If heaven has a luxury resort, its earthly rendition would be Vanya Vilas. Designed like a Royal Forest Camp, the property has 25 luxury tents spread over 20 acres or so. Now these aren’t conventional tents. For non campers like my sister, don’t worry, you have you have cemented four walls, air-conditioners, a beautiful four poster bed, wi-fi (yes wi-fi in the middle of no where) and everything you could want in your room, and no, no tigers are going to enter your tent and whisk you away in the dead of the night.
I think I fell in love with Vanya -Vilas the moment I entered the property. Entered the lobby was given a welcome drink and a cold towel and was whisked away to my room for check in. The girl escorting me to my room was Shomani who I presume is in the guest relations department. Casually talking about my trip she made inquiries about my scheduled safari the next day and said the afternoons were not a bad time for animal spotting either where I mentioned I wasn’t too keen on going for the safari in a canter. I was told the morning safari would be at 6am and I said in that case I would have to wake up at 3.30AM. When we reached the room she showed me the mini bar to which I casually remarked that I wanted the whole fridge to be stacked with cold water instead of alcohol. On her way out I told her I had some laundry that I wanted picked up.
The following happened in the next 15 minutes or so. Someone called me from the travel desk telling me they were going to try for an afternoon safari for me and see if they could get me a gypsy instead of a canter. The Housekeeping department sent someone to pick up my laundry, Someone came in to rearrange my mini bar with cold water. When I called the operator at night to set up my wake up time, she tld me she had an alarm set for 3.30AM for me and asked if I wanted reminders. I was left stunned. It may not sound like a lot of instructions and some of them weren’t they were casual comments I had passed, but it was all done in no time as if my every wish was their command. Over the next four days that feeling was validated again and again.
You could go anywhere and tell anyone anything and it will be done. Does not matter what department their in. Come back from a safari, walk into the lobby and tell the first person in uniform you set your eyes on “ Can I have two glasses of fresh orange juice with pulp and ice sent to my room please?” 15 mins later (It takes you 5-7 mins to get to your room) its there. Having travelled all over and sampled some of the best hotels out there, this place had their service standards set very very high. You know a hotel is doing something right when by the end of the fourth day you know quite a few of the staff by their names and you don’t have to even say anything. They see you and know what you want. There was a captain in the dining room by the name of Suresh. On my first morning there I decided I wanted an omlet. Normally I don’t eat omlets anywhere but home and had a whole bunch of instructions of how exactly I wanted it. I wanted it made of one egg, cooked on a mid low flame, onions finely chopped but not too much of them, lots of green chili and coriander. I wanted it folded in from the sides and done golden brown but not burnt. Suresh heard me out, and then got the chef who just wanted to confirm a few things. The omlet came in and I would give it a 6/10. It was still a bit too refined for me So I called Suresh and told him I have a very crass palette and I wanted that ghar ka masala omlet. He went and the next omlet got an 8/10. The one I got to eat the next day got a 9/10. I knew my breakfast here was set for the next 4 days as did Suresh. I never had to tell him. The moment I called the dining room in the morning, he knew my order already and sent it across.
The Executive Sous Chef there Chef Rajdeep really takes pride in the food he sends out and rightly so. While a lot people with my kind of platte may find his food catering more to the foreigners there, a word with him at the begining of your stay is highly recommended. He listens and remembers and then dishes out some of the best sumer salads, soups, eggs....you name it !!!!!
Vanya Vilas does not encourage in room dining to preserve on food quality. However if you, like me, travel alone and state that you would prefer to eat in your room, it will be arranged and I must say with a lot pizzaz at that. Service is always on or before time never after the time promised it will take to deliver.
The upkeep and maintenance of the property is impeccable. Not a weed in the beautifully landscaped lawns and no matter where you are in the property, if you come across a staff member, they immediately stop what they are doing and fold their hands and greet you with a warm smiling ‘namaste’. The Housekeeping was impeccable. I used to leave my tent at 5.45 AM to go for the safari and was back by 9.30AM. My room was always serviced by then. It was fantastic. Most hotels start their housekeeping trips after 8AM unless you specifically ask for it. the one thing I noticed was that like other hotels they always kept the morning newspapers folded neatly at the study desk in the evenings. One day to judge their levels of service, I separated all eight pages of my news paper and kept each sheet in a different place. My bed, the study table, the bathroom sink, the stool near the toilet and the last sheet outside under the ashtray in the patio. I came back to find the newspaper put back page wise in order and folded neatly on my desk. This is the first hotel to have ever done this, and I mark the pages to see if they have simply replaced the news paper. They hadn't, they put it all back together, straightened out the creases and kept it neatly in place.
While casually talking to one of the front office staff I inquired how many staff were there in total. He said around 75 excluding the gardeners and security guards. That is 3:1 ratio of staff to guest. That right there is pretty amazing, but all that shows in their service. I don’t think a I saw a single staff member there who was over 35. If they were, they certainly did not look it. All young, all had a sprint in their walk. Most of them were trainees learning under one of the best Hospitality brands in India and delivering service unsurpassed.
You will wake up in the mornings to see a beautiful peacock outside your window strutting around the lawns. As you sit in the patio with your morning coffee, birds of every shape and color will fly by to say hi. Kingfishers, Parrots, Pidgeons, and even small little electric blue birds that will all pay you a visit.
I have travelled all over. Stayed at the Four Seasons worldwide and thought no one could bet the Four Seasons Koh Samui levels of service, I was wrong. The Oberoi group nailed service this time. I am a fussy nightmare of a guest. I am demanding, picky, seldom offer praise but here I was stumped. I tried to find flaws but just couldn't. Well, if I just had to give you something to cry about it would be the excuse of a television the have in the room. Might as well not have it if its going to be that tiny. I have perfect eyesight but could not read the stock rates scrolling at the bottom of the screen on most business news channels. Thank god for wi-fi. And the in house DVD list is pretty lame. That needs to be updated often. Its a small thing to do to make this place flawless.
I came to Vanya Vilas skeptical of the price they were charging per room night. I thought it would be all about the product. Yes!, they have mastered the product. No detail has been spared in delivering a product of the highest standards worldwide. But what they have truly mastered is the kind of service their client can come to expect from them. It is an experience not to be missed. All I can hope for is that The Oberoi group puts up more of these at places like Gir, Jim Corbett etc.
