India: Ranthambore National Park – Khem Villas

As part of our wonderful tour through Northern India, we had decided to spend a few days on a tiger safari in Ranthambore National Park. This is a very popular place for tourists so a number of luxurious resorts and hotels have sprung up in the area around this sprawling National Park.

One of these resorts is Khem Villas, which is located within the boundaries of the tiger reserve. During our stay, fresh tiger prints were found among the villas on the resort! We were excited by this, but I guess others might find that concerning. The fact is the tigers are free to roam and there is no fencing around the National Park to keep them in.

Khem villas has a selection of accommodations including cottages, rooms and tents, all of which are very comfortable and tastefully decorated. During our stay, we were stationed in one of the tents, which we loved. We loved the small touches, including the turndown service in the evenings. Our visit was in the winter and things got a little chilly in the evenings, so when they turned the beds down they also put a hot water bottle in the beds. It was so lovely to get into a warm bed. The shower for our tent was inside but it felt like it was out of doors, which we loved.

The food services were also excellent, with plenty of traditional Indian foods to choose from. Our favourite was the thali. They were very accommodating when fitting around our schedule, including keeping the restaurant open when we arrived late on our first night and providing a pack-up breakfast for our early morning safaris.

There is also a spa on site. After a day of bumping around for hours in the back of a 4 wheel drive vehicle, a massage felt extremely good and was reasonably priced.

The whole reason for staying at Khem Villas is for the tiger safaris. The tour vehicles come right to the resort to pick you up. We were there in later December and the mornings were chilly, especially when you are hurtling along in the back of an open-top 4 wheel drive vehicle. The wonderful folks at Khem Villas provided us with blankets and hot water bottles, which made the tours much more enjoyable.