Walking barefoot gives a wonderful feeling; please leave your regular footwear at the steps to the entrance of each cottage. If they are muddy as they would naturally be, there is a tap to wash your feet. Slippers are available for use inside the room and the bathroom. Walking barefoot on the grass is not advised as the property is adjacent to a wildlife sanctuary, and there may be insects that would not like to be disturbed; and may become self defensive.
We would like to make your stay memorable. Please share your interests, hobbies, food allergies, wishes, and sightseeing plan with us immediately on getting confirmation of your booking. We may surprise you with exclusive suggestions. Please also list out the places you have visited, for what duration, within and outside India in the last three years and where have you stayed. Selfishly, this will engage us to find out from you where and why you have enjoyed your holiday or stay at some place over another.
No smoking inside the premises please. Our winged inmates and visitors from the adjoining forest do not care for tobacco smoke. If you must, though we hope that a week’s stay in this wilderness heaven may compel you to give it up, please open the small front gate and walk along the village road puffing. Kindly close the gate on returning.
Since we are in wilderness , please carry your torch when moving out in the dark.
Svanir is a family home. No consumption of Drugs. Private consumption of alcohol is allowed provided it causes no disturbance or inconvenience to other guests.We would like to avoid any unpleasant interactions/ situations with others, especially teetotaler guests and children. We may be forced to inform the authorities if this rule is violated.
Please keep the doors (all our termite resistant doors have rubber strips under it to prevent entry of crawlies and slimy uninvited intruders) and window nets shut in the evenings and early morning so as to prevent mosquitoes from exploring potential food sources. Please use the charged bats if you sense their presence either in the room or in the varandah any time. Do call us if you need any help. Having said that, look forward to (and quietly and cautiously see/ take photos of) many types of birds, even owlets knocking at your window panes early in the morning – their feeding time – seeking tasty insects that have remained stuck to it overnight (attracted by the varandah light). Yes, at Svanir, you will see fireflies, especially during the rainy season.
Your Svanir visit comes with a choice of nutritious breakfast in sylvan surroundings. If you would like to have delicious home cooked lunch or dinner, please inform us about your meal requirement at least 4 hours in advance as organic vegetables have to be plucked at the right time and cooked fresh for you. Call by 4.00 pm if you are late or not coming for supper.
Please feel free to help yourself to anything kept in the dining room fridge. Svanir is a wilderness home and our house guests have free access to the common fridge. We trust you to share the delicacies, always leaving some for the other guests.
Food will only be served in the dining room as we want our guests to share “foody” time not only with us but our kitchen staff and the other guests as well. Sorry, we cannot provide room service, though for those who love to laze in the morning, we have made arrangements for simple bed tea/ coffee. No biscuits though as the ants at Svanir have super sensitive nose-antennas and in no time the edibles will be claimed!
Svanir has been designed to coexist with termites as they had established their presence hundreds of years before us, the Mukherji family. However, we also allow other types of ants to explore termite hills and devour their queens, thus maintaining a natural balance. So, at Svanir, use of wood/ cellulose, the main food of termites is almost nil. Even our King+ sized beds are made of cement! Please inform us if you, especially the guests staying for a couple of days see any termite presence along the walls – we will sweep them away and use “Laxman rekha”. We do not want termites to get a taste of our window furnishings.
Our eco stay is fire resistant to the extent tree biomass/ grasses can be. So, please be careful when using any matches, etc.. For instance, lighting a lamp under the Tulasi plant at the entrance to the Mukherji family home, remembering any dear ones who has left this world for a better place. In the kitchen, we have fire extinguishers. This caution is specially applicable to specific requests for group bookings for the entire accommodation by those who want to experience, appreciate and enjoy nights that are artificial light free – looking and feeling the presence of trees, hearing night bird and cicada calls or just see the stars. For them, we can provide candles and torch lights.
While we have made some arrangement for easing access to two cottages and the dining space to the differently-abled, we think that we still have a lot more to do. We would welcome your suggestions.
Standard items:
Check in and unpack times are 2.00pm onwards. At 8 pm, unless you have informed us, the booking will be considered ‘no show’/ cancelled, and no refund is claimable. The maximum number of adults allowed in one cottage is two. The management will consider the number of additional children allowed to sleep on the same bed depending on their age; normally only one.
Bookings are compulsorily always made over the internet and advance paid as detailed elsewhere. No Gate show ups with requests for accommodation will be entertained. No refund is possible if cancelled later than 5 working days before date of booking. If cancelled earlier than five days, an opportunity lost cost will be levied (10%) on the booking advance, and the balance returned by net banking to the same account via which the advance was paid. Extras to be paid in cash.
Check out and pack your luggage, including your memories before 12.00 noon. As the low cost airlines say, “Being on time is a wonderful thing…” we must clean the cottage and welcome our next visitors at 2.00 pm. Please leave all that you want to discard in the waste bins, not strewn around. For all environmentally conscious visitors …. we know all of you will come in this category…. please take away your non-biodegradable plastic, packets, water bottles etc. and dump it at roadside garbage bins in the Bhubaneswar Municipality Area, Bharatpur or at the Airport/ Railway station.
Our Dining Hall timings:
Breakfast : 7.30 am to 10.00 am
Lunch : 1.00 pm to 2:30 pm. Chargeable/ plate/ person.
Supper : 8.30 pm to 10.00 pm. Chargeable/ plate/ person.
Tea, and biscuits/ snacks : anytime you feel like, inside the hall enjoying the view through large glass windows or outside under the shady Neem and Karaja trees, dreaming of….
We have to highlight that the quality of the underground water available from taps all over the place is considerably finer than the recommendations of the Bureau of Indian Standards for drinking. (The chart is on display in the dining hall). If in spite of that, for some reason you would like to have packaged water, we will charge you for the same. We have to, you would understand, carry the discarded bottles to far away garbage dumps for disposal. Breakfast, lunch or supper in environment friendly packets will be provided on prior notice; chargeable.
We encourage our guests to share their travel stories with us and other guests in the evening, in the dining hall. Selected indoor games, including chess, scrabble, ludo and cards are available. Catch up on your reading from our personal collection of books.
Washing machine (chargeable as it is heavy duty and consumes a lot of water), Iron/ Ironing board available on request. To conserve precious underground water, however, we encourage guests to use the buckets placed in every bathroom to wash inners and hang them out to dry, behind the cottages on the mini drying stand provided.
If you plan to spend the night with friends or someplace else without vacating, please tell us where you will be (Friends, Hotels…..) and give us their phone number. We would otherwise worry endlessly.
Please do not talk loudly over your mobile phone, or play strident music within the premises after 11.00 pm – The wildlife also need a good night’s sleep, their busiest time being early in the morning.
Please turn off all the lights, fan, air conditioner before leaving your room. Here is a suggestion: to get the maximum effect from the AC during peak summer, set the air vent on the same level as the bed (designed consciously) and switch the fan of. If you want the cool effect elsewhere in the room, switch on the fan.
Hot water is available in your bath room. But please remember to turn off the Geyser when not in use.
Please do not throw litter within the premises. Use the dustbin provided in your room to dispose dry waste. For disposing edible / organic waste please use the large bin kept in the common area. Flushing any type of litter down the toilet will call for damages as we will have to engage outside help to remove these from the sewerage line.
We would appreciate if you re-use the bath towels during your stay so as to save precious water…also when the weather is humid and air drying is not possible we would have to dry washed items using hot iron…. and this uses up a lot of electrical energy. We would however, change towels and bed linen after three days of your stay and, of course with change of guests. We seek your cooperation in dumping the bath towels in the laundry basket before checkout.
We strongly advise guests to sleep under the lacy mosquito net provided. Please switch on the mosquito repellent kept in each room after dusk so as to deter even the most adventurous mosquito. Occasionally, we would be lighting eucalyptus, karanja and neem leaf fires, supplemented by Jhuna to smoke out mosquitoes inside rooms.
Medicine/ First aid box is available. Please ask for it if needed.
If you want us to make your bed , do let us know.
Non-resident friends are welcome, on prior notice, to meet guests in the room and varandah but not after 10 pm when the natural world and wildlife takes over charge. No non-resident is ever allowed to spend the night in your room.
Moisturizer, Toothpaste, Toothbrush, Shaving kit, Body lotion, Sanitary pads are available on request at a minimal cost.
Pets are not allowed to enter the property. Period.
We have, by design and conviction, not installed a TV set in the cottages as we wish to give you an opportunity to re-establish your lost and forgotten connection with the unhurried, natural world. We are sure you would also remember incidents, friends and loved ones who you have not met or talked to for a long time and who surely deserve a phone call… saying you remember and miss them. We are, however, trying to establish reliable internet connection for your laptop and mobile so that you can also work on your special project while soaking in the peace and tranquility of Svanir. We are sure, as research suggests, your productivity and creativity will increase may fold while in Svanir.
Since we are a resident family of three – Soumya, Indrani and tiny Ishaan, parents visiting occasionally, we would have to slot time within our daily schedule to nurture and bring up the precious child. So, while we might not be available 24*7, but rest assured that if you need our help we are just a door knock away.
Front main gate lock out time is 10.00 pm
The management reserves the right to deny or revoke admittance to the potentially unruly, dangerous, infectious and the ill.
Being in wilderness, the management will not be held responsible for any force majeure like long power failure following torrential rain and flooding. There is a limit to the number of continuous hours our trusty DG set can run. Snake and scorpion bites are unpredictable but rest assured we have taken as much precaution as is possible, under expert advice. We will do our best in case of emergency to take you to the nearest hospital.
Since we have handpicked everything placed in your rooms, which is in a way extension of our home, replacing an item before the next guest comes might not be possible. So any damage by the guest will be charged at book value during checkout.
All bookings must be completed online. On spot check-ins are strictly prohibited.
Cancellation Policy
0-3 Days of Check-in Date 100%
4-10 Days of Check-in Date 50%
11-15 Days of Check-in Date 25%
16- To More Days of Check-in Date 0%
** The above Charges will be applicable On the Total Booking Amount Excluding the Transaction Charge and applicable taxes thereon. Transaction Charge and taxes thereon is Non-refundable.
** In Case of Cancellation, the amount due to be refunded will be refunded to the visitor account within a period of 7 to 15 Days from the Date of Cancellation.