Avis Wildflower Resort

About 8km from Tala. No taxis so ring reception for pickup. Gardens nice, swimming pool very small. Good breakfast. Dinner ok but small portions. There is no WiFi or router in this resort contrary to what is advertised. Hot water in bathroom available on request. Jeep safaris from here expensive @ 6500 rupees (£72} per trip; should be approx. 4000 rupees for whole jeep / couple incl. guide, best to go in person to Park's ticket office at South end of Tala to avoid being ripped off {difficult to do if you don't have your own transport so you're entirely at their mercy and there's no mercy here when it comes to extracting money from foreigners}. The shuttle service provided by the hotel to Jabalpur Airport is an overpriced taxi costing 5500 rupees; it should be 3000 rupees as it is 150km each way (Indian taxis charge 8-10 rupees / km). On the whole this resort is expensive for what you get.

We stayed at The Wildflower Resort in Bandhavgarh tiger reserve. The location of this resort is just amazing. It is built in buffer zone of the tiger reserve and borders the core area of Tala. It was a wonderful experience to listen to alarm calls of deer while sitting at the bonfire hut (aptly named as tiger's torch). The resort has a feel of a rustic jungle lodge. The restaurant had a huge fireplace and tiled roof, perfect ambiance. Our room was equally good. Large rooms with windows opening to the forest, fantastic decor, very comfortable beds, tiger paintings and, a tv as well. The staff is very humble and took very good care of us. We could see that they had to cover long distances for room service or serving at swimming pool or at the bonfire and yes, the observation tower (they call it a maachan) but wherever we were, they served with a smile. The variety was a bit limited but great food. Thumbs up to their chef, food was yummy.

Read lots of reviews before booking the place online...sad to state, the place did not live upto the expectations built. The room was very ordinary, bathroom was spacious but water quality was bad, running hot water took ages to come, room service was poor. Depended on the hotel to book the safaris, was disappointed with what we got..two back to back safaris to the worst zone where we could not spot even the deers let alone the tigers. Not all is bad, some positives as well....good food, well behaved staff. Definitely did not feel the price paid was worth what we got....disappointing!