ranges, from simple to the most luxurious variety available.

Best Time to visit:

This is a frequently visited place, so if you want to have the best of weather and lesser of crowd, then go sometime in August / September. Only disadvantage at this time is that you won't be able to see or taste strawberries. For that, the best time is after December.

Here are some useful must do activities:

1. Points: Don't miss these points. Wilson Point, Bombay Point, Elephant Head Point, Arthur Seat Point, Parsi Point and Kate's Point.
2. Indoor Swimming Pool: The hotel Valley View has an indoor swimming pool which is best for the Mahabaleshwar weather. They also have a package through which you can only use the swimming pool which can be helpful for people staying in other hotels.
3. Mapro: Shop at Mapro. Their products are really good and they bring new innovations. However, if possible avoid having lunch or dinner over there, as they only offer Pizza and Sandwitches and that to too expensive.
4. OnWheelz Amusement Park: This is really a must do if you have kids with you. The rides are meant for kids and are not of full size. So, adults will not enjoy them as they would in a full amusement park.


See below the map of important points in Mahabaleshwar.


View Mahabaleshwar in a larger map

© Paras Doshi, 2009.

View from various points in Mahabaleshwar

This is the view from are some of the prominent points in Mahabaleshwar.

1. Wilson Point

2. Bombay Point

3. Elephant Head Point

4. Parsi Point

© Paras Doshi, 2009.