Kabini River Lodge by Jungle Lodges

We had such a wonderful stay at Kabini! The staff was very friendly and welcoming, the food was amazing (the spice level was perfect for foreigners that don't have a high tolerance, but it didn't not lack any flavor!). The safaris were an amazing experience, we saw a tiger, a leopard and an elephant plus a numerous amount of beautiful birds and other animals like crocodiles and an otter. Special thanks to Ashwini for being a great tour guide with an impressively broad knowledge about the flaura and fauna of the area - from big cats to trees to birds to fungi! We will definitely be back!

Fabulous resort. Beautiful, river facing Maharaja cabins. Highly experience and knowledgeable guides. Great safaris (we saw myriad birds, tiger, sambhar and spotted deer, wild boars, elephants, giant mongoose...). Awesome food. Fantastic service staff. They went out of their way to accommodate any special needs (e.g. some of the visitors were dairy intolerant; others could not eat gluten and yet others could not eat garlic or onion. The kitchen staff modified the menu for these special needs visitors. The place is not cheap but well worth the cost.

The stay was exceptionally well-organized and impeccably clean. The staff were incredibly polite and showcased outstanding hospitality. I was truly impressed by the dedication and commitment displayed by everyone working there. Our experience was thoroughly enjoyable, and seeing a tiger up close was absolutely surreal. I highly recommend this place!

The grounds and cabins are lovely, and the room clean and well appointed. The food buffet is extensive and high quality. The staff are very attentive. We did 4 jeep safaris over 2 days and saw lots of birds and animals including spotted deer (thousands), sambar deer, langur, macaque, gaur, boar, giant squirrel, mongoose, monitor lizard, crocodile, elephant, leopard and tiger. The jungle is also lovely, although due to the desire to see animals many of jeep roads have been kept relatively free of vegetation in wide strips on both sides. Our cabin was one of two not on the waterfront so they moved us the second night to a waterfront cabin. The place seems expensive but it's good value all things considered, and 1 or 2 nights is still an excellent experience because of how organized it is around the safaris. For the best safari experience I suggest telling them what you want. There can be a conflict of interest because some people in the jeep may want to only see large cats and others may want to see everything at a more comfortable pace. Being aware of this problem and talking to the safari manager can go a long way. Also, they don't always provide a naturalist in the jeep but it's worth having one and you should consider asking for it. They didn't give us one on the first 3 safaris but on the last one we got one specifically for finding the cats and it paid off (and we got lucky). Also, make sure you check in right at 1:00 (or before) so you can get the most out of the meals and safaris.

After a wonderful stay with the birds and little creatures at Wayanad Wild, we were all set for a tryst with the larger ones, as we moved onto the Jungle lodges owned Kabini river lodge. The drive from Wayanad was through the picturesque landscape and  forests around Vythiri, Kalpetta and Mananthavady. We took a turn just before Tholpetty and moved onto the Kakanakotte and Metikuppe forest ranges passing through the Kerala Karnataka border. The last stretch through the forests was extremely beautiful, and we finally made our way to the lovely Kabini Rivr lodge. The Kabini River lodge is owned by the state run Jungle lodges and resorts, and was actually the former hunting lodge of the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore. It is a sprawling colonial estate with the premises bordering the expansive Kabini river. If you have stayed in the JLR properties, you would know what to expect. Decently maintained rooms, excellent food and most importantly, fantastic service quality. It's the same at Kabini River Lodge as well. This is the priciest amongst all JLR properties and there is reason for that - the rooms are larger, the property is beautiful and the safaris into the Nagarhole forest are awesome. We had opted for the Maharaja package which meant an all inclusive package covering food and jeep safaris. The other packages are similar except for the rooms and the need to travel by bus for some safaris. The Maharaja room was large, and reasonably well maintained. It had all of the standard JLR utilities, and had an extra bed, besides the king sized one. The best thing of course was the view with the room directly overlooking the river. The food was traditional south Indian cuisine and excellent throughout. The safaris were very well managed, though most of them did not have guides. There exist 2 entries into nagarhole - one from the Kutta side and the other from the kabini side. The one from the kabini side is prettier and the forest was lush with a variety of flora and fauna around. Amongst the big cats, we could only get a zoomed out shot of a leopard. But otherwise, the variety of birds that we could sight was awesome. The boat ride from the property also offered some great sightings of the avian kind. And also some otters. Besides the safaris, the property also offers large areas to just laze around. It also has some options for the children to play and move their muscles around. JLR has a near monopoly when it comes to safaris into Karnataka's forests,  and  is an automatic choice for people who are there for the safaris. The Kabini River lodge is definitely pricey, and it may not be as luxurious,  but makes up for it with the sheer natural beauty around the place, and the access to the beautiful forest.  The thrill of waking up early, grabbing a bite of the biscuit with piping hot chai and then driving into the forest in pitch dark for the sight of the elusive cats is something that we would certainly like to come back for.

The property is beautiful and very well maintained and the food was delicious (maybe slightly spicy for some of my colleagues). The disappointing thing was that the boat safari started half an hour earlier than what is mentioned on the website without any prior notice. We reached around 14.30 and there was a boat safari already at 15.00 instead of 15.30 as mentioned on the website. So we barely had any time to eat and also had to keep the others waiting on the boat. All the other staff was cooperative and nice except for the staff at check-in. The check-in staff were chaotic, and unhelpful when I asked if they can fill the passport numbers themselves from the passport copies they had as we were in a rush. So we spent at least 15-20 minutes just trying to check in which delayed us even more. It would have been helpful if we were informed the previous day over a call or something about the actual leaving time of the boat or if they stuck with the schedule. We stayed only one night and did two safaris, one by boat and one by the car. The boat safari was really nice, we saw otters, crocodiles, and lots of beautiful birds. The car safari was okay, we didn't see any elephants or tigers, mostly deer a lot of spider webs. Probably the foggy weather did not help. The guide was knowledgeable and tried his best to find the bigger animals, but of course if the animals do not decide to come out on that day, nothing he could have done. Overall, the good parts are the cleanliness, food and safaris but the service can definitely be improved for the price that they charge.