As the world paces towards a more sustainable lifestyle, why shouldn’t your travel plans keep up with the times? Not too far away from the hustle-bustle of city life that Mumbai has to offer, in the hills of Lonavala lies a quaint property that offers the best of architectural elegance along with the promise of a more sustainable stay. While you enjoy the solitude and scenic bliss of foggy roads, waterfalls and dense forests with your family, your friends, your significant other or your furry friends, be assured of a stay that will give your opportunities to support locals and native organizations.
What started as an inn called ‘Modern Guest House’ in Fort Bombay by Motiram Jamnadas Ganatra after he moved to Mumbai from Karachi, soon turned into a ‘lodging and boarding’ amongst the hills of Lonavala by the name of ‘Hotel Chandralok’. Hotel Chandralok still exists as a heritage property today and taking a more modern avatar is its sister property ‘Chandralok Villas’ operative under a new generation of Ganatras who wish to extend the same warmth and hospitality with a modern twist on the traditional idea of hospitality. Heta Ganatra, the director and great grand-daughter of Motiram Jamnadas Ganatra, tells us, “Amidst the Space race between two Cold War rivals, the Soviet Union and the United States, to achieve firsts in spaceflight capability and moon landing, our great-grandfather decided to land on the moon before the two rivals did which gave birth to the name ‘Chandralok.’”
The four-villa property has a vintage aesthetic that blends perfectly with the modern elements and exterior of the villas. Each villa offers comfort and luxury and features four and a half bedrooms with some expanding into Lilliputian balconies, a living area, mini TV parlour room, a lush garden, a private pool attached to each villa, an al fresco dining area, and a shopping space that is designed to offer a mindful indoor and outdoor experience.
Married to the idea of sustainability, the villa composts all of your food waste and uses it for horticulture. Giving back to the community the new pop up shop The Chandralok Villas marketplace in the property retails masks, cloth bags, envelopes, crockery, missal mix all handmade or sourced locally by either businesses run by local women or by Blind Home & Samvad Shala – a school for children with hearing and speech impairments.
The white modern villas with high ceilings and large paneled windows have interiors that are sure to tap into your cottage core aesthetics with certain wooden elements adding to the idea of a cottage in the hills which is perfect for the property set in the hills of Lonavala.
Checkout their property here.
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