Me, Myself And Nature

Club Mahindra’s Lakeview Resort in Munnar is a great place to get in touch with yourself, says Susan George

The empty click of my shoes on the terracotta steps, the tweeting of birds, the distant roar of a jeep careening down serpentine roads…those are the only sounds that interject the stillness. Winding my way down a flight of steps from the cottage at Club Mahindra's Lakeview Resort, I'm tempted to keep my eyes anchored on the virginal beauty of the rolling hills and simultaneously break into song. Fortunately, however, better sense prevails as I gingerly walk down the steep slope. Perched atop a hill, gazing at the surrounding velvet green hills, Lakeview Resort unabashedly embraces nature in every facet of its architecture.

Having recently been awarded an ISO certificate, the resort dismantles the notion about the deplorable service standards of time-share resorts. The distinguishing factor of the resort is the way it invites guests to be a part of nature. Gigantic windows framed with crystal-clear glass, comfortable balconies attached to each cottage, the absence of ornate gates or a compound wall: a reach-out-and-touch-the-plantations sensation sweeps through here.

More like a large living room in a colonial home, the lobby has nothing of the marble glitzyness of a five-star property. From the flooring to the ceiling beams, and even in the details like mahogany-edged mirrors, the accent on woodwork is unmistakable. Functional and uncluttered cottages line pathways laid out with landscaped gardens complete with bursts of purple bougainvillaea and bright yellow birds-of-paradise. Parquet flooring, bright upholstery and large windows welcoming the outdoors are the main design features of the bedroom and sitting room.

There's no frantic rush to tick off your list of sight-seeing spots and shopping arcades. While the resort does have a holiday activity centre, equipped with board games, video games and other sophisticated thingamajigs, it is also the ideal place to put your feet up and let the world pass you by. Sipping the steaming sweetness of the local Kolukomali tea, which the restaurant manager explains is brewed from "delicate broken orange pekoe grown at the highest altitude", and observing the miniature jeeps, tractors and people on the roads below can be pastime enough. If you can stomach the ride up the dizzyingly wiry roads, trusting your cab driver enough to stomp the brake in time for a local bus to pass millimetres away from you, a trip to Munnar is definitely worth venturing. Lakeview Resort will give you the space to reconnect with yourself