Across Coorg, estate owners are opening up their beautiful homes to guests. A local shares her favourite stays.

Early mornings  are the busiest hours on the plantations across Coorg. Through the year plantation activities like coffee, pepper and cardamom picking carry on, followed by drying, pulping and roasting that mark the end of the crop harvest. As I walk through the estate, the pulped coffee bean emits a peculiar fermented smell. It eventually grows on you. Soon, with the season of sprinkling and irrigation will deliver a beautiful coffee blossom, and scents of mogra and jasmine will fill the air. It is at times like this when I feel prosperous and grateful for this abundance as a farmer on my estate.

Indian robusta coffee in Coorg /  Pixeled moments/Adobe Stock

There is nothing more fulfilling than enjoying the fruits and crops of your own land. My grandmother would make marmalade from the kaipuli (bitter oranges) on our estate, butterfruit (avocado) with sugar was dessert in the monsoon, rice from our paddy fields made for putts and for tea time she made the best baalé nurk (banana fritters).

By sunset, we’d have to return home from a long day’s work; the fear of wild animals kept us and continues to keep us indoors after dark. The fire is lit to bathe in the traditional bath areas called gudda (with firewood heated water) and cooking for the night commences. Sights of fireflies in the summer and the sounds of crickets in the monsoon are the alarms to finally call it a night on the plantation.

Amni / The Avocado Cows

Most plantation homes are secretly tucked away in the middle of coffee estates and wild foliage. Over here, our nearest neighbour is kilometres away, and roads can be inaccessible. Jeeps and heavy vehicles are our means of transport, gumboots and leeches are our friends, and dogs on the estate are our protectors from wildlife attacking our crops. Over time, plantation owners in Coorg have gone from entertaining friends, relatives and neighbours to extending their hospitality to guests. Homes have expanded, there’s often an annexe, and guests are invited to stay and experience the traditional ‘Coorg life’. Those who used to cook up a storm and have a heaving table for friends and family are now creating food and immersive experiences for guests. Most of these homes, built in Kodava-colonial or traditional styles, have recently become my benchmark for the old ways of Coorg hospitality, and are among my favourite plantation stays in Coorg.

Amni

Amni  / The Avocado Cows

When I first drove towards Amni, Abraham Jose picked me up in his jeep half way. I soon realized the road was not fit for my vehicle. The drive was rocky, and along the way we spoke about all the dishes his mother was preparing for me. Enroute, I was also asked to keep the location of his stay discreet, probably the real reason why he insisted on picking me up, so I would forget the route more easily. The Amni estate is stunning: a charming view of stone cottages across pearl grass, built across multiple levels that look like small grass mounds, where chimneys peep out between the foliage against the backdrop of the Balyaatra range, like something straight out of a Jane Austen novel. Abraham, his parents Rosy and Jose, his two brothers Joseph and Mathew, his wife, Ria, and their grandmother whom they fondly call Ammini, live here. Twenty five years of collecting stone and cast iron antiques like a fountain-mouthed gargoyle, Victorian lamp posts and railway sleepers for a table base add to Amni’s personality. This is a two bedroom stay, equipped with extra beds for a total of five to six members. Overlooking a stone amphitheatre and the Thatacherry estate hills cladded with Arabica and Robusta plantations, the homestay is 30 meters away from the family’s own cottage. A tiled porch with a picket fence offers independent entrances to both rooms. Rooms unfold in a palette of jade frost, pastels, and floral prints. A fireplace in the common room is the cosiest nook for you to curl up in the monsoon and winter months.

Room details / Sitara Cariappa

Stone pool at Amni / Sitara Cariappa

The Paati Polé river flows through the check dam in front of their home, with bridges across it leading up to a stone pool at a lower level of the estate. When Rosie Aunty called us back up for lunch, Zeiss, their dog, accompanied us as we walked up the stone pathway. Under the shade of a pine tree is an antique white stone washbasin with floral tiles and brass fittings. Next to it, a heavy wooden table and iron-carved chairs under the dancing branches of a mango tree is the setting for our meal. The spread includes Surmai fry, Prawn gassi, Kaaké Thopp paliya (black nightshade), Rasam and Rice–a typical Syrian Christian spread, inspired from their roots near Kottayam. I ate three servings. As we ate fresh strawberries from their farm behind the house, served with cream, the Jose family told me of their journey from Kannur to Coorg, their love for fishing and cooking; and fulfilment in life with four generations living together in this beautiful estate.
Doubles from Rs 12,000 per night for two (includes all meals, BBQ, immersive experiences like treks, birdwatching, stargazing and jam making, all led by the Jose family)
Location On request; Contact: Abraham Jose, +91 85475 86562; IG: @amni.coorg

School Thota

The homestay and host Saraswathi / Sitara Cariappa

My friend Kelapanda Kushalappa, whom I fondly call Sajan, and his mother Saraswathi Aiyappa, have been custodians of the homestay culture in Coorg for the past 15 years. Generations of this family have lived in the Robusta plantation’s home for almost 150 years. This plantation was initially run by the East India Company, who organized coffee cultivation in Coorg and sent the proceeds from these estates or thota to British-run schools in Coorg, hence the name School Thota. Originally the home of Rev. Georg Richter in 1855, the property was bought by Kushalappa’s great grandfather in 1908. Today a portion of the estate is where mother and son reside and continue to manage the plantation operations and run this homestay.

I entered School Thota through the small town of Guyya, crossing multiple TATA-consolidated plantations and arrive at a large bungalow overlooking a garden with a bird bath, an elevated gazebo surrounded by hydrangea, fern and hedge roses, and beyond, the Kelapanda family’s prosperous estate. On a clear day the hills of Mercara are visible too.

The upstairs bedroom space / Sitara Cariappa

Bedroom School Thota

School Thota is a charming home with three guestrooms (excluding the owner’s space), five bathrooms, an attic and two kitchens. A sun room with square windows is a standout section in this home, at its entrance the bougainvillea trees is where Saraswathi Aunty welcomed me, wearing a Kodava podiya (a Coorg-style draped saree).

This home is studded with antiques, art work by the family, crochet and lace on tables made by Saraswathi Aunty, vintage hat racks and tapestry on the walls. There’s a large fireplace in the drawing room with a mantlepiece lined with family photos, and each room thereafter has height-adjustable chandeliers and pulley lamps. Each guestroom has a four poster bed, dressing table, pull out vintage writing desk, and ceramic animal figurines in the bathrooms.

Kooléputt with Ghee / Sitara Cariappa

Kadambutt with Pandhi Curry / Sitara Cariappa

At 4.30pm, with murukus and tea, I was served Kadambutt (steamed rice balls) with Pandhi curry (Kodava style pork curry), a very common high tea meal in Coorg. While I moved on to Kooléputt (steamed bananas or jackfruit cakes in banana leaves) Saraswathi aunty started lowering the dining table lamps with a stick before the sun set. The rear of the house has a sunken open courtyard–a green corner that leads to the owner’s living space. This is a homestay for those who want to listen to stories of the old days, the plantation life in Coorg, to admire the architectural transitions between European and Kodava styles, and to cook authentic Kodava cuisine with a legendary grandmother.
Rooms from Rs 9,000 per night per room (includes breakfast & dinner) (extra charges for lunch picnics by the river and cooking session with Saraswathi Aunty)
Location: Ammathi Post, Guyya, South Coorg; Contact: Sajan Kushalappa, +91 9841023770, +91 9481723770 (landline: +91 8274298115); IG: @st571211

Captain K’s Getaway

Bedroom / Sitara Cariappa

Outdoors bar / Sitara Cariappa

Leila Alvares’s homestay Captain K’s Getaway was named after her late father, Captain Kieren Alvares. He and his wife Lavinia Alvares built a cottage on this 75-acre property and named it Glendale. A few kilometers from the town of Mercara, this is where Lavinia planted a lychee tree 40 years ago that today provides shade to the fine courtyard at the front of their now renovated bungalow that’s cut into the hill.

Food at Captain K’s Getaway / Sitara Cariappa

Some years ago, when I met Leila at Captain K, she hosted some of my friends for a grand BBQ evening – pork spare ribs, barbeque chicken legs, creamy corn, potato salad with bacon, fresh salad sourced from the organic garden and chocolate fudge cake with home-made ice cream. After 10 years, nothing has changed. Leila and her children Kieren and Keira continue to cook one of the most lavish spreads from scratch. This time I ate Mangalorean pork baffat, chorizo pork on pav made by Keira and a chocolate mousse by Kieren. Given their Goan-Mangalorean roots and Anglo-Indian exposure, Leila is an exceptional cook specialised in those respective cuisines in addition to Kodava and Mediterranean. Her beautiful kitchen space is always the warmest and always in full swing, especially with her fondest sleeping in this space – Cookie, Sox, Charlie, Julie and Fuzzy.

Her home is grand with fine teak woodwork, beside which is a two-bedroom homestay in an annexe. In this space, each room has a fireplace and overlooks the courtyard in the front, and a majestic coffee estate beyond the vast swimming pool and BBQ deck. Leila’s home and Kieren’s outhouse is wood-paneled on the inside and flooded with books. Her home reminds me of a large country barn, luxurious and well lit, with hidden entrances and exits, sky roofs, marine and beach inspired fixtures and knotted bouquets of paddy around the roof rim to keep bats away. An organic garden stands below the elevated home, next to it a coffee pulper and dryer. Kieren roasts the processed coffee from the estate in his unit next to his living space. Here, I got to try a hot cup of pure Arabica from Glendale estate’s first harvest batch (aero pressed) while he continued to tell me about the coffee tasting experience he provides to guests.
Rooms at Rs 7,500 and Rs 10,000 per night per room (includes breakfast, jeep ride around the estate, a home theatre experience, swimming pool access, coffee tasting) (extra charges for dinner and massages at the deck)

Location: C/o of Glendale Estate, Kadagadal Village & Post, Sidapur Road via Chettalli, Madikeri 571248, Coorg; Contact: Leila Alvares, +91 98860 55868; Website

Jade Hills

Drawing Room /  Ajay Devasia

When I worked at the Taj Hotels in Gaalibeedu, I would look at the distant hills across the lobby and wonder who lived in the beautiful cottages there. I finally met their occupants this month. Kavya Thimmaiah and Prasanna live on a hillock in the most picturesque part of Coorg. Kavya’s mother Jaji named their estate Jade Hills as an ode to the evergreen ranges all around, and that is what their home and homestay is called today.

Designed by father-daughter duo HC Thimmaiah and Kavya, both architects, this five-bedroom cottage in Gaalibeedu is accessed by a steep winding climb, followed by a clear landing and a dramatic view of the southern Western Ghats and deep valleys. Red clay tiles run through the verandah and the plantation chairs in the sit out overlooks a stone-pillared gazebo at the front and a lawn with a bonfire pit to the left. Porous red brick walls, repurposed and salvaged furniture, and laterite pillars add a raw and earthy feel to the space.

Room at Jade Hills / Ajay Devasia

The owners live in the main cottage in one of the bedrooms and the other four rooms (two at the main house level and another two are built 15ft below the main cottage). Prasanna and Kavya shuttle between Bengaluru and Coorg, but Prasanna is always here to welcome guests. At this altitude, the weather always remains cooler and during the summer months, witnessing the swarm of fireflies is a gift. Rich with Shola forest, this property has been developed with eucalyptus, jackfruit and silver oak trees, a traditional home with a local family who cook up the most delicious Kodava meals. Along with local guides, Prasanna organizes treks, chasing fireflies and picnics. Jade Hills is probably the one place I would go to take refuge in the monsoon months in Coorg. Here the bonfires, pink skies and silhouettes of fig and fern trees sway to the ‘gaali’ (wind) of Gaalibeedu.
Rooms at Rs 10,500 per night per room (includes breakfast) (extra charges for dinner, treks and seasonal firefly chasing)
Location: Kaloor Road Galibeedu, village, District, Madikeri, Karnataka 571202; Contact: Prasanna, +91 98450 04668; IG: @jadehillsmercara

Chengappa Estate Homestead

Exterior view /  Sudeep Gurtu

Spending time with Vinoo (KC Aiyappa) involves listening to LPs of Frank Zappa as he narrates stories of the forgotten ways of our Kodava ancestors in the fields of food and hospitality. His 10-acre plantation home and homestay, Chengappa Estate, is a Robusta plantation interspersed with pepper vines and arecanut groves. The house overlooks paddy fields, a water body, and the Kunda betta (hill) beyond. A picket fence and a stone porch lend a storybook feel. A tall Yecchi tree stretches over the house, built in 2014 but peppered with antiques, tools and utensils that are 80 years old. Three guest bedrooms are within the main house and the fourth bedroom is the host’s. So as not to disturb the undulating land, the home is built across three levels, without using cement or plaster, only interlocking laterite blocks. Interiors are warm and cosy, with a wood varnish finish and the three colours of Athangudi tiles–green, ochre and red.

Exterior view /  K.C.Aiyappa

Meenakshi, his oldest staff and cook, prepared the tastiest Kodava meal, a khaima (kheema) curry, mutton chops and nei kul (ghee rice). I am told that for breakfast, akki otti (rice flatbread) is served with euhl pajji (sesame seed chutney)–my grandmother’s favourite. Rice comes from the paddy fields in the front of the homestay.

The dogs, Frank Zappa, Muddy Waters and Willy Wanka / K.C.Aiyappa

The three main characters here are his dogs, Frank Zappa, Muddy Waters and Willy Wanka; they accompany you on estate visits and fishing by the pond, where you can use Vinoo’s fishing rods to catch baraemeen, rohu, katla or grass carp. Days on the estate are for foraging, especially when the seasonal pannpuli produce is used to make kachampuli (a black vinegar liquid extract from the pannpuli fruit). Vinoo uses the work shed at the entrance to make bottles to sell. And nights at Chengappa Estate are for the sound of cicadas and the crackle of the bonfire, and an endless expanse of paddy fields above which lie starry skies against silhouettes of the Kunda range.
Rooms at Rs 6000 per night per room (includes breakfast) (extra charges for lunch and dinner)
Location: 5 kms from Ponnampet Town and 1 Km from Kundha School (B Shettigeri Rd.), Kundha, Coorg; Contact: KC Aiyappa, +91 98454 93688; IG: @coorgvillager

source: http://www.cntraveller.in / Conde Nast Traveller / Home> Hotels & Homestays / by Sitara Cariappa / April 20th, 2026