Mahua Kothi Bandhavgarh - A Taj Safari Lodge

Second stay at Mahua Kothi, after 15 years. Bandhavgarh has become a busy city and so is the beautiful Mahua Kothi lodge. The place is still beautifully maintained and the team really nice and efficient, especially at the restaurant. However, the buzz around the location has made it a bit less charming than Pashan Garh, for example

Wonderful cottages, serene environment. Lot of peace and serenity. Very good fresh and yummy food. Warm environment. Courteous and caring staff . Packed breakfast for safari was perfect . Homemade muesli and marmalades were really yummy . A must visit Taj property

So many good things about this small resort. The rooms are nice and comfortable and the cleaning team great - even prepared a hot bath for our safari return. The food is very good although you need to ask what is on the menu. The team serving you are if anything over keen with everyone who passes asking is you want more serving or more food. The internal Taj safari was very expensive but very good. The internal naturalist was very knowledgeable and really worked hard to make our day special. His spotter that the park allocated did no spotting and spent his time on the phone but expected a big tip for his days work. But the main reason for the low score is poor management. Other than arrival we never saw anybody ( hard in such a small resort) He demanded we pay up front for the Taj trip rather than put on the room and had people stood over us whilst dining to get payment. Also after a night that they had men working and welding all through the early hours and talking and banging he lied and said it was an elephant- which all the team knew had been there 1 week earlier!! His lack of skill in acknowledging his mistake to allow work to go on through the night is just unacceptable. I am sure he is the reason all staff seem a bit insecure rather than just being empowered to deliver great service. The Taj has been the only good hotel and I think is complacent- with Oberoi open they will have to up their game