Because this trip was sudden and not planned, it was a tough job finding a place to stay. We also had to do it during the time that the Capri cousin was planning his holiday in Ooty. As always we depended on TripAdvisor for our decision. After we sadly rejected the ones we chose that were fully booked, we hit jackpot with Hill Country Holiday Resorts, Lovedale. As you may already be aware, we went around Lovedale in circles but did not find the resort and had to be guided by someone from the resort.
The place is Ok. We have stayed in better places but the deal we had here was really good – 2 meals + stay option which was totally worth the while. The room in this lighting appears amazing but it is a far cry from various other resorts we have stayed in. The bathroom left a lot to be desired. I was surprised that some reviewers were referring to this place as a piece of Heaven on Earth – which was completely untrue. Well, everyone has a different idea of Heaven so lets leave it at that 🙂
We had the room on the first floor and the picture on the left displays the entrance to our room. As mentioned earlier, the pics look great but somehow it missed the mark.
The place is huge, almost sprawling and has multiple layers. We enter the resort at the lowest layer, accommodation is split into two layers, and parking is at the top-most layer.There is a lot of walking to be done within the premises. You cannot go from restaurant to your room in a couple of steps and older members may find it difficult especially since its not a straight line but a lot of climbing up and climbing down. There was also a chuntu play area for kids. I did not see a single kid during the entire stay. The weather of course must have played spoilsport.
The rooms were spacious and clean and so complaints in that regard. At the entrance to the resort, there is this rather quaint looking Well and a bucket which looks quite cute and is a perfect photo-op. The outside was a lot better than the inside.
An odd thing happened at the reception at the time of check-out. The assistant manager charged us less – we were not sure if it was a mistake or not and so we decided to leave. Half-way out of Lovedale, we received a call from the assistant manager and found out that it was his mistake and can we come back and pay the difference. So, we came back to pay the difference. After we paid the amount, the assistant manager thanked us for returning and said that since it was his mistake, that amount would have been cut from his salary if we had not come back.