Resorts near Vizag

LunavadaLad · Jul 15th, 2008, 12:38

Hi

I am travelling to Araku Valley later this year. Thought I would stay a couple of nights. Then moving onto Koraput for a couple of nights. Araku looks like a nice place to relax. Is there anything worth seeing there. and do you have any contact details for the new resort as nothing on their website. Was planing to stay at the Punnami Mayuri Araku have you see this place?

smo · Jul 15th, 2008, 13:45

I stayed for two days at Punami resorts Araku two years back. Photos of Punami resort is here.

Araku is a nice place to relax. See this gallery for places around Araku.

You will enjoy the train journey to Araku from Vizag

LunavadaLad · Jul 15th, 2008, 15:58

Hi SMO
How did you find Punami resorts, do you know the cost of a non A/C room? Did it have a good restaurant.

smo · Jul 15th, 2008, 17:24

There is a restaurant, bar and one swimming pool is also there. There are two / three different types of rooms available . If I remember correctly it was around Rs 1200 . , but all these are two year old figures.

There are two Punami at Araku, one is near bus stand ( tribal museum ) bit old one and rate also less. The other one (new and better ) is Punami resort at a distance of two KM from bus stand. The pictures you see are of new one the Punami Resort. The old one near the tribal museum was looking bit deserted at the time I visited so I stayed at resort.

jaekae · Jul 16th, 2008, 12:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by smo

There is a restaurant, bar and one swimming pool is also there. There are two / three different types of rooms available . If I remember correctly it was around Rs 1200 . , but all these are two year old figures.

There are two Punami at Araku, one is near bus stand ( tribal museum ) bit old one and rate also less. The other one (new and better ) is Punami resort at a distance of two KM from bus stand. The pictures you see are of new one the Punami Resort. The old one near the tribal museum was looking bit deserted at the time I visited so I stayed at resort.

Actually the one near the Tribal Museum - Mayuri Haritha (also called Hill Resort, whereas the other one that smo refers to is called Valley Resort) is the newer one - it had a plaque saying it was inaugrated in Nov 2007 (whereas Valley resort was inaugrated in 2003) - I'm not sure if it's newer or is an old resort that has been renovated.
Eitherways, the advantage of the Hill resort is that each room has a balcony with a wonderful view, whereas the advantage of the Valley Resort is that it has a nice swimming pool, billiards room, etc.
The rents for both are almost hte same - non a/c room starting around 1200, a/c rooms between 1700-2200 and suites around 2500. Again, you can book either of these at any APTDC office.
HTH,
- JK

irishkansan07 · Jul 22nd, 2008, 12:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaekae

Actually I skipped Rishikonda and went to Araku instead. I'd been disappointed with Araku on a previous trip - which was a day trip from Vizag, but this trip completely changed my opinion! The train journey, the weather - slight drizzle with a mist over the hills, and above all, a new APTDC resort at Araku made all the difference!

The new resort (APTDC Mayuri-Haritha if I remember right) was opened only in Nov '07, so is spanking new! The rooms are done up really well, and the hotel is built along the curve of a hill, so that EACH room has a large balcony with a view to kill for. Food wasn't an issue either. There isn't much to see in Araku, but just sitting in the balcony, watching the clouds cover the hills while sipping hot tea, that itself made it a holiday!

Regarding APTDC resorts, or for that matter, any govt. run resort, from what I've seen, the 'good' is that they always have the best location and views, but the 'bad' - they are low on maintenance and sometimes even cleanliness.
The Araku resort was new, so the 'bad' hadn't quite set in

I've seen the Rushikonda resort from outside on a previous trip, and the 'good' above definitely holds true - fantastic location; I haven't stayed there, so I can't say if the 'bad' applies to it too.
I hope you're pleasantly surprised by the resort, do let us know how it goes!
- JK

thanks much, jk!

haven't quite decided on what we will do--i'd love to stay in a quieter place in vizag (on the beach, if possible!) but i can't seem to find anything...

thanks for the good review of araku--i will definitely try to spend a night or two in araku or the cottages in tyda

i'll let you know how we find it all!

thanks for your feedback!

jaekae · Jul 22nd, 2008, 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishkansan07

thanks much, jk!

haven't quite decided on what we will do--i'd love to stay in a quieter place in vizag (on the beach, if possible!) but i can't seem to find anything...

thanks for the good review of araku--i will definitely try to spend a night or two in araku or the cottages in tyda

i'll let you know how we find it all!

thanks for your feedback!

In Vizag, again there is an APTDC resort; again I've heard it's a great location - sea facing facility with great views etc, but I'm not sure of the details since I haven't been there.

As for a nice quiet place 'near' Vizag - I heard many resorts have come up on the Vizag - Rushikonda - Bheemuli road. I'm sure some of them must be good (though I've heard some of them are 'not at all' good; some even shady) - so I'm sure you will find something to your liking good there.
Good luck!
- JK

irishkansan07 · Jul 23rd, 2008, 14:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaekae

In Vizag, again there is an APTDC resort; again I've heard it's a great location - sea facing facility with great views etc, but I'm not sure of the details since I haven't been there.

As for a nice quiet place 'near' Vizag - I heard many resorts have come up on the Vizag - Rushikonda - Bheemuli road. I'm sure some of them must be good (though I've heard some of them are 'not at all' good; some even shady) - so I'm sure you will find something to your liking good there.
Good luck!
- JK

JK! sorry, one last question. you said that you instead went up to araku--how did you get there?! we're thinking about doing tyda/araku instead, but with our timings, we can't do the railroad. did you rent a vehicle (with or without driver? cost?)...and how??

we would really, really love to rent our own car (without driver) and make our own way...do you know how to do this?

thanks!

mousourik · Jul 23rd, 2008, 16:09

a note of caution here - there will be some hair pin bends on this road.

irishkansan07 · Jul 23rd, 2008, 16:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by mousourik

a note of caution here - there will be some hair pin bends on this road.

thanks, mousourik--any suggestions on how to best travel?

i'm realizing more and more a car without driver may not happen...but am wondering about hiring a car to take us up from vizag-tyda and drop us off?

then we will have to hire another to come down, i suppose...

smo · Jul 23rd, 2008, 17:11

Any way you have to pay both sides, best is to take a vehicle get dropped at Vizag railway station. Go by train, ticket will be around Rs 30 upto Araku in general compartment. The same compartment AP tourism offers you in its train cum bus package. Vehicle with your luggage will pickup you at Araku station. Then go to tribal museum, Dumbriguda Chaaparai, garden , Borra caves etc and then return to Tyda and then to Vizag. You can stay one night or more where ever you want.

This is what my friend has done in last October. One Qualis was booked for 6 days ( Araku plus some other places ) . What I understood is for a day trip like this it may cost you around Rs 2000/- . If exact price is required then I can ask my friend.

irishkansan07 · Jul 23rd, 2008, 17:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by smo

Any way you have to pay both sides, best is to take a vehicle get dropped at Vizag railway station. Go by train, ticket will be around Rs 30 upto Araku in general compartment. The same compartment AP tourism offers you in its train cum bus package. Vehicle with your luggage will pickup you at Araku station. Then go to tribal museum, Dumbriguda Chaaparai, garden , Borra caves etc and then return to Tyda and then to Vizag. You can stay one night or more where ever you want.

This is what my friend has done in last October. One Qualis was booked for 6 days ( Araku plus some other places ) . What I understood is for a day trip like this it may cost you around Rs 2000/- . If exact price is required then I can ask my friend.

thanks for the info, smo!

our problem is the timings are off for the train vizag--araku (only early AM), and we get into vizag thurs or fri PM and need to leave mon AM. i've heard the train is breathtaking, but the timings aren't convenient with our plans. short trip, i know! so we need to just get a vehicle to take us to (probably tyda) and then back down...

jaekae · Jul 24th, 2008, 11:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishkansan07

JK! sorry, one last question. you said that you instead went up to araku--how did you get there?! we're thinking about doing tyda/araku instead, but with our timings, we can't do the railroad. did you rent a vehicle (with or without driver? cost?)...and how??

we would really, really love to rent our own car (without driver) and make our own way...do you know how to do this?

thanks!

Hello again!
Yup, we took the train up to Araku, but for the return, rented (believe it or not!) an auto! Seemed crazy at first, but we went ahead with that coz the weather was beautiful and we wanted to 'open' feel of an auto - just didn't want to be in a diesel car!!
The auto was actually quite comfortable. We stopped at Borra Caves for an hour and for lunch for half an hour , and still were back in Vizag in around 5 hrs. The auto driver charged us Rs.800 for the 110 km; taxis (car) were slightly more expensive, at aroung Rs.1500 for a one way drop.

You can probably do the reverse - catch an auto on Friday evening, and take the train back on Sunday night (I think the train leave Araku in the afternoon and reaches Vizag by night - please confirm). I just hope you have enough time on Friday to cover Borra on the way up. Account for 1-1.5 hrs there. Both the auto and train routes are quite scenic, so this won't be a bad deal.

If you can't cover Borra on the way up, you'll probably have to take an auto from Araku to Borra on Sat - that's about 1-1.5 hrs away. Worst case, you'll have to do both by road.

I also enquired about hiring a car for Vizag - Araku - Vizag, with a night halt at Araku. The agent quoted around 3500. You could do that, if you plan to do both ways by road.

Hope this helps. Do post if you have more questions...that's what this forum is for!
Have a good one!
- JK

jaekae · Jul 24th, 2008, 11:15

Oops, I forgot about Tyda! I presume you want to do both Tyda & Araku.

What you should probably do in that case is hire a car on Friday evening, go up to Tyda (about 2 hrs), spend the night in a cottage there, go for an morning walk, leave around 10-11ish, stop at Borra, and reach Araku by 4 in the evening.
At this point you have two options:
* If you plan to return by car too, you can keep the car - in which case, I'm guessing the driver is going to charge you something around Rs.4000 ( he quoted Rs.3500 for a one night halt. Since you have two nights, I guess it'll be a bit higher)
* If the train back on Sunday night works for you, you can release the car. You can either cover the "local attractions" near Araku before releasing the car, or hire an auto on Sunday morning to see those. I'm not sure how much the driver will charge for this; I'm guessing it'll be in the Rs.2000-2500 range. The train ticket for Sunday morning will cost Rs.21/head

I hope this helps

LunavadaLad · Jul 24th, 2008, 11:25

Train 1VK,VSKP-KRDL-PASS
ST CODE STATION NAME ARRIVAL DEPARTURE
VSKP VISHAKAPATNAM 6:50:00 AM
SCM SIMHACHALAM 7:07:00 AM 7:08:00 AM
PDT PENDURTI 7:20:00 AM 7:21:00 AM
KTV KOTTAVALASA 7:29:00 AM 7:30:00 AM
MVW MALLIVIDU 7:42:00 AM 7:43:00 AM
SUP SHRUNGAVARPUKTA 8:04:00 AM 8:05:00 AM
SLPM SHIVALINGAPURAM 8:45:00 AM 8:46:00 AM
TXD TYADA 8:57:00 AM 8:58:00 AM
CMDP CHIMIDIPALLI 9:21:00 AM 9:22:00 AM
BGHU BORRAGUHALLU 9:41:00 AM 9:42:00 AM
KVLS KARAKAVALASA 10:03:00 AM 10:04:00 AM
SMLG SHIMILIAGUDA 10:23:00 AM 10:24:00 AM
ARK ARAKKU 10:50:00 AM 10:55:00 AM

Train 2VK,KRDL VSKP PASS
ST CODE STATION NAME ARRIVAL DEPARTURE
ARK ARAKKU 3:35:00 PM 3:40:00 PM
SMLG SHIMILIAGUDA 3:54:00 PM 3:55:00 PM
KVLS KARAKAVALASA 4:14:00 PM 4:15:00 PM
BGHU BORRAGUHALLU 4:34:00 PM 4:35:00 PM
CMDP CHIMIDIPALLI 4:55:00 PM 4:56:00 PM
TXD TYADA 5:19:00 PM 5:20:00 PM
SLPM SHIVALINGAPURAM 5:31:00 PM 5:32:00 PM
SUP SHRUNGAVARPUKTA 6:14:00 PM 6:15:00 PM
MVW MALLIVIDU 6:39:00 PM 6:40:00 PM
KTV KOTTAVALASA 7:09:00 PM 7:10:00 PM
PDT PENDURTI 7:24:00 PM 7:25:00 PM
SCM SIMHACHALAM 7:37:00 PM 7:38:00 PM
VSKP VISHAKAPATNAM 8:25:00 PM Destination Station

Jul 15th, 2008, 12:38	#16
LunavadaLad Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Perth Australia Posts: 83	Hi I am travelling to Araku Valley later this year. Thought I would stay a couple of nights. Then moving onto Koraput for a couple of nights. Araku looks like a nice place to relax. Is there anything worth seeing there. and do you have any contact details for the new resort as nothing on their website. Was planing to stay at the Punnami Mayuri Araku have you see this place? __________________ If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home. ~James Michener

Jul 15th, 2008, 13:45	#17
smo Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: India Posts: 69	I stayed for two days at Punami resorts Araku two years back. Photos of Punami resort is here. Araku is a nice place to relax. See this gallery for places around Araku. You will enjoy the train journey to Araku from Vizag __________________ India travel destinations

Jul 15th, 2008, 15:58	#18
LunavadaLad Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Perth Australia Posts: 83	Punami resort Hi SMO How did you find Punami resorts, do you know the cost of a non A/C room? Did it have a good restaurant.

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Jul 15th, 2008, 17:24	#19
smo Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: India Posts: 69	There is a restaurant, bar and one swimming pool is also there. There are two / three different types of rooms available . If I remember correctly it was around Rs 1200 . , but all these are two year old figures. There are two Punami at Araku, one is near bus stand ( tribal museum ) bit old one and rate also less. The other one (new and better ) is Punami resort at a distance of two KM from bus stand. The pictures you see are of new one the Punami Resort. The old one near the tribal museum was looking bit deserted at the time I visited so I stayed at resort.

Jul 23rd, 2008, 16:09	#24
mousourik Maha Guru Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: KOLKATA, INDIA Posts: 1,188	a note of caution here - there will be some hair pin bends on this road.

Jul 23rd, 2008, 17:11	#26
smo Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: India Posts: 69	Any way you have to pay both sides, best is to take a vehicle get dropped at Vizag railway station. Go by train, ticket will be around Rs 30 upto Araku in general compartment. The same compartment AP tourism offers you in its train cum bus package. Vehicle with your luggage will pickup you at Araku station. Then go to tribal museum, Dumbriguda Chaaparai, garden , Borra caves etc and then return to Tyda and then to Vizag. You can stay one night or more where ever you want. This is what my friend has done in last October. One Qualis was booked for 6 days ( Araku plus some other places ) . What I understood is for a day trip like this it may cost you around Rs 2000/- . If exact price is required then I can ask my friend.

Jul 24th, 2008, 11:15	#29
jaekae Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Hyderabad, IN Posts: 45	Oops, I forgot about Tyda! I presume you want to do both Tyda & Araku. What you should probably do in that case is hire a car on Friday evening, go up to Tyda (about 2 hrs), spend the night in a cottage there, go for an morning walk, leave around 10-11ish, stop at Borra, and reach Araku by 4 in the evening. At this point you have two options: * If you plan to return by car too, you can keep the car - in which case, I'm guessing the driver is going to charge you something around Rs.4000 ( he quoted Rs.3500 for a one night halt. Since you have two nights, I guess it'll be a bit higher) * If the train back on Sunday night works for you, you can release the car. You can either cover the "local attractions" near Araku before releasing the car, or hire an auto on Sunday morning to see those. I'm not sure how much the driver will charge for this; I'm guessing it'll be in the Rs.2000-2500 range. The train ticket for Sunday morning will cost Rs.21/head I hope this helps

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