#Villacation

WHY SETTLE FOR A ROOM WITH A VIEW WHEN YOU CAN HAVE AN ENTIRE VILLA WITH MORE THAN JUST A VIEW?

- SMITA TRIPATHI

Prashant Shivan, a New Delhibased HR consultant, was excitedly looking forward to his annual college reunion in December last year. Five of his friends and their families from India and across the globe were planning to holiday together in Kodagu (earlier Coorg). There was only one glitch. One couple had recently adopted a dog and now they needed a place that could not only accommodate the large group but also their furry friend.

"Earlier, we generally just booked hotels but since this time my friends were going to travel with their dog, we decided to check out a villa as an option," he recalls. Shivan and his friends booked the Pollibetta Bungalow in Kodagu through amã Stays & Trails, a premium homestay offering by The Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL), which also owns the Taj group of hotels. The luxurious heritage bungalow surrounded by coffee plantations came with an in-house chef and housekeeping staff and at approximately ₹45,000 a night, which was quite reasonable when the cost was split amongst the friends.

Similarly, when earlier this year New Delhi-based accessories designer Natasha Arora wanted to celebrate her 40th birthday in Goa with her girl gang, her first preference was a villa. "The space and the privacy one gets in a villa is incomparable. We can party till late and have the swimming pool all to ourselves instead of sharing it with several others in a hotel," says Arora. She booked a three-bedroom villa in Parra from Stay Vista that came with its own private pool.