Workation Experience at Woods Resort, Wayanad

I spent 2 days at Wayanad’s The Woods Resort last week. I spent most of the time staying in and around the room doing office work and explored the resort a bit early morning and late evening. Early morning and late evening I also explored the campus a bit and participated in a few activities. Overall it was great 2 days away from office and into God’s own country, my first travel outside Karnataka in almost an year. This post shares my experience staying and working from The Woods Resort, Wayanad. Room types in Woods Resort and list of Activities to try are covered in two separate post.

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Internet reliability:

Network is the biggest concern while planning workation. Many resorts promise good WiFi but only after reaching we realize that network speed is not good enough to handle video calls. It will be too late to change plans or go elsewhere. Thus confirmation on good internet connectivity is paramount for workation. The woods resort had good WiFi which was enough for my office work. Didn’t face any issue during video calls. Woods Resort had 3 different WiFi networks so didn’t face any disruption in my work. 

WiFi was good around Cedar and Oak rooms however WiFi was weak to non-existent in Restaurant, Reception, Ebony cottage area and other parts of the resort. I was told a Jio dongle would be provided on demand.

I could work from my bed, sit in the living room or on the balcony or in the entrance area of Oak building. It was a welcome break from the regular office chair or home. With nature all around, room service at my command 2 days passed before I could feel it. Rooms had several charging points so putting a laptop, camera, drone, phone and half a dozen other things were not a problem.

Food: We had ala carte on Thursday and Friday, as the occupancy was less. Ordered food into my room and had it there. 

On Friday afternoon we had lunch at the skydeck, an open tree top area with a 360 degree view of nature.

Below are some of the food I tried

• Tea with Pakoda
• Tea with french fries
• Kashmiri Pulao and Jira Rice
• Aloo gobi, Chapati, Garlic Naan and curd rice
• Appam with veg stew
• Vegetable biriyani

 

Food items are priced reasonably. Below are a few clicks of the menu for reference. Main items cost around 200-300 INR. Saturday breakfast was a buffet. Buffet is held when there are enough customers, else ala carte. Food can be had inside Pine 24 hour restaurant, skydeck or at our rooms.  Breakfast will be ready by 8.30 AM, dinner/lunch orders took about 20-30 minutes. You can manage lunch/dinner for about 500-600 Rs per couple if ordered judiciously and carefully, 1000 INR if ordered a lot/generously including juice, ice cream etc.

Russian Salad was also available but only in non-veg, hence I couldn’t try it

Activities: I enjoyed archery the most. It was a bit different from a regular bow and arrow I had seen. Arrow had a hard end. Separate post available here on all activities available at Woods Resort Wayanad. Other activities include campfire, indoor games like chess, carom, billiard, fitness center, outdoor games like badminton, swings, spa, fish catching, visiting organic farm, kids play area etc. Most activities are free. Outstation travel is chargeable.

Watch a drone clip of Woods Resort Swimming Pool Drone footage

Eco friendly initiatives at Woods Resort Wayanad:

• The Woods Resort has an organic farm and tries to grow as much vegetables as possible locally. 
• At present water bottles are provided in room but they have plans to replace it with RO units in each rooms
• Hot water comes from solar heater in campus
• The Woods Resort has hired several people from the local community. A tribal village visit is also organized (currently suspended due to covid)
• Campus has several fruit bearing trees including Sapota
• Electric carts are used to ferry guests within the resort

Room types: The woods Resort has 5 different types of rooms- Ebony, Cedar, Oak, Teak etc. Ebony is a tree house with view, Teak and Rosewood are cheapest room types (no balcony, no separate living room), Oak and Cedar are spacious rooms with balcony & living rooms. I have a detailed post about each of these room types.

Budget:

How much spending should you factor if you are planning a workation at Wood’s Resort Wayanad?

• Transport cost: Wayanad is roughly 300 kms from Bengaluru, 250 from Mangaluru. Assuming you will drive in your own car and back, factor 3000-4000 INR for fuel expenses for the 600-700 km journey.
• Stay: Cheapest rooms at The Woods Resort, Rosewood Suite cost about 7500 INR + 12 % tax = 8400 per day for 2 people, with only breakfast. If you are lucky you may get some offers on Agoda or other places and manage a day for about 4500-5000 INR.
• Food: You can take a package that includes lunch & dinner (costs about 5000 INR & 18% tax more) or buy lunch/dinner ala carte (1 main course, couple of side dish, a juice/ice cream etc would cost around 600-700 INR per person, which is 2500-3000 INR per day for lunch & dinner for 2 pax. Depending on how much you eat, you can plan which option works better for you. There are no kitchen/cooking options inside the room. Only a kettle and a mini refrigerator are available.
• Activities: None, unless you opt for spa or outdoor site seeing or other paid activities

A 3 night /4 day stay for 2 people would cost approx

Expense Type	Cost	Remarks
Transport- your place to Wayanad and back	4000	Assuming 700 kms round trip at 7 INR per km in own vehicle
Stay (breakfast only option, cheapest category rooms)	18000	6000 X 3 nights, Assuming some offer
Food	7200	600 per person per meal  * 2 people * 2 meals per day * 3 days = 7200
Paid Activities	0	Assume no paid activities availed
Incidental expenses	800	Tips, toll, shopping, tourist spot entry fee etc
	30000

In summary, factor about 10000 INR per day onwards 

Indicative pricing only, exact amount would vary depending on ongoing offers, room type, money spent on transportation, type of food eaten/package etc.

Exploring Wayanad: Banasura Dam * Edakkal Caves * Kuruva Island * Lakkidi viewpoint

Extending Wayanad trip- if you have a few extra days to spare, you can either extend towards Kannur or Calicut or Mysuru/Bandipur or Madikeri/Virajpet area.

Overall my fourth visit to Wayanad was very fruitful. I had a great time at the Woods Resort Wayanad. This was my first resort stay in Wayanad. All previous trips were in budget accommodations. While the rest of India is facing harsh summers, western ghat destinations like Wayanad are a lot cooler and worth a visit. Do consider Woods Resort for your staycation/workation in Wayanad. Watch a 3 min video footage I shot during my stay at Woods Resort Wayanad (Cedar room clip from resort) -watch on youtube