Coonoor - Sunvalley Homestay Review

We left Kakkanad (Kerala, India) early morning (5:40AM) hoping to reach Coonoor around lunchtime. As it turned out, the stretch till Thrissur on the 4-lane highway went really quick but the following 20KM was a drag - single lane with bumpy roads. We reached Coimbatore town area around 9:30AM. It took a little while to find a decent restaurant for breakfast before ending up at Annapoorna on the Ooty route after Salem turning. We left Coimbatore around 10:45AM - the Coimbatore-Ooty route is 100KM and the road is OK but the 14 hair-pin bends slow you down. All told, we managed to reach Coonoor around 1PM.

Going by the glowing reviews on TripAdvisor, we reserved an overnight stay at Sunvalley Homestay in Coonoor well in advance - went by their quoted special rate of Rs 3200/- including breakfast for the four of us in a twin-queen-bedded room. They require a Rs 2000/- deposit to confirm reservation which we arranged using Net Banking. The check-in time was 2PM and so our timing worked perfectly. They had mentioned to call them up so as to arrange an escort to the home-stay from town center. We did not consider this a big deal as the directions at their site seemed straight-forward. A person at the resort called us up well before we reached Coonoor and said they will wait for us in the road in front of the railway station. Later, we realized the reason this is done is because it will be almost impossible to locate the place otherwise - it is around 3-4KM uphill from the first junction before railway station & the way is not paved in the final stretch. It is a secluded spot overlooking a tea estate. The view from the balcony is fantastic and every room has a view of the tea estate that surrounds the place. The highlight of the facility is the food on offer: we ordered special thali and some Chinese dishes for dinner and they were excellent. The Kesari dessert was however below par. For breakfast, they asked in advance what we wanted - we went with Dosa, Upma, Appam and Curries and they were again excellent. The staff is all from Palghat and they try to please as best as they can. Overall, we found the place a little underwhelming. Although the information in the Trip Advisor reviews were generally accurate, the place has a long way to go before it can be termed a “resort” by any stretch of imagination:

• There is absolutely nothing to do there: “Tea Estate walk straight from resort” is listed as an activity but hiking in the area without a trail-guide is discouraged as venomous snakes are common. Despite the warnings, we still went for a long walk amidst the tea plantations and that was a very soothing experience. Also, keep in mind that you are essentially trespassing on private property as the tea-estate is not part of the “resort”.  
• Carroms/chess/shuttle/sands are also listed as activities offered at the resort but none of this is really a viable option: the car parking area was shown as the place for shuttle and the dingy basement area for the other activities - equipment was also lacking.
•  “Ayurvedic massage therapies for gents & ladies” is mentioned although none was on offer when we inquired.
• We were the only guests for the night and the place is very small with only a handful of rooms. Overall, during our stay, the place appeared deserted.
•  No proper restaurant - there is an eatery area in the basement were breakfast is served. Other meals are delivered to the room.
• The rooms are new and tidy but none of the windows and doors can be kept open as flies get in as soon as you open.
• No refrigerator, locker, etc. in the rooms.
• The state of Tamilnadu is notorious for regular power cuts and there are no backup facilities. When we were there, power was scheduled to be out from 8-10AM and 2-4PM.

 

We checked out around 9AM in the morning - the staff had advised that we leave around that time as there is construction going on and the roads may get blocked. As luck might have it, we got stuck for over half an hour as a municipality trucker decided unwisely to pass by the narrow approach road despite the fact that there was no way for it to go through, as a a giant roller was parked on the way.

Overall, we recommend this place if your idea of taking a break is complete solitude with good food whenever you please! This is not your place, if you are on the lookout for a resort with facilities such as nice restaurant, games, hiking, natural therapeutic options, and swimming pool.

Related Posts:

1. Ooty Toy Train - Nilgiri Mountain Railway - Trip Report. 
2. Coonoor Sunvalley Homestay Review. 
3. Ooty Trip Report. 

Last Updated: 01/2013. 

Ooty Toy Train - Nilgiri Mountain Railway - Trip Report

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) line built in 1908 is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as of July 2005. It runs between Mettupalayam and Coonoor, a distance of 41.8KM. It takes almost five hours to cover the stretch when going uphill and around 3.5 hours when going downhill - Mettupalayam Station at 1,069 feet above sea-level is the starting terminal when going uphill and Udhagamandalam (Ooty) Station at 7,228 feet above sea-level is the terminus. Between Mettupalayam and Coonoor Stations, the line uses a rack and pinion system to climb the steep gradient. Even between Coonoor and Ooty, the locomotive is always located at the Coonoor end even-though the rack-and-pinion system is not used for that section - the gradient is still steep at 4% near Coonoor compared to a maximum gradient of over 8% in the Mettupalayam-Coonoor section. The line has the steepest track in Asia and features over 200 curves, 16 tunnels, and 250 bridges (some are midget sized!).

There is a general compartment in the trains on this line but your best bet is to go with a reservation. Normally, tickets are open for reserving three months in advance. Pricing is very cheap compared to international standards. There are four daily trains in the Coonoor-Ooty section compared to just one in the Mettupalayam-Ooty route. Special trains are sometimes added in the Mettupalayam-Ooty route seasonally. We decided to do just the Coonoor-Ooty round-trip this time and reserved as soon as tickets were open in the IRCTC web-site (IRCTC's tourism by Rail site is an alternative for booking) and as luck might have it, got the first four seats in the first class coach. The coaches are not that different, independent of class but the first class coach has the advantage that it will generally be less chaotic. Also, on the Ooty-Coonoor trip, you get to open the front windows for a wonderful view of the valley, if you are among the first six seats. Ticket pricing was around Rs 100 one-way compared to Rs 20 for a second-class ticket. We did not have plans to stick around in Coonoor and so reserved for the next available train back - the timings were 9:15AM from Ooty (UAM) to Coonoor (ONR) on Train #56139 (UAM-ONR) arriving at 10:25AM and 10:40AM departure from Coonoor (ONR) on Train #56136 (MTP-UAM) arriving at noon in Ooty. This worked very well as the return train from Coonoor waits for the arrival of the 9:15AM train from Ooty. There is a lot of chaos at Coonoor but the idea is to get over to the other platform to catch the return train.

On the day of the trip, we arrived at Ooty railway station around 8:30AM and already there was a good crowd. There is a terminal (kiosk) just outside the entrance to the platform where you can check the status of your reservation - this can be handy, if your original reservation was wait-listed (W/L). There is limited parking in front of the station for around Rs 20 per day. If you need to kill time, walking across the railway track to the area around the railway guest houses is a good option. For Train #56139 (UAM-ONR), the coach order was as follows - the locomotive followed by the only first class coach, followed by a second class coach, and several general coaches. The tickets for the general compartments can be purchased from the railway counter on the day of the journey, but one will have to deal with the big line (queue) - also there is no guaranty that tickets will be available by the time you reach the front of the line. 

The journey itself was fantastic. The train moves at snails pace and you get to relax while taking in the wonderful natural views along the way. Some stations have snack and tea service although you will need to hurry if you decide to go to the shack to get what you need as compared to waiting for a vendor to come by. Highlights include several tunnels and bridges, beautiful tea plantations along the valleys, and several churches dotting the area. To complete the UNESCO World Heritage experience, one option to consider is to purchase general compartment tickets at the counter, even if you do not plan to use it - they still issue the old Edmondson style tickets as opposed to the computerized print-outs that are used in the railway ticket counters in the rest of the country.

‘

The Mountain railways of India are a prime tourist attraction in the country and consists of seven lines - four in the Himalayas in North India, two in the Western Ghats in South India, and one in Assam in the Barak river valley of Cachar Hills. Of these, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway line, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway line, and the Kalka-Shimla Railway line together are designated a UNSECO World Heritage Site.

Related Posts:

1. Ooty Toy Train - Nilgiri Mountain Railway - Trip Report. 
2. Coonoor Sunvalley Homestay Review. 
3. Ooty Trip Report. 

Last Updated: 05/2014.