Tiger Hill Resort Location
Tiger Hill Resort is located along the Mumbai-Nasik Highway, on the outskirts of Nasik in Maharastra. It's around four hours from Mumbai, and 15 minutes from the Nasik town center.
The location of the resort is unremarkable. It's literally situated in the middle of nowhere. It also fronts the highway, so substantial traffic noise can be heard from the numerous passing trucks. To go anywhere, it's necessary to organize a car or auto rickshaw from reception.
The actual Tiger Hill Vineyard is situated three hours away from the Tiger Hill Resort. The closest winery to the resort is Sula Vineyards, around 15 minutes drive. It's not cheap to get there. A taxi cost me 700 rupees ($15) return.
To get into town, a rickshaw will charge around 200 rupees ($4) one way.
Tiger Hill Resort Accommodations
Tiger Hill Resort has 20 rooms set amidst landscaped gardens. The rooms are modern and spacious. All rooms are air conditioned and have cable TV, refrigerators, and 24 hour hot water.
My bed and pillows were very comfortable. However, the refrigerator in my room didn't appear to be working. My welcome bottle of wine was warm, and showed no signs of chilling. The cable TV also seemed to be quite unreliable. The picture went off at least four times during the two days I was there. My room could've been a little cleaner too.
The rooms at Tiger Hill Resort are priced on the expensive side for what is offered at the resort. When I stayed there, the advertised off-season rate was 3,500 rupees ($70) for a double, plus 10% tax. Breakfast is included.
Do try and get a discount to make the price more reasonable. I was able to negotiate a 20% discount and ended up paying 3,000 rupees ($60) per night for a double, including tax and breakfast.
Tiger Hill Resort Facilities
Tiger Hill Resort brands itself as a resort and spa. However, many of the facilities that are to be expected at a resort are absent. There's no swimming pool or fitness center. When I inquired about the spa, I was told it wasn't operational because it didn't have any staff.
The resort does provide some entertainment activities. These included pool table, table tennis table, and cricket bat and ball. The pool table and the cues weren't well maintained though, so there wasn't much point in playing.
The best facility that the resort has to offer is its warmly decorated wine bar lounge, which has wine tastings and has a fully stocked range of Chateau Indage wines (including premium Chantilli, Tiger Hill, and Ivy brands). There's also an adjoining restaurant on the premises.
Staff at the resort were very cordial and helpful, and service was attentive and prompt. Pleasingly, when I called for coffee to be brought to my room in the morning, it arrived within minutes.
Tiger Hill Resort Food and Wine
Although the Tiger Hills website says that the resort has a world cuisine restaurant, the restaurant's menu consisted primarily of Indian and some Chinese fare. A couple of limited continental choices were listed, such as roast chicken breast with mushrooms sauce and a pasta salad. The roast chicken was tasty enough, although nothing special. The Indian selections were much better.
I did intend to be adventurous with my dining but, unfortunately, many of the items on the menu weren't to be had. The restaurant didn't have any fish in stock at all, which ruled out the possibility of fish curries and fish tikka. I attempted to order the pasta salad but was told that only garden salad was available. It was quite disappointing.
On the positive side, food prices are quite reasonable. Main courses cost, on average, 150 rupees ($3).
However, the wine is what the Tiger Hill Resort really has going for it. Everything from sauvignnon blanc to chardonnay, and shiraz to cabernet sauvignon, is available. There are sparkling and desert wines as well.
The best thing is that the wine is very reasonably priced. Infact, I don't know of many places in India that you can get a glass of premium Chantilli wine for under 100 rupees ($2). I do, however, know of plenty of places where you'll be paying 400 rupees ($8) for the same glass of wine! If you purchase the wine to takeaway from the resort, you'll pay even less.
Even if you don't stay at the Tiger Hill Resort, it's definitely worth a visit for the wine!
