Annapoorna Farm Stay Karjat review March 2016

The initial annoying arrival notwithstanding, we had a truly marvellous time at Annapoorna Farm, Karjat. Totally digital free too - no WiFi, no TV, not even a newspaper! Just clean air, lots of blooming flowers and a marvellous time with the family bonding over TT, swimming & swinging. Absolutely the best aspect was undoubtedly the food. Read: Dining at Annapoorna Farm.

We had marvellous blue skies overhead every day, with gold-tinged clouds at sunset. Incredibly, we were very lucky to see a flaming red full moon with a single star above it. It was a sight to long cherish for years to come (unfortunately could not capture that beauty on my fuzzy camera).

So if you are staying in Mumbai or Pune you should make at least one visit. In fact, if you decide to enjoy a weekend at Adlabs Imagica amusement park, you should definitely arrange it in such a way that you can spend the evening at Annapoorna, stay overnight and leave next day after lunch. You must stay over for lunch even if you need to pay the extra for that lunch as the dinner and lunch are different & the excellent quality of the food must not be missed.

The little things

• While the rooms are neat and clean, finicky persons will be very bugged about the ants. Even after our room was cleaned, it was surprising to see ants swarming all over the table near the door. We asked the person who had cleaned it and he said it was likely some tea was spilt there when the previous guests were there. Well, if this were the case, surely he ought to have cleaned the table too! For some strange reason, there were large ants too on the wash basin each morning. Note that if you are taking an extra bed on the floor, it is advisable to check fist for insects. Being a farm, you can once in a while see a creepy-crawly. We also saw a couple of lizards outside the room on the wall so it is advisable not to keep the room door open once the sun sets to keep out weird flying insects and the lizards. 

• An electric Good Knight mosquito mat repellent is provided, but we did not require this as we did not experience the presence of mosquitoes at any time within the room during our stay. 

•  The bathroom door rattled during our first afternoon there, due to the latch on the room side being tight and it thus not being possible to lock the door. We therefore left the door slightly open throughout our stay, to avoid getting our sleep being disturbed. The flush tank’s lever of the loo had water coming out each time it was pressed, but works just fine. You do need to press it 2-3 times though for a thorough clean! 

• The normal lights are only above the 2 beds near the door so those sitting on the other beds near the windows have no lighting whatsoever for reading. The bulb socket is there, but no bulb in it. Maybe some power-saving tactic! 

•  One major annoyance though was neither the ants nor the lighting, but the fact that the light for the bathroom is located on the main switchboard. This is annoying because it meant that we had to keep the light on in the bathroom whole night long in case anybody required to use the loo and would not have to fumble around in the dark searching for the switchboard. It was a total waste of electricity, not to mention the sliver of light falling on the eyes of those sleeping on the beds opposite the bathroom. It would be good if the owners put a switch for the bathroom just outside the bathroom door. 

All of the above were minor glitches for us, who are more bothered about good food & having a jolly good time & consider these just “little things” but for others these my well be the little things that do count! 

Overall, it was well worth the stay and here’s why….

Why it is worth going

The place is very quiet, far quieter than Saguna Baug, Neral, where there are constantly large groups of people coming & going and Save Farm, Gholvad, where too there is some disturbance from the noisy geese in their caged homes. Here, at Annapoorna Farm, all you can hear is the rustling of the leaves and the twitter of the birds. If you stand still on the pathway, you can even hear the gentle bubbling of the Pej river that borders the farm’s boundary. 

Speaking of the river, please do not venture into the waters, as is clearly mentioned on the sign board on the meshed door that leads to the steps that go down to the river. This door is kept unlocked so keep an eye on wandering kids too. You can, though, at any time go and sit on the large steps and enjoy the peace & quiet there. My enterprising sister even carried a chair all the way down and sat beneath an unfurled umbrella near the boating platform there!! 

Boating is available on request but may not be offered if the level of the river waters is low. We were lucky to avail of the boating facility on our first evening itself, as on the remaining days of our stay the water was very low. See more details at: Activities at Annapoorna Farm

There are stoned pathways crisscrossing the paths across the farm with pretty lanterns along the route. Note that the pathway from the rooms to the dining area is up and down and hence elderly people will find it tiring. We often walked on the grassy knolls adjoining the paths as we found it cool to do so, with the sprinklers keeping the grass wet & thus keeping our feet cool. 

There is plenty of eye-soothing greenery everywhere and the flowers were blooming in pretty, myriad hues. 

However the trees outside our cottages were dry & arid and hence not shady to sit out, but the swing outside has a shady roof. There is a lovely, shallow swimming pool that is kept clean.

My niece’s favourite hang-out on the farm was the circle of red swings off the gazebo-like dining area that is an extension of the kitchen. If any time she left the room we knew she would be nowhere else but there! I would recommend this circular arrangement of swings for family bonding. In this same space, you can have a swinging good time in another sense. Read more about it at: Enjoy a swinging time!

While I did mention the silence of the place earlier, it should be noted that this silence was complete shattered on our last day's stay. On our last day, after we came out of the indoor games hall, our ears were assaulted by blasting music - and I mean really eardrum-shattering - with songs being played in the normal office area. Even when we went for lunch, it was not switched off & we had to request them to do so. The minute we finished our lunch and got up from the table, the music was back on. It was so loud that we could hear it all the way back in our cottage rooms even with the doors closed. I hope the owners note this fact. After all, we visit farm stays to enjoy the peace and quiet of nature, to get away from the noise assaulting our ears day in and day out in our city homes!

Note: there are 3 dogs which roam freely on the premises and unerringly head to the dining area when you are seated. Apparently guests feed them and hence they come there frequently. You can request the staff to shoo them away.

Overall we had a marvellous time and our thanks to the owners for their hospitality. It was definitely value for money!

More details about our travel & stay:
1. Travelling to Annapoorna Farm

2. Arriving at Annapoorna Farm 

3. Cottage rooms 

4. Meals 

5. Activities 

6. General Tips 

7. Tariff and contact information