We had the pleasure of staying at Kings Lodge Bandhavgarh National Park (Madhya Pradesh) for two nights in April 2018 as part of our first ever Indian tiger safari. It was the first place on our list so we weren’t sure what to expect but overall we had a very lovely stay – despite arriving in an extremely rare summer rain storm! Don’t forget to get in touch with us if you are thinking about booking a tiger safari in India so we can tailor the perfect itinerary for you.
Kings Lodge accommodation
Kings Lodge has a total of 18 cottages – 8 of which are on stilts. Perhaps a little bigger than many of the places we stay (we prefer smaller, rustic and intimate camps) but given that it is spread over a large area and because the service is very personal, you still get an intimate feeling.
All rooms have ensuite bathrooms, air conditioning, verandahs and hot water. Overall we found the rooms to be large and very comfortable. The bath did not look overly inviting as it is on the old side, but the shower was huge and had excellent pressure so that more than made up for it. The room had every comfort we would want with a lovely bush outlook. We did have a room right next door, which we were worried would impact on our privacy but we never noticed any noise or disturbance from our next-door neighbours. While not quite 5 star, the rooms at Kings Lodge offered solid four star comfort and were more than what we needed.
Here’s a quick video I took of our cottage:
The lodge itself is well equipped for groups, families or those looking for a ‘resort-style’ experience with a spa, pool and bar. I thoroughly enjoyed my massage and found the price to be very reasonable. The pool was probably better suited to children as it is quite shallow, but still good for a cool-down.
Kings Lodge food
The food was very tasty, we enjoyed Indian cuisine for all meals with breakfast served while out on game drive. You can ask for Western food options if you don’t enjoy or get sick of the Indian cuisine. It’s also worth noting that the food was not very spicy at all – one of the things I was worried about! In fact later in our trip I ended up requesting more spicy food for Van who loves a bit of spice! Lots of rice, naan and curry dishes and you are very well fed at both lunch and dinner with four courses for both (desserts and soup were typically western).
One thing to be aware of when travelling in India is that dinner is typically served quite late. At Kings it usually started from about 8pm, which means if you stay for your full four courses you end up going to bed quite late. This being said, I am sure you are able to request dinner a bit earlier if you prefer it.
Kings Lodge game viewing
The accommodation and food were great, but the key reason we were there was the game viewing! Set in Bandhavgarh National Park, our expectations were relatively high. Bandhavgarh is generally considered to be one of the best places in the world to see tigers in the wild, so our hopes were pretty high! Unfortunately the big storm that came through the night of our arrival made sightings a bit quieter than usual (for summer) for the next couple of days. We did manage to see a tiger very briefly walking away on our second drive, but sadly we did not get a good tiger sighting in the three drives while at Kings. This had nothing to do with Kings or our naturalist Raju, who tried very hard to find a tiger with the help of forest guides. It was just quiet in the zones we drove during those three drives! This was more than made up for in our following four drives in Bandhavgarh, but these were undertaken at a sister property Treehouse Hideaway (to be reviewed soon).
This was all just unlucky though and in general the game viewing while staying at Kings Lodge is excellent, particularly if you visit in the summer months (March to June). Others who were staying at Kings had seen many quality tiger sightings. Best to read through my overview of Bandhavgarh to get a good understanding of our game viewing over seven drives. The quality of guiding is good at Kings and most people elect to have private vehicles (like we did), which further enhances the game viewing experience.
What we love about Kings Lodge
- Very good quality and quantity of food (you will put on weight!)
- Onsite spa for affordable and relaxing massages
- Nightly wildlife lectures by naturalists while starters are served
- Great showers – large, hot and great water pressure
- Comfortable rooms with air conditioning (a must in summer)
- Private vehicles for safaris
- Naturalist doubles as driver and speaks good english
- Very attentive customer service – you will never have an empty water glass!
- Large grounds, pool perfect for children and even a veggie garden on site
- Quality naturalists who provide information while on safari
- Free wifi available in your room and at the main area
Considerations (things we didn’t like as much):
- You have to stop in at the forest guide place on the way to the park and wait for 10-15 minutes for your forest guide. Some lodges organise this separately so guests don’t have to waste more of their time waiting.
- There’s a 10-15 minute drive to the gates – not really an issue at all but there are some places that may be a bit closer.
- They don’t tend to actively take drink orders at meal times, so you have to ask for a drink if you want something other than water (also not a biggie)
- The room and the bath are showing some signs of ageing
- The lodge is a little larger and has more of a resort feel compared to its sister property Treehouse Hideaway, so it just depends on what your tastes prefer
Should you stay at Kings Lodge?
We would definitely recommend Kings Lodge, particularly for large groups and families. It is a very comfortable lodge that offers good value and quality game viewing (particularly if you go at the right time of year). If we returned to Bandhavgarh we would likely stay at their sister property Treehouse Hideaway as it’s smaller and more rustic (which suits our tastes more), but if that was not available we wouldn’t hesitate to stay at Kings Lodge again! Get in touch with us if you’d like us to tailor the perfect tiger safari itinerary!
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