A friend's story appeared with a picture of a turquoise lake. "Must be a throwback picture from somewhere abroad?" I thought to myself. The next story was of a very cosy room and it had a location that read 'Magnolia Coorg'
I pinged her and asked about this place and she said and I quote "Magnolia! So beautiful man! It has two lakes inside 78 acres of the coffee estate"
Two private lakes where I can take my masks off for a bit- Sounded too good to be true.
A month later, we were driving to Magnolia. If you read our previous blog, you'd know that we've been wanting to go to smaller places with the story and of course some amount of luxury over corporate and standardized places of stay. Nothing wrong with the big names but I didn't want that kind of holiday for a while.
Magnolia's reception is welcoming: Gorgeous traditional red oxide flooring, Burmese teak pillars, antique furniture, beautiful brass urlis and ton of open spaces with 'bird of paradise' plants among them. They served their estate coffee as a welcome drink, took our temperature etc and welcomed us to the estate :)
We checked into the Plantation room and ordered our lunch to the room. The room had a faint aroma of lemongrass essential oil and was spic and span. No prizes for guessing, the room was studded with heavy antique gems: Right from the cupboard handles to the sofa and the chairs.
Magnolia's private lakes, the Turquoise lake and the Emerald lake were a walking distance from our room. The clouds were low hanging as we walked through the beautiful coffee estate. "Look out for the birds", Mr Praveen the manager had said. Magnolia has 200+varieties of rare birds. We heard them; a lot of them. We even woke up to their calls. But to be honest, spotting a bird is a talent and we don't have it.
Pitter patter. The rains. We got completely drenched at the emerald lake and happily walked back slowly. We came back to the room, dried ourselves and ordered hot pakoda and chai. It was the best I've ever eaten in my life. It was such a monsoon holiday dream fulfilled :)
We spent our next 2 days in magnolia room servicing our meals, walking to the lake, reading books from their small library and drinking copious amounts of hot beverages and taking it extremely slow. The portico with a view of the hills and acres & acres of the coffee estate was a great company. They gave us a small 1100 phone to order our meals from anywhere. The boys were super quick and delivered all the meals on time.
Our slow travel 'itinerary' in Magnolia was incredibly safe. Their staff wore masks all the time, the rooms were well spaced and we didn't meet any other guests.
Here are a few tips if you decide to visit
- Don't miss their rasam. It was one of the best I've ever had.
- The manager makes something called 'Khandari Slush' It was spicy, sweet and sour and incredibly good. Don't miss that either.
- Some of the rooms at Magnolia has a very bad signal for Vodaphone. Airtel worked just fine. It was a blessing in disguise. No office calls, no Instagram. Peace.
- They have a beautiful villa which can house a family with 4 rooms. It comes with a private dining room, kitchen and a huge lawn. You could consider this if you're travelling with a few friends or family.
Go check out their Instagram or can call Mr Praveen at 9980378253. You can thank us later :)
Will Magnolia Coorg be your next check-in? :)
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