Dubai Day 2

Day 2 started with exploring more features of the apartment. While checking-in, the receptionist informed us that breakfast would be sent to our room, since their restaurant is closed for renovation. We called and asked them to deliver the breakfast at our room by 8:30 am, since we had to leave by 9:00 for our sight seeing. In the meanwhile, we went to the pool on top of the apartment. To go to the pool, you need to go from one tower to another tower. On the top floor, you have your steam, sauna, swimming pool and gym.

We were the only ones using the pool and enjoyed it to the maximum before we headed back to the room to get ready. We were waiting from 8:30 am for breakfast and it was no where in sight. The people at reception were also not able to tell us a concrete time for delivery of breakfast, since they were having problem with their service. I was worried, since we were getting late for our sight seeing. We quickly made maggi and eggs from the grocery we got the previous day. Finally our breakfast did arrive by about 9:15 am after numerous calls to the reception. The breakfast that was delivered to us was 2 croissant, a cup of soup, a cup of fresh cut fruits & a yoghurt for each of us. This menu was not our preferred breakfast choice, considering the wide range of breakfast option that we usually  get while dining at hotels. We ignored thinking, since this is room delivered, we were given limited choice.

I had booked City Tour, Desert Safari, Ferrari World and Dhow Cruise through North Tours LLC. The lady coordinating with me was very sweet and accommodated all my changes and requests. On Day 2, one batch of people were going for City Tour and Desert Safari, while another batch (hubby and me) went for Ferrari World. The pick up time for City Tour from my apartment was between 9:00 am - 9:30 am. The driver was waiting for long, since breakfast was not delivered to the room. My family members left the apartment only by around 9:40 am and the driver was sweet enough to wait for us.  The pick up time for Ferrari World was between 10:00 am - 10:30 am. The driver came by 10:30 am and we left to Ferrari World. Our package included pick-up from hotel, drop to hotel and Ferrari World tickets and costed AED 425 for each of us.


The drive from our apartment to Ferrari World was about 45 minutes. The ticket queue was way too long at Ferrari World but since we already had the tickets, it was no big deal for us. After going inside, we purchased the premium pass as well (additional AED 100 each person), since we didn't want to wait at the queue. We went on a Sunday and the place was packed. You are given a map with the list of rides and entertainment. My husband did try all the rides, while I tried a few (I'm pregnant and I cannot crib about not trying... Hmmmmpp). I enjoyed the following rides:

1. Driving with the champion: It's a simulation ride where you along with a young engineer get to experience Ferrari F1 car.
2. Speed of Magic: This was my favourite ride out of the very few ones I tried.  We travel along with a young boy in 4D Fantasy world. The drive in this was just fantastic
3. Made in Maranello: This was quite enlightening as it gave insight into how a Ferrari car is actually made.

There is a whole lot of Ferrari Cars, that make you drool and wish for owning one. The only time I felt a bit jealous of my husband was when he went on "Formula Rossa". It is considered the world's fastest roller coaster and you accelerate upto 240 km/hr in less than 5 seconds. He loved it so much that he went twice!!!

For lunch, we dined at Il Podio at Ferrari World. It's a family restaurant, which offers Arabic, Asian and Indian cuisine. The food was pretty good and service was quick. This place is definitely a must visit, if you have kids and if you love Ferrari. I want to go back to this place just to try "Formula Rossa".


Our pick-up time from Ferrari World was 4:30 pm but by the time we were done with out rides, we left Ferrari World by 5:00 pm. In the meanwhile, my family members had gone for City Tour (they said it was quite good, especially the museum). After coming back from City Tour, they were scheduled to go for Desert Safari by 3:30 pm - 4:00 pm. Again the pick up was from the apartment and were dropped back by around 9:30 pm - 10:00 pm. I had booked the Desert Safari in a hummer for them rather than in a Land Cruiser, since it would be a different experience for them. They felt the Desert Safari was fine but the belly dancer was too tired. They felt the entertainment factor was a bit of let down and the food was average. While I made my booking with North Tours LLC, I had mentioned about all the guests being vegetarian and they had no hassle arranging the same.

My husband and me were dropped back to the hotel around 6:00 pm. While I was preparing the plan in India, my husband mentioned that he wanted to take me to a nice place for dinner, which should have a typical Arabic setting. I did a small research and decided upon "Khan Murjan" at Wafi Mall. I had made note of the directions to that place, in case I was going by train. Ascott Park Place is beautifully located. The metro station is located on the opposite side of the road and there is a bus stop right next to the apartment. My husband and me wanted to try the metro and took the metro to Wafi Mall. Even the metro stations are beautifully constructed and is very well connected. We left for dinner by about 7:30 pm. The station is located on the opposite side of the mall and it's just a 5 minute walk from the station. 


The location of Khan Murjan is in the basement of the mall. We did ask people for direction and finally we did reach the restaurant. As soon as we saw the restaurant, we were so impressed with the setting and it was exactly what my husband had in his mind. He had a huge smile through out the evening. It had an open setting, but it was not one bit hot. The restaurant serves a host of cuisine, which ranges from Lebanese, Moroccan, Turkish and Egyptian. It was interesting to note that the menu was first to be read on the left hand side and then the right hand side. I honestly don't remember the names of the items that we ordered except for my main course. We ordered one veg and non-veg appetiser along with a veg and non-veg main course. The amount of breads served with  appetiser were just amazing. It felt like a whole meal!! For main course, I ordered a "Koshari Bab Allok". I've never really tasted anything like this before. It was a mixture of pasta, rice, lentil, chickpea, fried onions along with tomato curry. It was super yummy and the portion was huge. I'd definitely visit this place every time I'm at Dubai.

We did check out Wafi mall and did some teeny-tiny shopping. We headed back to the apartment to have a good night sleep.

Dubai Day 1

I had booked tickets on Emirates airline and my date of departure was 16th June, 2011. By the time we had decided, getting return tickets were becoming a problem, while booking through Travel Agents. I did check online at emirates.com for tickets and it was available for much cheaper rate than what the travel agents were offering. I booked for my family and went to Emirates office at Chennai to book the tickets for my sis-in-law's family. While I made my booking, I selected the meal options as well for all of us. (I prefer selecting my meal options because most of us are vegetarians and getting veg meals in flight is a big deal!!!)

My flight was supposed to depart Chennai at 9:45 am but was late by almost an hour. This particular flight (EK 545) looked pretty new and had very comfortable seating. I was starting to get a bit hungry and was waiting for the food to come. The refreshing lime juice was super yummy. Coming to my meal, they didn't have any veg meal :( I was pretty shocked and informed them that I had booked my tickets almost a month back and I had mentioned my meal option as well. While she informed me that they didn't get any information regarding that, I was kind of surprised by the kind of miscommunication that can happen in such an airline. 

I called the local Emirates office at Dubai and informed them about the same ( I didn't want to be in a similar situation during my return journey). They were flabbergasted that the ground staff were not informed and hoped that I would not be in a similar situation during my return journey. After we landed (around 12:45 pm), we proceeded towards immigration. The one thing I was irritated with Dubai Airport is you have to stand in a separate queue for Eye scan and another queue for immigration. Can it just not be combined as one ? The waiting time was just frustrating.

We were getting a bit worried because we had a booking at Burj Al Arab for High Tea at 4:30 pm and it was already 2:30 pm and we were not out of the airport. Finally we made it out of the airport by 3:00 pm and rushed to take a taxi. The taxi driver was a bit clueless about where the Apartment (Ascott Park Place) is located. We did roam about a bit before we could finally spot our Apartment. The check in happened quite quickly, since we told them we have to rush for our booking at Burj Al Arab. 

The apartment was a big one. The living room, dining and kitchen were big. The master bedroom had a huge bathroom with a seating area. The second bedroom was also spacious with a big bathroom. The third bedroom was very small with a bathroom. The problem was, we were not able to lock any of our bedroom. We quickly changed and went for our High Tea. Since, children below 18 were not allowed at Skyview Bar, we had made two booking at Burj Al Arab.

View of Burj Khalifa from our room

Living area

We were two couples (Sis-in-law,Bro-in-law, Hubby and me) dining at Skyview bar. While  my MIL and the two children were dining at Sahn Eddar Restaurant. When I was making my online reservation, they had enquired if were celebrating any special occasion or if we have any dietary requirement. They had also informed us about the dress code that needs to be followed. All the details were sent to me by mail as well, confirming my booking. The place is absolutely beautiful and the architecture inside is just mind blowing. The service as expected exceeded my expectation and the view from Skyview Bar is absolutely worth it.

 First we were offered Champagne. For people like me, who don't drink, they offer an apple & date juice, which was super yummy. Next came fresh berried with cream. As per our requests, we were offered hot and cold sandwiches. (My mouth is just watering thinking about them and writing. They were absolutely delicious). Meanwhile, you can have any kind of drink / coffee / tea. The variety is just too much to choose from!!!. We were then served an assortment of pastries, scones and chocolates. The presentation is mind blowing. The quantity served is just too much and we would all nibble on the same piece so that we could taste it.

We were initially not given a table with the view, but later on request they were sweet enough to change our table. They have extremely friendly staff, which makes the whole experience completely worth it. I cannot write much about the experience at Sahn Eddar, since I personally did not experience it. But, I was told from my MIL that it was very good and they had a great time as well. We spent a good 2.5 hrs at this place and we didn't realise the time pass by.

We were busy clicking pictures of the hotel, while the staff was arranging a taxi for us. We then went to BurJuman Mall for our shopping. I thought the mall was fine with lots of brand in it. We didn't do much of shopping here. After we were done looking at the mall, we went to a nearby grocery store to buy food that we could eat in the night (if we were hungry). Trust me, we were so full after the Afternoon Tea, that we didn't have anything the entire night.

Getting a taxi in Dubai is so easy, that we just took one from the mall outside to our apartment. Shall continue my Day 2 in my next post.

Back after a break - Dubai

I'm preggie now and I didn't quite like the thought of writing about food. But that still didn't stop me from going out for lunch / dinner. Due to my restricted liking (blaming it on my child), we used to go to the same place over and over again. Honestly, I was getting bored and we were thinking of making a trip somewhere close by, to make sure I get a break from my monotonous doctor visits and of course, thinking only about the baby.

We (me and hubby) were thinking of various options like Ooty, Kodaikanal, Kabini, etc., But I felt I could go to these places once the kid is born for a easy family holiday. Then we realised, we'v not made a single trip with my mil and we could go some where with her. She immediately said Dubai and the date was also fixed on the same day. Now it was all up to me to plan it all out. 

We were planning to go along with my sis-in-law's family and we decided we'll go for 3 days. I knew 2 night-3 days would be difficult, since there are so many things to see there. I was given complete freedom to plan what ever I wanted but with a budget in hand. I  first listed the things to see, keeping in mind the crowd that is going. Then I started searching for hotels to stay. 

We were 7 of us travelling in total. So I was looking out for 1 suite and a triple occupancy room or 2 double rooms and 1 triple occupancy room. I was very close to booking Grand Hyatt, as it seemed okay for the price they were charging. For the kind of hotels I was looking out for, it looked like I had to shell out minimum 12 - 13k per night per room. That would mean approximately Rs. 36k - 40k per night for our family. That's when I started searching for apartments. I wanted a 3 bedroom apartment and my first choice was Somerset / Ascott. The reason being, I had seen the rooms at Somerset in Chennai and quite liked it.

I searched the website for any of their [properties in Dubai and I narrowed it down to Ascott Park Place. I saw the layout of their 3 bedroom apartment and liked it. It felt like a spacious apartment, which measured approx 2300 sq ft. When I contacted them for details, they informed me that they would charge AED 1440 per night for the 7 of us, which included the breakfast as well. This seemed like a great deal (when compared to the hotels I was checking out) and also thrilled about the fact that we would all be staying together. I made my confirmation through online and booked it for 3 night stay.

While I was doing my booking, I had enquired about transportation from airport to the apartment. They gave me a costing of AED 230 per car. Since we were 7 of us, we would require 2 cars. While I was browsing through tripadvisor and checking through Google maps, I found that it would take AED 50 per car when I take the taxi from airport. So, I cancelled my transport option and just booked the room with breakfast option.


In the meanwhile, I had made a list of things to do at Dubai. We had narrowed it down to dining at Burj Al Arab, Ferrari World, Desert Safari, Dhow cruise and of course shopping :)


We wanted to stay at Atlantis after seeing the pictures online. So our 3 day trip was being extended to 5 days :D


I'll continue this post as to what I did at Dubai and my experience out there. 

Little Italy

It was my long pending treat from my brother, so we decided to go to Little Italy for lunch.. I'm pretty regular to this place and I started loving Italian cuisine because of this place. We wanted to start on a healthy note, because we knew the ones to follow were gonna be loaded with cheese. For soup, we ordered a broccoli soup and for starter we ordered crispy potato skin with mayonnaise. For main course I ordered my favourite Lasagna, while my brother ordered ravioli pasta in white sauce. I don't exactly remember the name of his dish.

The soup arrived fast. I was extremely hungry and I finished it in no time. I found the soup to be a tad salty. After that it ended up being a long wait. My hunger was reaching its peak. There was a huge group of ladies who came about 10 minutes after we did (We finished ordering by then). They started getting their starters but we didn't get any food. We were looking at waiters coming through the kitchen door to see if our food was coming!! I know I was really hungry... We reminded the waiter about our order and he said it's coming right away.. But obviously it didn't come right away. At one point, I was so mad that I thought I should cancel my order and eat some where else. 

The starter did come along with our main course. I'm pretty sure they forgot about my starter and only when I did ask the waiter did he realise about it.. Anyways coming back to the food.. The potato skin was fabulous. My anger and hunger went down after snacking it. Now on to the main course. I go to Little Italy just for their cheese Lasagna. I think it's by far the best I've had it town.. I sometime go and order only the lasagna. Even during their brunch, I mostly end up eating only Lasagna. My brother's pasta was also nice

We didn't order any dessert because my tummy was happy and needed no more.. Their lasagna always makes me extremely happy and it's superlicous. I noticed that the place definitely needs renovation. I'm not happy with their service but I'm sure i'll keep going back for the pasta :)

5 Senses again

I've been eating out a lot these days but not been reviewing anything really... It was my anniversary and my husband decided to take me to 5 senses for a quick bite. We wanted to give this place another shot, since our previous experience with this place was not so good.

We went there for lunch and we were surprised to see a set menu for Rs. 650 apart from a-la carte option. I went for the vegetarian option while my husband went for the non-vegetarian. I chose iced tea as my drink and got a mezze platter as my starter. The starters are yumm and a delight to look at. Next came the salad. It was mixed greens with beetroot. The salad was really nice but the wasabi was too much for my liking. It started to irritate my nose that I couldn't really eat the salad. But, it was light and fresh. 

Next was the super yummy pizza. I ordered the Giardino e piri piri. I asked him not to add pineapples in my pizza. The pizza was spicy and yummy for my tummy. It was the size of a personal pan.. By this time I was full and I was telling myself there is more to come!!! For main course, I ordered "Penne alla capagnola", which is pasta in red sauce. Again a delightful main course. For dessert I ordered a tiramisu.. Perfect end to my perfect dinner :)

Overall this place is amazing. The presentation is definitely the best I've seen in this city. The food is really nice. This time I didn't have any problem with the service, but the real service can be tested when the restaurant is full

I enjoyed spending my anniversary here and we did go for our family dinner to Kefi on the same day. Wonderful day spent thanks to my husband :)

3 kingdoms

I saw it on burrp that a new place has opened in KNK Road and I was excited to try it. I called up the restaurant for direction and went along with my family. I went to this place quite a while ago and I really don't remember the name of the dishes we ordered. 

My husband being a non-vegetarian opted for the lunch buffet. My sister-in-law, my niece and myself being vegetarian decided to order. When we opened the menu card, we could hardly find vegetarian dishes. I was pretty disappointed seeing the menu card while my husband was laughing away to glory. We ordered a potato dish for starter, which was basically french fries dipped in sweetest sauce.. It was quite good. Then came the hot and sour soup, which was again good. There is no Thai veg curry in menu but they said they could make one for us. It came along with rice, which again was good.

My husband commented that his non-veg was good. Overall the flavours were good but there is limited vegetarian option. They do have a private place for having parties and the menu can be customized to the occasion. 

I don't think I would be visiting this place again but the non-vegetarians would like this place a lot.

Cafe Chokolade

Read about this place on CFG and wanted to go there on the day of opening. But I did go there with my family the next day, on a Saturday, after my lunch at 3 kingdoms (I shall review 3 kingdoms next). It's a small place, which is very much suitable for college students. We ordered a chocolate sandwich, chocolate milkshake and chikoo ice cream.

We were eagerly waiting like small kids and drooling over the milkshake pictures on the wall. The service was quick. The chocolate sandwich was smashing... It was a pretty big sandwich. This is one sandwich that I would happily lick my fingers to satisfy my craving. Likewise, the milkshake was very nice as well.  It's a really thick shake that they give spoon :D..The chikoo ice cream tasted like the natural ones and we quite enjoyed it.

This place is definitely easy on the pocket. The bill was bout Rs. 150 for above three. Each item was priced around Rs. 50. I would be visiting this place often. The only problem with this place is the parking :(

I've heard they have a branch at T-Nagar as well.

Note: As I'm writing this review, I'm craving for chocolate sandwich. I'm definitely visiting this place this weekend

Fusion 9

I chose this place to catch up with a friend of mine for lunch. We reached there about 1 - 1:15 pm and about 5 tables were occupied. They informed us about the buffet available for Rs. 500, but we decided to check out the A la carte menu. We didn't order any starter and jumped straight to our main course. I did order a pizza, but they later told me their oven was not working. So I ended up ordering a quesadilla while my friend ordered a chicken steak.

The menu for buffet also seemed interesting and looked worth the money. The service was pretty quick on that day. My quesadilla was nice and yumm and my friend was enjoying his food as well, especially the sauce of his steak. The only negative aspect about this restaurant is there is limited choice for vegetarian.

Overall it's a good place to have lunch or dinner. It's one of the few restaurants in Chennai, which serve you alcohol. Price-wise, each dish is priced around Rs. 300. Would definitely be visiting this place again

Ecstacy

I love desserts and one night while having my dinner at home, I suddenly announced that I wanted to have Sizzling brownie with ice cream. 

Hubby: Right now?

Me: Yup.. ( Giving him the sweetest smile)

Hubby: Where do you want to go for dessert?

Me: Cream centre, that is closer to our house and I can't think of any other place?

Hubby: You want to go there and just have brownie with ice cream?

Me: Yeah... We'll leave in sometime

I go to my room and God knows what happened.. I slept (I'm sure hubby might have been very happy when he came to the room). The next day we are off to see "Nanban" movie with family at Satyam Theatre. After the movie, while walking back to the car:

Hubby: You want to have dessert at Ecstacy or want to have only brownie with ice cream

Me: <Confused Look>

Hubby: You want both?

Me: I'll settle for dessert here :)

We ordered three desserts and all to go. We ordered blueberry cheese cake, Le chocolatier and Coffee Tiramisu. It was neatly packed with spoons and tissues. All three were fantastic and I couldn't choose the best of the three. Blueberry Cheese Cake was one of the best I've had in Chennai. Le Chocolatier was a complete chocolate dessert in a very pretty shape. It is every chocolate lover's dessert. Coffee Tiramisu was light and fantastic.

The decor is  really nice and they have interesting flavours. Overall it is an amazing place to have desserts. The portions are small but the quality is good. It is a bit on the expensive side but I can indulge here once in a while. 

Kryptos

I had been to Kryptos long time ago, while my husband didn't like it much, I loved that place.  We thought it's time he gives it a second chance and went there along with my MIL on Saturday for dinner. The decor is classy and as soon as you enter, you are greeted with a warm smile. We were given a corner table along with welcome drink, which I think tasted like peach iced tea (I'm not really sure about it but I liked it). 

It was easy for my MIL to decide what she wanted while my husband and me were confused. My MIL went along with the Veg Salad buffet which comes along with Soup. We ordered Kalitsounia for starter. It's a pastry filled with Ricotta cheese, pumpkin and asparagus. For Main course, I ordered Kritiko Boureki and hubby ordered Spanáki kai Tyrí Kotópoulo. I was not sure how to pronounce the names but the waiter took care of everything. He would explain in detail about the dish and make you feel comfortable. 


The service was quick. The starter came along fast and the first impression that they serve only 4 pieces!!! The starter came along with tzatziki dip and aubergine chip. It was the first time I was tasting aubergine chip and quite enjoyed it. Even though the starter looked small in portion, it is super filling. 

The main course followed soon. My Kritiko Boureki was a pastry filled with potato and cheese. Hubby's main course was big in portion and I immediately knew he would not finish it. He kept praising about his main course. I saw chicken breast, potato wedges and tzatziki on his plate. ( Since I'm a vegetarian, I really can't comment). Coming to my main course, I really enjoyed it. I generally tend to like more spicy things but wanted to try something different. My main course came along with a small portion of rice, channa and veg saute (There could be different names in Greek for the items mentioned). I truly enjoyed my main course and couldn't finish the entire portion.


While we were relishing our food, MIL quite enjoyed her soup and salad. She liked the variety and flavours in salad. We were debating for a while if we should order dessert. Of course, we couldn't step out without having one. We ordered Milopita Nissiotiki, which is ricotta cheese cake with orange topping. It's the best ending we could have to our meal. It had a nice richness and freshness to it. It added quite a zing to my mouth. Absolutely refreshing dessert.


I think the bill came to about 2k for our dinner. Overall, hubby changed his opinion about this place and we are sure to visit this place. 

The Madaras Kafe

I had seen the hoarding at Ispahani Centre and read about it at http://aromasofkitchens.blogspot.com. While shopping on Saturday afternoon, I wanted to grab a quick bite. I thought it was the best opportunity to try this place. It is at the basement of Ispahani Centre. It had a decent store space which can accommodate about 40 people. They have tried to bring the Madras feel in the decor.

My husband had been to this place earlier and wanted me to try the fried podi idly, while he had Lime Mint cooler. The fried podi idly is mini idly, which is fried and coated with podi. While it was still crunchy on the outside, it had a softness on the inside. It came along with coconut chutney. We then ordered Gumman Kuthu Idly. This was again mini idly sautéed with onion and tomato served with coconut chutney. The flavour was fine but I still did prefer friend podi idly over this. 

Overall, the service was very quick. Price-wise, the place was good. For above 3 mentioned items, we paid Rs. 130. I was not wowed by this place that I would go to this place to eat. If I happen to be at Ispahani and I'm hungry, I would definitely go down and eat

Bellaria

I came to know about this through Facebook and I've been wanting to go there for a long time. While travelling back from my parents place, hubby mentions that he wants to have coffee. I told him why don't we have ice cream, since I know a new place nearby. We parked our car just outside the gate and went inside. It's a small place, which has 2 tables and can accommodate 8 people. 

Just as we step into the store, the power goes off. They tell us it generally comes back in 10 minutes and it did come back within 5 minutes. I ordered a Chocolate Brownie ice cream, while hubby ordered a Ferrero Rocher ice cream. They have a very interesting process of making ice cream. They blended Milk, Sugar and Ferrero Rocher / Chocolate. The puree was  poured a pan and while mixing, it became ice cream right in front of my eyes. I didn't add any topping, while hubby added almonds to his. 

Trust me, it's the best Ferrero Rocher ice cream I've had. I could really get the taste of the chocolate. The chocolate brownie ice cream also didn't disappoint. I like the fact that I can see how it's made and I'm assured that there is no preservatives or artificial flavour. I'm waiting to go back there and try different flavours. We did pack brownie and cupcakes for home. We didn't have a chance to try them since we had guests over. So I really can't comment about the cakes but the ice creams are great

The only hitch is no parking spot. Otherwise, I love this place and would recommend it to all. Oh by the way, if punch a card every time you buy an ice cream. If you have 9 punches, you get the 10th ice cream free :)

The Serai - Chikmagalur

My husband was born exactly a day after me. Since this was the first year we were celebrating our birthday together, we wanted to go out somewhere. More so, because we were scared if any of his family members will throw a "birthday party". I was debating between Kumarakom and Chikmagalur. I chose Chikmagalur, considering the cost as well as staying at Bangalore for the weekend. 

I was planning to stay from 14th Dec to 17th Dec. The first time I called, they said they were sold out. Later when I did tell them I wanted to spend my birthday there, they said they would confirm and get back to me. Later she did get back to me saying 16th was unavailable. I told her it was my husband's birthday and I'd want to stay there. She later did take in my request and gave me a confirmation. I made an online payment to confirm the booking. I booked an Estate pool villa for 3 night, which was about Rs, 38,499 and included all meals for both of us. 

Next came the hurdle of booking tickets. I appreciate the fact that Indian Railway ticket can be booked online, but it is so damn slow. I left on 13th Dec through Bangalore Mail and reached Bangalore at 5:10 in the morning. I then caught a train from Bangalore and reached Birur by 10:00 am. The train was late by about 40 minutes. I had asked the resort to arrange for a car to pick me up from Birur station. The driver who came to pick us up spoke good english and was really nice. It was 1.5 hr drive from station to the resort. My husband was unhappy about the fact that we were travelling so much and said I was not going to plan trips any more. 

We reached the resort by about 11:30 am and the resort was beautiful to look at. Christmas decoration was up everywhere. The welcome drink was Cold Coffee and it was super yumm. We were taken to our villa and it was gorgeous. It was a huge villa. As soon as you open the gate to your villa, there is a path that leads you to your room. Opposite to your room door, you have a pool and a place to lie down. The landscape is dressed beautifully with grass and plants. As soon as you open your room door, the first thing you notice is the huge bed. There is a TV, a sitting area, mini bar and wardrobe in the room. When you open the bathroom, you are in for a treat. First, it is soooo big!!! You have washbasin on either side of the bathroom, so we don't have to fight for the place to get ready. There is a bathtub in the middle. The right side door leads to the shower area and left side door leads to the washroom. There is a small passage between the bathtub and shower area, which leads to the outer shower area. If I ever get a chance, I would definitely build such a huge bathroom for me. 

The food here is ok. I really enjoyed my breakfast here, especially Masala Dosa. They do have lot of options like Indoor Games, Outdoor Games, Swimming Pool, Gym, Billiards, Library, Movie option, etc. The sad part was it was a bit cold out there and I couldn't use the Swimming Pool that much. Should have booked the villa with Jaccuzzi :(. We hardly stepped out of the resort as we wanted to just relax in the resort.  The resort did arrange for us to go to the Siva Temple nearby, where you need to climb about 500 steps and its the highest peak in Karnataka. The view from there was brilliant. We tried the spa at the resort and it was good. 

View from Shiva Temple:

The resort does offer romantic dinner option for a couple, which includes candle light dinner under a tree and in the swimming pool. We didn't take any of the option and wanted to surprise each other. The surprise that we planned for each other, didn't turn out so well but we did have a hearty laugh about it.

Random Resort pics:

Overall, this resort is fantastic and would recommend it to anyone for 2/3 night stay. I did check out on 17th Dec at 8:00 am to catch my train from Birur at 10:00 am. Stupid train came to the station more than an hour late and I reached Bangalore by 3 pm. I spent the weekend with my friends in Bangalore and came back to Chennai.


By the way, my husband did say the trip was worth it and I'm back to planning all the trips again :D