Native beauty

The drive to Green Hills Estate prepares you well for your stay at this 19th-century coffee estate. The approach to Coorg is a lush, distracting drive through thick forest and carpet-like agricultural land on a road sometimes canopied with interlocking gulmohar and copper pod trees, or frequently fringed by banyan. As you enter the estate, and drive through its carefully maintained plantations, the profuse foliage of coffee and pepper, the house surprises you with its Europeanness a fa&ccedilade decidedly Swiss, bright red with white painted panes, yet roofed with the lovely Mangalore tiles distinctive of all bungalows in the area. The house was built in 1898 by a Swiss architect commissioned by the son of the Diwan of Coorg, who entertained his many foreign friends here. At the time, the Diwan&rsquos family lived on another house on the property &mdash their ancestral home &mdash where the present generation (the Diwan&rsquos great-grandson and his family) live today as well.

Inside, the atmosphere is distinctive of a colonial plantation bungalow. Run by Neemrana Hotels, Green Hills retains the design and d&eacutecor of its owners (the fifth-generation descendants of the Diwan) almost completely. Rosewood floors and panelled walls, dark wood furniture from Coonoor or Kochi (which include some amazing 1960s designs of chairs and cabinets), green mosaic bathroom floors, stuffed animals from the legendary Vivian and Vivian of Mysore, and an absorbing collection of books and LPs. The experience is more of a homestay (warm yet delicately scented with exclusivity), where you can smell and taste the history of the property. The rooms are all suites (named Lord Jim, Lady Madcap, Blue Heaven and I&rsquom No Angel &mdash after the racing horses belonging to Mr Chengappa, the current owner) a spacious bedroom with a living area that has a single or two single beds, and one bathroom. There are sitting areas for every mood/season/time of day the verandah overlooking the front lawn, with its painted wicker furniture the formal &lsquopiano room&rsquo, complete with love seats and tiger-skin rug, and memorabilia from generations of the Diwan&rsquos family the many-windowed library &mdash sunny or with expansive views of layers of dark and light rain clouds, and a fantastic collection of books &mdash history, literature and &lsquopulp&rsquo fiction a side verandah with a view of coffee, pepper and coconut trees that predate the house &mdash where you&rsquore served breakfast, and which smells tantalisingly of bacon and toast all day.

Meals are served in a posh dining area (where, among other stuffed companions, a water buffalo eyes you beadily as you eat) complete with elegant furniture, chandeliers and a distinctly ballroom feel. The menu is a little disappointing standard Indian and Continental fare, no local dishes or even distinctive flavours. Service is a little green, but makes up in terms of warmth and promptness, only adding to the &lsquonon hotel&rsquo experience of the estate.

Still, if you were to choose this plantation bungalow for a holiday, it would have to be for one of two reasons. The first is the LP collection. If you&rsquore lucky enough to have the turntable working, it&rsquos an added bonus, but otherwise the sleeve notes provide entertainment in themselves. There&rsquos a hilarious edition of Music to Watch Girls By, an illuminating one of Edith Piaf&rsquos &lsquoMea Culpa&rsquo, and Hamilton Bohannon&rsquos &lsquoDance Your Ass Off&rsquo is only one of stacks of dance music spanning at least half a century.

The second is the walk around the periphery of the estate (take the left turn just after the main gate). If you&rsquore alone, it&rsquos a suffusion of forest smells and sounds, and the feel of a hill station in the midst of the tropics. The constant rustle of snakes, birds that sound chillingly like taps dripping, invisible insects that deafen you with warnings of rain, the glimpse of sun in the midst of thick, lovely coffee bushes.

 The information

Location Virajpet, South Coorg (250km from Bangalore/100km from Mysore)
Accommodation Four three-bedded suites
Tariff Rs 5,000. The rate includes breakfast but excludes taxes. There&rsquos a 20% discount on the tariff till August 31.
Contact 08274-254790, www.neemranahotels.com