It is not always the sightseeing options that are the main attractions of a tour for us. We also love staying in unique and interesting places that have something extra to offer. Thus, when we decided to visit Hassan near Bangalore, we booked a stay at the Hoysala Village Resort that promised a stay amidst nature and experience of Hoysala living styles.
Hassan is a city in the Hassan district of Karnataka about 3 hours to travel to the city from Bangalore. Hassan is named after the ancient Hasanamba temple. Settlement in the area began as early as the 11th century during the rule of the Hoysala Empire in the region. The resort where we were to stay was about 15 minutes away from the city.
On a fine winter day in 2017, we pre-booked a car to take us from Bangalore to the Hoysala Village Resort. The journey was through good roads and we reached our destination within about 3 hours.
As we entered the resort, we were welcomed with garlands of marigold flowers and an orange tilak was drawn on our foreheads by a smiling lady of the resort. That was indeed a very Indian welcome ritual that really made us feel special.
After completing the check-in formalities in a beautiful Hoysala-style designed reception building, we were taken by the resort staff to our rooms. As we walked towards our rooms, we got a whiff of what was waiting for us.
The Hoysala Village Resort stretched out before us as a sprawling property with an abundance of greenery everywhere. As we moved through the narrow lanes with flowering plants and tall trees forming canopies over it, we absorbed all the beauty around us.
We had booked our rooms in Superior Cottage. As we approached the cottages, we climbed a few steps to reach our rooms. A large open-air verandah in front of our rooms looked very inviting.
The rooms were sprawling. There was a living room with sofas and a single bed outside. Inside, there was a well-furnished large bedroom a bathroom with an excellent view of the surrounding resort property. The entire setting was very pleasing to the eyes. The lighting of the rooms was also very soothing. The ethnic furniture was all awe-inspiring.
We could not wait now to explore the rest of the property. We took a quick look around our rooms and asked our guide to take us on a tour of the rest of the resort.
As we walked on, we were explained that there are three sections to the resort, the Superior Cottages where we staying, the Jacuzzi Villas, and the Malnad Palace. We couldn’t wait to see every part of this beautiful place.
The property had several tree houses. Well, not exactly a house, but an open space built on top of a tree where you can enjoy a cup of coffee while watching birds. The jackfruit treehouse was the most fascinating one. We could actually touch and feel the massive jackfruits growing high on the tree.
As we moved on, we came in front of a beautiful building with wide wooden gates decorated with garlands. It was the Malnad Palace, a palatial structure built like the ancient Hoysala palaces of the royals. As we entered the building, a large open-air courtyard surrounded by the two-storeyed building on all three sides greeted our eyes. The pictures below describe what we saw.
Luckily for us, the day before a wedding had been held in the palace and the wedding party members had left, leaving the rooms empty. We requested our guide to show us the rooms which he readily did. We could not contain our excitement to see the rooms of this aesthetically designed palace.
The rooms were indeed worth seeing. Each room had a unique design and a unique set of furniture. Every furniture piece was worth seeing. Everything was so magnificent that we could not but keep staring at the elegance around us.
We made up our minds that the next time we come here, we must stay at the Malnad Palace.
After exploring the palace to our full content, we exited it to move to the Jacuzzi Villas whose special attractions were the jacuzzis in the bathroom. These villas were also very beautiful and their furniture were all works of art. Greenery enveloped the villas from all sides. Never had the phrase “living in the lap of nature” felt so true as it did when we saw these villas at the Hoysala Village Resort.
Although I am ending my post here, it is not the end of Day 1 of our visit to Hassan. More will follow soon…
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