Don’t you sometimes wish you could turn back the clock just to relive an amazing experience all over again? I certainly do. I wish I could go back a month to the wonderful holiday I had in Uttarakhand. And what made it even better was the lovely hotels we stayed at. No matter how lovely the destination is, if the hotels / resorts where you stay aren’t up to the mark, then it spoils the entire holiday vibe. Because we had such a great experience, I decided to write about The Aloha On The Ganges and in this post, The Riverview Retreat, Corbett.
These aren’t sponsored posts, nor was this a FAM trip – these posts are purely based on my experience. (I received several emails and messages regarding this so had to mention it as a disclaimer here).
As with Rishikesh, there were a couple of other hotels that I had shortlisted for our stay at Corbett, one of which was the RiverView Retreat. Once I went ahead and booked Aloha, I decided to book this one because it was part of the same hotel group – the Leisure Hotels. And I am glad I did because the RiverView Retreat is the perfect antidote to a stressful, urban life. It is spread out over 8 acres with cottages playing peekaboo from among the trees, vast lawns for the kids to run on and the mirthful River Kosi gurgling by.
The decor at the resort is jungle-inspired in, though in a very tasteful, subdued manner. None of the cliched animal print upholstery or guns / trophies hanging on the walls, what you get instead are animal wall art and consoles and a couple of small artifacts. The resort has a colonial vibe with a bit of rustic touch thrown in.
The Riverview Retreat offers several accommodation options to fit the requirements of couples as well as big groups. We booked the Duplex room which has a loft-style bedroom for the kids. It was just perfect for us.
What I really loved were the cottages with a little sit out and surrounded by trees. We requested the hotel staff to show us one of those. These four bedroom cottages have a spacious living room and is a great option for those travelling in a group. If three couples are travelling, then booking a cottage is a great option since each couple gets a room, all the kids get to play in one without disturbing the adults, and everyone can sit together and chat in the living room!
What we enjoyed the most was the open space and the abundant flora around us. The vast lawns, the riverside seating, the open-air table tennis and so many trees and plants around – sheer bliss!
The Colonial influence continues in the decor of the restaurant, Gurney House, with high ceilings, wooden floor and open-deck seating. This multi-cuisine restaurant serves delicious meals while Chef Parihar personally meets all the guests to enquire if things are up to their satisfaction. In fact, I hold Chef Parihar responsible for my weight gain during the trip since it was hard to resist the yummy dishes, especially the desserts.
The Grill House is the poolside, machaan-style restaurant at The Riverview Retreat that serves grills and fast food such as pizzas and burgers.
One of the cottages at The Riverview Retreat has been converted to a spa and has a couples’ treatment room as well. However, because of the long travel time from Rishikesh to Corbett (due to the ongoing work on the highways) and safaris on both the days, we didn’t have time to get a massage done.
To be honest, we could have squeezed in some massage time but that would mean leaving the kids alone in the room and we didn’t want to do that on the holiday. We enjoyed relaxing and chatting with them by the riverside, taking them to the river because they wanted to dip their hands in the water, sitting with them around the bonfire listening to the folk songs….
I could go on and on about this hotel and the wonderful hospitality we experienced….in fact, just writing about it seeing all the pictures again makes me want to go back there. The peace, the serenity, having coffee to the soothing sound of the river flowing by, the chirping of the birds in the trees – these are things that you just can’t get in an urban jungle like Mumbai. I am so glad that I chose the Aloha on the Ganges and the Riverview Retreat for my holiday in Uttarakhand. Based on my personal experience there, I highly recommend these two hotels. Now if only we had managed to get a glimpse of the majestic tiger, my trip would have been a “roaring” hit.
Have you been to Corbett? Which hotel did you stay at? Let me know in the comments.