Wildernest (Goa) – Luxury in the forest

The 3 letter word Goa brings about the picture of beaches, amazing food and amazing night life. There is however a corner of Goa where everybody sleeps at around 9 PM.

Rated one of top 100 resorts in India as per Outlook Traveler – Wildernest Nature resort looked promising. However, their website was pretty average, so my expectations were low. Rubal was extremely excited about the butterflies, and the waterfall trek so we were definitely going. The resort is on the border of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra and has an amazing infinity pool that looks over to the mountains.

The Room

The room was very tastefully done, with great importance paid to maintaining the eco-system. There were powders instead of soaps, we were shown the trees and plants they were extracted from during one of our treks. The water from the bathroom goes directly to the base of trees to water them. Many such little things …

The Infinity Pool

You can float on the edge of the pool for hours staring at the valleys and the beautiful mountains. Very pretty!

The Trek

They offer multiple treks, we just went on one - the morning trek to the waterfall. It was through the forest, where our guide showed us tons of plants with medicinal and other properties. There were butterflies, lots of them.

We saw a snake, and then sat and bounced stones near a waterfall !

The food

The food is predominantly Maharashtrian, but a mix of Goan and Karnataka cuisine. Its definitely worth checking out for its uniqueness – Mula Bhaji, Ukda Bhat, Konkan Fish and something new everyday!

The Negatives

Some of my friends tell me that I only tell good things, and that would never make me a good reviewer. So I am going to try and criticize things in my reviews as well.

Here goes. If you like to wake up late, that wouldn’t be an option at Wildernest. You would wake up to the sound of birds and animals early every morning.

If you think you have had enough of the forest and want to go out to a beach or to the markets – they are all at least an hours drive away. If you don’t like walking too much, you wont appreciate the fact that you have to walk almost a kilometre almost everytime you go back to your room from the restaurant.

Finally this being the forest, there are snakes here. The locals though told me they have never had a snake bite in the last 5 years.

The Rates

During the monsoons you can get rates as low as Rs 4000 per night. The rate goes up to about Rs 6000/8000 in normal season(Feb-April) and probably higher in peak season(Dec/Jan). They offer a pickup if you stay for 2 or more days.

The rates of the mountain view room are about Rs 1000 higher than the Forest View room. Here’s the view from the mountain view room !

Finally

Most people we met at Wildernest agreed that the place was much better than the website, a rare thing. We made more friends in 2 days here than during our vacation, doing treks together, watching snakes, waiting for an event or trying the new cuisine. They have some cultural events every evening, which might be great for foreigners.

Definitely a place to visit once in your lifetime. I loved how they have maintained the forest, and at the same time promoted tourism.

Ideal Duration – 2-3 Days, probably not for long durations.

More Reviews

Check out more great reviews at TripAdvisor

Update - Check out the Outlook Traveler Article about Interiors of Goa