Shindola Residency

The rooms are good, though they don’t have views, and the property feels narrow and small. When the parking is full, the whole place gets congested. The food needs a lot of improvement. Even the complimentary poha was only okay, and the bread, butter, and jam were very stale. What I did enjoy was the setting deep in the woods: it’s quiet, with fresh air and lots of birds around, and you get that jungle-stay feel.

The staff gave excellent service, and the hotel can help arrange a good taxi at an affordable price. Food is a specialty, even though it costs extra. If you eat meat, try the 'Gavran chicken'. The location is easy to find on maps, just near the club Mahindra holiday home in Mahabaleshwar. The TV unit did act up at times, but I didn’t come to such a beautiful place to watch TV anyway. It was a lovely stay, and I hope the staff keeps those same values.

A couple of things worked in the place’s favor: the service providers were always willing to fix anything we asked, and despite the muddy feel, it was clean in its own way. But for 2.5k, I think you can find much better rooms in Mahabaleshwar. These rooms weren’t very clean, smelled damp, and felt wet and muddy to the touch. They keep the balconies closed during monsoon, even though that’s when many tourists come to Mahabaleshwar. The complimentary breakfast wasn’t appetizing, either. One of the rooms we booked didn’t even have running water.

I was traveling alone on my bike to mahabaleshwar in the first week of Oct 2017. Sunil was very friendly, answered all my questions, and helped plan my whole stay around the places I wanted to visit in and around mahabaleshwar. The homemade food was good. The choices were limited while I was there because the cook was away, but I could ask for what I wanted and it was served well. Staff were friendly, and there was a geyser for hot water whenever I needed it. It’s about 3KM from the main market, so it’s a good place to experience nature, but you’ll definitely need your own transport. There were quite a few power cuts, so I couldn’t rely fully on the Wifi. There was no TV in my room, which didn’t bother me since I hadn’t traveled all that way to watch TV. Overall, I recommend it.