A Drive West from the City
Distances make The Serai Chikmagalur one of the more reachable luxury escapes from Bangalore. The journey unfolds through the plains of southern Karnataka and climbs into the green ridges of the Western Ghats before delivering you to our doorstep.
- Bangalore: ~255 km via NH 75
- Mangalore: ~142 km via NH 73
- Mysore: ~180 km via NH 373
- Shivamogga: ~104 km via NH 69 and SH 57
- Nearest Airports: Kempegowda International Airport (~270 km) and Mangaluru International Airport (~151 km)
- Nearest Domestic Airports: Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Airport, Shivamogga (~106 km) and Mysore Airport (~191 km)
Villas in the Heart of the Plantation
Set within our estate, 29 villas open onto sweeping views of the lush plantation canopy. Each villa is conceived as a private retreat, where the transition between indoors and the surrounding landscape feels seamless and thoughtfully understated. Our villas in Chikmagalur form the heart of a plantation staycation around Bangalore, with 3 distinct categories designed to suit different travel styles and occasions.
Estate Villa
The Estate Villa is an intimate sanctuary nestled within the plantation, available with either a private pool or a private Jacuzzi. Each villa features a poolside gazebo, a deep soaking tub, an outdoor shower, and tranquil views of the surrounding greenery, framed from the bed or the bay window.
Estate Terrace
Nestled beneath a canopy of trees, our two-storey Estate Terrace Villa unfolds across thoughtfully designed indoor and outdoor spaces. An upper-level bedroom and private balcony overlook the plantation, while the ground floor features a separate living room, a gazebo, a private pool, and an outdoor shower. From the bay window, expansive views of the coffee estate stretch across the landscape, bringing the plantation into full view.
The Residence
Set deep within the estate, The Residence is a two-bedroom villa designed for unhurried stays amidst the plantation. Spacious living and dining areas form the heart of the home, with both bedrooms opening from either side. Outside, a private pool, landscaped garden, and gazebo create a serene setting, with sunlight filtering through the greenery and illuminating the space throughout the day.
Tables Beneath the Canopy
For dining at The Serai Chikmagalur, follow your appetite from elegant indoor restaurants to intimate settings woven across the estate. Rooted in the flavours of Malenadu and complemented by regional Indian favourites and global classics, each meal invites you to linger a little longer. Whether you seek something familiar or feel tempted by the local palate, there is always a table, a view, and a flavour waiting to win you over.
The Odyssey
At The Odyssey, you are invited to linger over the flavours of Malenadu while exploring a menu that travels across India and beyond. Crafted with locally sourced ingredients and produce from the plantation, each dish offers a sense of place, encouraging you to settle in, savour slowly, and return for just one more bite.
Blue Sky
At Blue Sky, your cocktail arrives with the plantation spread beneath you and the horizon stretched wide in the distance. As conversation flows and the canopy settles into evening, time tends to soften at the edges, often leaving you lingering long after the first drink is finished.
Other Dining Experiences
Beyond the two named outlets, we offer a set of curated dining moments across the estate:
- Earth and Estate: Slow-cooked, locally grown ingredients prepared in earthen pots with cold-pressed oils
- Dine by the Lake: A private breakfast curated with our chefs, served beside the lake
- Plantation Picnic: A basket meal taken in the plantation, by the lake, or beside your villa pool
- Bale Yele Oota: The traditional Malnad banana leaf meal, served as it has been for generations
Wellness with Coffee at Its Core
At Oma, our spa at The Serai Chikmagalur, wellness begins with a name that means “life giver” in Sanskrit. Therapies draw from both Eastern and Western holistic traditions, combining time-honoured techniques with natural botanical ingredients suited to all skin types.
The Oma Signature Series is where the plantation reveals a different side of itself. Crafted with freshly ground coffee from our own estates, these treatments transform one of Chikmagalur’s defining flavours into a deeply restorative ritual, surrounding you with its rich aroma and natural benefits
Why Choose The Serai Chikmagalur for Your Staycation
A staycation at The Serai Chikmagalur unfolds at its own unhurried pace, with our estate offering more than enough to fill your days without venturing beyond its gates. Your mornings begin to a chorus of sunbirds, minivets, drongos, and woodpeckers moving through the canopy, while the rest of the day follows wherever your mood leads—along shaded plantation trails, beside a private pool, or in the quiet comfort of a gazebo with a good book for company.
When curiosity calls, a collection of thoughtfully curated experiences across the estate invites you to discover the plantation from a different perspective, offering the best staycation near Bangalore:
- Coffee Plantation Walk & Bean to Cup: Let the growers walk you through the rows that gave India its coffee. Follow the bean through curing, roasting, and a tasting session with an expert or, in season, step into the field yourself and pick Arabica or Robusta cherries by hand.
- Birdwatching, Cycling & the Mullayanagiri Hike: Catch the canopy at 6:30 AM when drongos, bee-eaters, and golden orioles are still unhurried; take a 2-hour cycling trail through 10 to 14 km of coffee-country roads; or spend a day ascending Karnataka's highest peak, with the valleys of Chikmagalur spread out below.
- Farm to Table & Selon Choix: Savour a 5-course traditional Malnad spread sourced entirely from local farmers, or have the chef compose a private picnic menu and take it wherever the estate calls you—by the plantation, the pool, or the lake's edge.
- Romance in the Air: Dine by your private pool under candlelight with wine and handmade truffles; surrender to a 3-hour couple's therapy at Oma Spa using fresh-ground coffee from the estate's own harvest; or begin the morning with an artisanal lakeside breakfast as the mist lifts off the hills.
- Hoysala Temples Tour: Drive about 45 minutes to the ancient Hoysala temple towns of Belur and Halebeedu, and let a guide walk you through stone carvings that have been ageing considerably longer than anything in the cellar.