Bananchal Farms — Premium home stay at Bandhavgarh National Park

Ten minutes to the Tala gate is not marketing, it is true — we were at the barrier before the queue built up, all three mornings. The cottage is larger than the photographs suggest and the sit-out looks straight into the trees. Kettle, air conditioning, hot water at five in the morning, everything working. Stay up one night for the sky. We spent far longer looking at it than we meant to.

We did not go for the tiger, we went to sit still, and this is the right place for that. Woodpeckers and parrots from the verandah all morning, a walk inside the property with their naturalist after lunch, and dinner at the dhaba in the open on the last night with the local music. The food is home-style and there is far too much of it, which is the correct amount.

Took my parents, both past seventy. What sold it was the in-room dining and the private sit-out — they could have their tea and watch the birds without going anywhere. Hot water was genuinely hot before the five ou0027clock drive. My father saw his tiger on the second safari and has told the story to everyone in Kochi since.

Genuinely inside the forest — we heard alarm calls from the cottage one night and nobody had to explain what they were. The rooms are big and spotless and the pool was clean every afternoon. Four and not five only because the mobile signal comes and goes, so get your calls done before you arrive. Going back in the monsoon to see the place green.