6 villas
Canopy Villa
Raised on teak stilts into the tree line. King bed, outdoor rain shower, and a deck at the height of the langurs.
- Guests
- 2
- From
- ₹28,000 / night
Tadoba · Maharashtra
Where the forest keeps its own time.
Fourteen villas of stone and teak on the quiet edge of Tadoba–Andhari Tiger Reserve.
The Retreat
Built from what the forest gave back.
Saalvan stands on eleven acres of regenerating farmland at the edge of the reserve. The villas are raised in local stone and reclaimed teak, finished in lime, and set far enough apart that the loudest thing you hear at night is the forest. We planted sal, mahua and bamboo where cotton once grew. The langurs came back first. Then the peacocks. Last winter, a tigress crossed the lower meadow at dawn.
- Villas
- 14
- villas
- Acres
- 11
- acres
- Minutes to the safari gate
- 15min
- to the safari gate
- Solar by day
- 100%
- solar by day
Stay
Three ways to live in the forest.
4 pavilions
Lakeside Pavilion
Opens straight onto the reservoir. Slide the screens back and the room becomes a verandah, with a private plunge pool below.
- Guests
- 2
- From
- ₹42,000 / night
4 houses
Saal House
Two bedrooms around a courtyard and an old neem tree. Made for families who want to be together and apart.
- Guests
- 4 + 2 children
- From
- ₹64,000 / night
All stays include meals, naturalist-led activities and transfers from Nagpur. Rates are indicative, plus taxes.
Experiences
Days shaped by the forest.
-
01Core-zone safari.
Dawn or afternoon in an open 4×4 with our resident naturalist. Permits arranged.
-
02The night trail.
A guided walk through the buffer zone after dark: nightjars, civets, the sounds you never notice by day.
-
03A Gond village morning.
Walk with neighbours from the village, see terracotta work in progress, and stay for lunch in a family home.
-
04
Birds of the meadow.
Rollers, drongos and paradise flycatchers, with binoculars and a flask of filter coffee.
-
05
Forest bathing.
Slow mornings on the yoga deck under the sal canopy.
-
06
Stargazing.
No city glow for a hundred kilometres. A telescope on the library roof.
Mahua
Dining · Mahua
The Vidarbha table.
Saoji spice, jowar bhakri, forest honey and vegetables from our own beds and the village farms within thirty kilometres. Breakfast on the deck, lunch under the banyan, dinner by lantern.
From the kitchen
- Saoji mutton
- Smoked brinjal bharit
- Tarri poha
- Mahua-flower kheer
The Forest
Who you share it with.
- Bengal tiger
- The reason most guests come, though rarely the only one they remember.
- Indian leopard
- Seen less, felt more. Often on the rocky ridges at dusk.
- Sloth bear
- Shaggy and short-sighted, often at termite mounds after rain.
- Dhole
- Whistling packs of wild dogs, fast and astonishingly coordinated.
- Gaur
- The Indian bison, a tonne of muscle grazing at the forest edge.
- Indian roller
- A flash of electric blue on the wire, Maharashtra's state bird.
Sightings are never promised. Patience is.
Light on the Land
Built to leave the forest better.
- Solar-powered by day
- Rainwater harvested for every villa
- Greywater cleaned through reed beds
- Most of our team from villages within 20 km
- No single-use plastic, anywhere
Guest Notes
We came for the tiger and left talking about the silence.
The kind of place where the children put their phones down without being asked.
Every meal tasted of somewhere. I still think about the bharit.
Journey
Getting here.
By air
Nagpur (NAG), about three hours by road. We collect you.
By rail
Chandrapur, about forty-five minutes away.
Season
October to June is best. The core zone usually closes for the monsoon; the buffer zone and Saalvan stay open.