Anil Farm Gir Jungle Resort — Hotel in Gujarat

Budget hotel. The best part is we got all three meals covered in our booking cost. However choice of food is extremely limited. In fact after returning in the evening at around 6 we ordered for tea and some snacks - any snacks - as the kids were very hungry. We were served only tea. No snacks available. Nothing to eat till dinner time which would start not before 8 in evening. Choice of food is limited to Gujrati cusine, which we liked. Quality and taste of food was good. Room service is sketchy to say the least. If you are habituated to 4 or 5 star services like those of Club Mahindra then you will need to make a lot of adjustments and compromises.

Rooms are Ok. The one we were offered was a single large room with 4 beds on the ground floor The beds were comfortable but the room did not have any view. Toilets are average in amenities but clean. Our room had two toilets, which was helpful.

If you do not have a government permit then be very careful about booking your Gir Safari through this hotel. Though the hotel promised us to give a good safari experience, our experience was extremely disappointing. Under the garb of Safari, we were bundled into a Taverra and sent off on a road trip to a distant temple - Kankai mata temple. That was certainly not our destination and we were in no mood to be there. The road we took was a jungle road and winded through dense forest.The bait was this being a road passing through dense jungle there was a small probability of spotting lions especially if you hit the road at sun down and also because this road passes through numerous water holes where our vehicle had to wade through as much as a foot deep water. There was a chance of spotting lions near the water holes. The plan was to hit this road on the way back from the temple just before 6 in the evening. The road, we were told, closes to all traffic at 6 in the evening.

However as this road is also a connecting shortcut between Veraval and Bhavnagar (it shortens the distance between these two cities towns by as much as 40 kms) it had very dense traffic for a jungle road on this particular day. At any point of time we had one vehicle ahead of us, two following us, three coming from the opposite direction. Two wheelers were ubiquitous. And because of this dense traffic forget lions we could not catch a glimpse of even a dog. Maybe the day we had chosen was not right. It wad the first day of Gujrati new year. Maybe the time we had chosen was not right it was Diwali vacation. Maybe we were plain unlucky. Whatever it was we were very very disappointed. This road is cerainly not a Safari road.

The forest department, on the contrary, conducts Safaris within a very large enclosed space known as the revenue area. Chances of sighting are far higher here, as at any point of time only 50 government open jeeps - gypsy - are permitted in this area.

On second thoughts, I must admit that the thrill of spotting a lion on the route we took would have been far greater than on the actual government safari. As this road passed through the lion's natural and unbounded habitat.

So if you are looking for the thrill of the safari as a journey, as an experience, as a Safari in itself then this is not the route to take. Get a government permit and go for the safari conducted by the forest department. Permits are limited to 50 per day so plan and book well on advance

Coming back to Anil Farm house the person we coordinated with Akbar Bhai a thorough and courteous gentleman. I wish the likes of Club Mahindra took some training from him for their staff. It's hard to find such customer centric people in any industry these days. Great going Akbar Bhai keep it up.

Had it not been for the safari experience I would have given a...

The property is lush green and has dense trees...the gardens are very beautiful with huge variety of plants n flowers as well as many props n a mini water body...overall very quiet environment with a river flowing on the back (may be dry in summer)...the whole property is full of birds and one see n hear them all day long...ideal place for photographers n selfie lovers...the rooms r nice n spacious..the room service is also good with prompt response...the hotel provides few other activities inside like mango farming, khatiyas to chill around, tree swings, children play area n a covered pool which is large enough...the pool water was not the cleanest may be due to thick tree cover around with leaves falling in water...also we visited in winter n so no one used the pool anyways...the food served in the dining area is desi and has strong local kathiyawadi flavour..but u will get such gurb only in all Gir resorts n it tastes good...but u will not hav a comprehensive menu to choose from...our kids r not used to such food n so were served noodles n other chinese junk food which they loved...only drawback is the 1 km approach road to resort which is very bad and small...try not to take a sedan there as it will surely get damaged...even if two cars come head-on then its very difficult to pass..since its forest land the resort cannot do anything abt it..this issue is there with many resorts in Gir n so plz check before booking a resort n visiting by own car...we stayed for 3 days n...

The resort is located inside a mango orchard on the banks of river Hiran. The gardens are very well scaped with huge diversity of plants. Many birds can be seen and heard all day long. Also, we had stayed in the riverside rooms which are very well maintained with modern amenities and spacious bathroom. At late night we could hear the river flow sitting in the balcony of our riverside room, it was a calming experience. Lots of sitting areas and different varieties of flowers. Food is fresh and delicious. You don't feel bloated after a good meal. Staff is supportive and friendly. Overall hospitality was very good. We stayed for 3 days and felt that could have stayed more. We also did a farm tour where they have collected more than 300 mango varieties from all over the world. It was a great learning experience about how modern mango farming is done and they have collected all different types of varieties with different colors, shapes and sizes. The also have the world's costliest Miyazaki mango from Japan! We really enjoyed the farm tour. Also we had gone for a riverside walk where we spotted around 10 crocodiles together and could hear many birds during the walk. Nearby there is also a small temple and dam where we enjoyed a great sunset. We also visited Somnath temple from Gir which is only 1.5hrs drive. We took along a small mango plant as a souvenir for our memorable trip. The stay was really worth it, amidst nature and wildlife. Will surely visit...