The Serai Chikmagalur

The Serai is in a coffee plantation; it is an oasis of calm in the centre of civilisation. We woke up to the chirping of birds and slept under a canopy of stars, both of which are impossible in the city.

Good overall

Property is very well maintained and the staff is very friendly. The food was amazing and prepared for our needs. Would definitely visit again.

Excelllent

The staff was proactively engaged in ensuring that all the tourism spots were covered as per our wishes, in particular, Ms Dimple and Pradeep and the restaurant staff were very understanding and accomodative to a child's food habits...spa was also nice....playroom attendent was warm and sensitive, very much like a family , especially for a single parent (female) travelling with a 12 year old girl...the safety and security was par excellent...also in terms of the car and driver we hired locally...seamless, without any issues....the barman was excellent, including the liquor stock...thanks

Great experince

Traveled as a family. Wonderful place to stay, great location, excellent food, courteous staff.

Excellent property and friendly staff.

However, food was the biggest negative here. When you go to such a place just to relax and don't want to go out at all, good food plays a very important part of your experience. The breakfast was included in the package, but except a few things it was not edible. South Indian like Idli and Vada were good, but dosa was crap. English spread was extremely bad, croissants, muffins, donuts, cakes, etc, were not edible at all. It seemed as if it was picked from a cheap eatery somewhere outside.

Also, due to pandemic situation, it was mentioned on their website that they have a gap of 24 hours between one guest checking out from a villa and another checking in, however, in the villa next to me i saw the guests checking out in the morning and the next ones checking in a few hours later.

Clean and well maintained .

Spacious modern rooms with all amenities you can ask for. The bathroom was huge and loaded with features including a bath tub. The private pool was amazing. Property is very nice and food was good. Would recommend the place for anyone wanting to stay for a luxury feeling at Chikmagalur or near Coorg.

Very good

Superb

It was a good experience overall. The spa is very nice. The property itself has been beautifully designed. It needs a refresh in some parts, but is still clean and hygienic. Room service was a bit slow, but that was probably due to the holiday rush over New Year’s Eve. There was a very well organised New Year party with strict crowd control and social distancing norms adhered too.

An amazing experience slightly expensive but worth it

The facilities are awesome. However, for the price I wanted there to be better food - there's really only one restaurant available.

Great property and good food, restaurant service should improve but really nice overall.

This place is simply the jewel of all high-end resorts in this part of India.
The luxury and facilities are all one point. The villas are very well appointed and maintained. Everything works! The pools are high quality. The ambiance is very relaxing and refreshing
The most impressive feature is the wonderful hospitality. The team at the resort are very warm and welcoming. I was particularly impressed by Mr. Wilfred Sequeira, who went beyond the call of duty or hospitality to make my family extra comfortable. His efforts surpassed all expectations. His team was with him at every step to achieve his desire to make this a memorable holiday for us.
The food is really much better than any of the resorts i have visited in the region.
I am definitely going there many times over.

Beautiful grounds, very calm escape from the city! Staff are friendly and helpful. Villas are clean and impressive. Private lap pool was a nice surprise.

Lovely stay - all the hotel staff were super friendly and nothing was too much trouble including making an off the menu cocktail once we'd given the recipe! Room was lovely - splash pool is a nice touch. Food in the restaurant gave us a good chance to sample local flavours without over eating. Not so much variety is you're looking for continental although not sure why you'd bother. Fine dining it isn't but tasty and cooked with love it is - thumbs up. Hotel was never crowded probably owing to the small number of villas. Would definitely return.

Note: If booking via Expedia and you have the post pay option stick to your guns and pay on arrrival don't be harassed by the head office to make an early payment via a bank transfer (what decade are we living in?!) This was the only downside with the head office letting the hotel down! May be send the head office staff to the hotel for some lessons in customer service!

One the most beautiful resorts we've been to - superb view, great design & self-sufficient. Add to it the charm of Chikmagalur's weather! Stands upto being the headquarters of Serai. The only disappointment with the property is that its run by a very average team - late check ins, non-prepared rooms, unclean pool water, not working AC in the restaurant, average food (no specialty food) and mostly people with fewer smiles & care (as compared to hospitality industry overall - or at least among the premium ones). While you do enjoy the peace & serenity that the well conceived property brings, you'd very likely be leaving wondering how much better a property of this kind can be run and feel alas for it!