Organic Cheesemaking Farmstay in Coonoor, Nilgiris, India.
Organic Cheesemaking Farmstay in Coonoor, Nilgiris, India.
Acres Wild is a family farmstay in India. A combination of a homestay, guesthouse, lodge but on a farm and yes we also live on the same premise. But first things first.
1. We are a genuine farmstay and NOT a resort. Thought we should get that clear at the start. 
2. A farmstay holiday or farm holiday is an unusual and new holiday option. Farmstay accommodations gives people a chance to witness and experience farm life first-hand.
3. We recommend that every guest go through our web site thoroughly in order to check out what facilities are available/ not available at our farmstay before making a reservation.
4. We have 3 guesthouse cottages - Haloumi House (2 room), Cheddar House (2 room) and Colby Cottage (single room).
5. Our farmstay is on a hillside and has 3 levels but all connected by motorable road. Guests should be prepared to do a fair bit of walking up and down slopes. We live on the middle level and the common dining area is next to us. Haloumi House and Colby Cottage are close to each other and are at the upper level. Cheddar House is at the lower level.
6. V. IMP: All meals: Breakfast and Dinner are ONLY served in our common dining area which is in the Club House at the middle level. This would require the guests to walk a bit. Please consider this before making a booking with us. Timings are fixed. Breakfast 8 am to 10:00am. Dinner 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm.
7. All Taxes that are applicable on the date of your booking are applicable over and above the Room Tariff.
8. We offer 10% discount (on room tariff) from the 7th night onwards of booking. Please don't request for any other discounts.
9. Room Heaters are not part of the tariff. They are provided on request at an additional charge of Rs 200/- per night.
10. For Enquiry/Reservation please call between 9 am to 2 pm and 4 pm to 9 pm on 94432-32621 to speak with me, Mansoor.
11. Accommodation for a driver is in a seperate staff cottage. Rs 300 per night. Breakfast and other meals is on actuals as per prevailing rates. Please don't bring any other staff.
12. We have compiled a Welcome Pamphlet of useful information. It has a lot of information about our farm, farmstay, local places to eat, shop, site-seeing, emergency numbers etc. Do read it when you arrive so you can be familiar with things around our farm and also plan your trip around the town and Nilgiris.
13. For Enquiry/Reservation please call between 9 am to 2 pm and 4 pm to 9 pm on 94432-32621 to speak with me, Mansoor.
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Season | Off-Season |
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| Room Type | Weekday | Weekend | Extra Mattress | |
Colby Cottage |
3,000 | 2,000 | 2,500 | 800 |
Cheddar House (per room) |
4,000 | 3,000 | 3,500 | 800 |
Haloumi House (per room) |
4,000 | 3,000 | 3,500 | 800 |
Note:
Weekend (Fri,Sat,Sun) & Weekday (Mon,Tue,Wed,Thur)
The above rates are inclusive of breakfast and per couple
Govt taxes as applicable at the time are extra and presently include 12.5% Luxury Tax (State Govt) & 6.18 % service tax (Central Govt) on room tariff and all services.
Children below 10 years of age are complimentary.
Room Heater (if requested) is Rs 200 per night
IN SEASON - 16th April to 15th June
OFF SEASON - 16th Jan to 15th April
Colby Cottage is a standalone guesthouse. It has a studio-style interior with double bed, dining area, kitchenette and attached toilet/bath. Front covered porch. The cottage is made of adobe bricks that we made on the farm.
The view of the valley and the hill range across with pristine forest and some tea estates. In the foreground you can see the roof of our farmhouse and in the left is the lower part of the Cheesemaking Cottage.
Bedroom Space in Colby Cottage
Bedroom side of the cottage.
Room facilities: 2 single beds/double bed, writing desk, dining table with chairs. Attached toilet/shower with solar water heating.
Kitchen and Dining space in Colby Cottage
Kitchen facilities: Fridge, electric kettle, induction heater, toaster, sandwich-toastie-cum-grill and basic utensils.
360 degree Panoramic View of Interior of Colby Cottage
CLICK ON ABOVE PHOTO for 360 deg view of Interior
You can look 360 degrees around the interior of Colby Cottage by clicking on the photo above. NOTE: Please wait for the complete file to download before using the buttons to look around. Enjoy!
Haloumi House is in the the same style and layout as our Cheddar House. It is a 2 bedroom guesthouse cottage with a living/dining room and a kitchen. It is located at the top of the property and looks down into the Plains of Mettapalayam.
Living Room & Open Kitchen in Haloumi House
Kitchen facilities: Fridge, induction heater, electric kettle, toaster, sandwich-toastie-cum-grill and basic utensils.
Bedrooms in Haloumi House
Haloumi House Room 1 |
Haloumi House Room 2 |
Bathrooms in Haloumi House
Each room has a bathroom attached.
Cheddar House is is our 2-bedroom farmstay guesthouse. You can book individual rooms. The styling is unique with touches of the classic Indo-British architecture that is characteristic of the Nilgiris. We have made with eco-friendly adobe bricks made on our farm. The front full-length porch overlooks the valley with the plains of Mettapalayam far below.
It has a stunning view of the valley and the plains. It is easy to spend a whole day just looking at the scenic, tranquil view and listening to the sound of birds and the little babbling stream of water from our spring that passes below.
Living Room in Cheddar House
The Living & Dining Room in Cheddar House.
A generous and tastefully decorated living and dining room that leads out to the front porch.
The floor is wooden and there is a fire place for the cold and foggy nights that we often get in Coonoor.
This space leads to a walk-in kitchen seen in the background.
Cheddar House Room 1 |
Cheddar House Room 2 |
Room facilities: wooden floors, 2 single beds/double bed, cupboard, writing desk and chair. Attached toilet/shower with solar water heating.
There is a toilet attached to each bedroom.
Solar water heating ensures a continuous supply of hot water.
The spacious kitchen is a walk-in space from the dining room.
Kitchen facilities: Fridge, induction heater, electric kettle, toaster, sandwich-toastie-cum-grill and basic utensils.
Breakfast: is part of the tariff. Non Veg we have your choice of eggs. For vegetarians we have either upma or poha. This is accompanies with farm-made fresh bread, butter, farm-made jam & fresh fruit.
Lunch: We don't serve lunch on day of arrival of guest because very often it is hard to estimate time of arrival and the lunch gets wasted. We suggest you please eat on the way. Our Welcome Pamphlet suggests places to eat in Coonoor and Ooty. For the rest of your stay here you can please inform us at breakfast time if you would like to eat lunch that day.
Dinner: are as per our fixed menu (same food that we eat in our home). Usually 2 veg dishes, daal and rice, dessert for vegetarians. Chicken dish for non-veg along with the rest.
The rates are Veg Rs 300/- per meal per person and Non-veg Rs 350/-.
Children under 10 years are charged 50% of above rates.
You need to inform us a day before on you plans for lunch and dinner.
12.3% service tax applies to all meals.
Tea: We keep tea, sugar and milk in the cottages. There is electric kettle for making the tea. Kindly help yourself. Please note we keep about quater litre of milk per day. If you need more it will be charged. Thanks.
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Cheesemaking Cheesemaking is our prime activity at Acres Wild. It takes the whole day but you are welcome to see how it is done. In case you want to learn formally then you can enroll for our cheesemaking course.
Please call Tina for further details at 94430-37401. |
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Breadmaking Guests are welcome to help us make breads that we make daily for ourselves and our farmstay guests.
There is no fees for participating in making jams.
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Making Soap Guests are welcome to help us make soap from scratch by the cold process. These soaps are gentle on the skin quite unlike the ones that are normally available in the market. The finished soaps we intend using for ourselves and the farmstay.
There is no fees for participating in making jams. |
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Making Jams We try to serve as many food items that are locally grown or made. So jams is one activity that allows us to use the local seasonal fruits either from our farm or from the area. You can help with this activity as and when we are doing it.
There is no fees for participating in making jams. |
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Planting vegetables and trees. We welcome you to help us plant vegetables and saplings or help us pick what is growing whatever is growing in our vegetable patch. If you wish we can cook it for you. |
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Milking & Bathing Cows Something the kids love and is great fun to try. The milking timings are 8:30 am in the morning and 4:30pm in the evening everyday. |
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Feeding farm animals. You can help feed the ducks, geese and fish near our pond area. |
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Fishing We have a simple fishing tackle with which you can do some angling in our pond. There are 3 types of major carps to catch. You can toss them back if you are not interested in eating them or if they are too small to eat. |
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Birdwatching We suggest you bring a pair of binoculars and settle down in quiet corners of our farm to watch the different kinds of birds we have. Here is a list of one I have spotted personally. Kingfisher, Woodpecker, brahmini kite, bulbul, swift, water hen, babbler, Malaber parakeet, pied bush chat, shrike, spotted dove and black kite. There are some others I have seen but not identified.
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Pets
We are open to guests bringing their pets but only if you are taking Colby Cottage as that is a separate cottage and you would not be disturbing other guests.
In case you take both rooms in either Cheddar or Haloumi House then too it would be possible for you to bring your pet.
However please do discuss with us so we can advise suitably as this is a wild and open area.
Booking Confirmation Rules
Bookings only confirmed on full payment.
CHECK IN/OUT Timings
Check-in: Noon.
Check-out: 11:00 am.
Cancellations
In-Season: at least 14 days notice prior to date of arrival for cancellation. Rs. 500/- will be deducted from the total deposit as cancellation fee. If less than 14 days notice is given, the deposit is forfeited unless the accommodation is rebooked. In season rates will apply even if postponed to offseason dates.
Off-Season: at least 5 days notice prior to date of arrival for cancellation. Rs. 500/- will be deducted from the total deposit as cancellation fee. If less than 5 days notice is given, the deposit is forfeited. In season rates will apply if moved to In-season dates.
Bookings will be considered confirmed only after you transfer 100% of the room tariff that is reflected in our email to you. Confirmation will be sent by email or SMS upon receipt of advance payments.
Payments within INDIA.
Transfer through NEFT, as per the details below:
Account Name : MANSOOR HUSSAIN KHAN
Account Number : 035401505354
Account Type : Savings Bank Account
Bank Name : ICICI Bank Ltd
Bank Address : 89/1 A 9, Gandhigiri, Grays Hill, Bedford, Coonoor, The Nilgiris - 643101, India
NEFT CODE : ICIC0000354
For Foreign Remittance (ANYWHERE ABROAD)
VERY IMPORTANT: All remittances from abroad must take into account bank charge, transfer charges or any other charge that are applicable over and above the amount you are supposed to remit to us. In case we receive any less (as per our bank statement) then you are liable to pay those here. Thank you.
Swift Code : ICICINBBCTS
Account Name : MANSOOR HUSSAIN KHAN
Account Number : 035401505354
Account Type : Savings Bank Account
Bank Name : ICICI Bank Ltd
Bank Address : 89/1 A 9, Gandhigiri, Grays Hill, Bedford, Coonoor, The Nilgiris - 643101, India
Please read this Welcome Pamphlet here on the internet before planning your trip to our farmstay.
We also keep a copy of this pamphlet in each room for your information.
It will help you understand our facilities, rules at the farmstay
It will help you with local places like restaurants and shopping places around the Nilgiris
It has important numbers like doctors, hospitals, police etc.
And lots more.
