How to book Club Mahindra Gift voucher free stay?

Recently I got a free stay voucher from Club Mahindra after attending their marketing session in Udupi. The voucher had to be redeemed within 6 months, entitled me to a stay of 2night, 3 day in a club Mahindra resort (to be selected within a small set of eligible resorts)

I was not very optimistic about this Club Mahindra free stay experience as I had read many horror stories online about guests being denied rooms on arrival and sent to some shady places. However, I am used to taking risks so I decided to give Club Mahindra free holiday Gift Voucher a try.

How to redeem Club Mahindra GV (Gift Holiday Voucher) for free stay booking?

• Visit clubmahindra.com and in bottom of the screen you will see Holiday Gift Voucher Redemption
• You have to enter Gift Voucher Number
• Website will prompt for all your details- name, number, job, income etc etc. Reveal absolute minimum information and complete the process.
• Then you will get a code in your email, enter it 
• Then you can select a resort. My first preference was Goa, but none of the 3 resorts in Goa were showing availability all the way till the end of June on March 18th. Which feels odd because June is off season for Goa. CM’s jewel Varca Beach Goa is not even an option for free customers. Tried a few in Kerala-same result
• I didn’t want to select any far away destination as it was a big risk- I will have to book flights also and if the booking doesn’t go well or some covid restrictions kick in I will lose lots of money.
• Only Club Mahindra Virajpet was having few rooms for March End. Weekday only.
• With no other options left, I booked Club Mahindra Virajpet for March 30 Check in, April 01 check out.

The good thing:

Something is better than nothing. Got a booking somewhere than seeing an error or non availability. Commercial booking of Club Mahindra Virajpet sells at 11000 INR + 2000 tax= 13k per night or 26k for 2 days. I am getting it for 2000 INR so good opportunity to explore and experience.

The not so good thing

Booking was possible only in the middle of the week. Either take this or forget about the free CM voucher. So I need to plan how to do my office work. Resort has WiFi only in the lobby and I seriously doubt if I can count on Airtel for mobile hotspot. It was a gamble. If I have to take 3 days leave, I need to add the lost salary cost to the cost of my vacation.

March End is not the right time. Peak summer, no water in waterfalls, not much greenery, so I can't plan much sightseeing in Coorg. But waiting for the next best season (October/November 2022) might not be possible due to the limited validity period of my Club Mahindra GV and no guarantee of room availability.

Food & activities: Resort food is extra. Even breakfast is NOT complementary with room.

2000 INR payable: I need to pay 2000 INR during check-in, which can be used for food and other activities inside the resort. I need to see how much food I can have for 2000 INR.

I took the gamble and decided to try out CM stay with following thoughts

• If I take my car it will be 5000 INR in petrol & toll cost (about 600 kms round trip), so I will reduce my cost of going to Virajpet from Udupi on my bike. (about 1200 INR travel cost)
• Because it was a weekday, family & friends couldn’t join. I would be alone. Took 1 day off and planned to work day 2 from the resort.
• If my entry is denied my plan is to spend a night in Zostel Madikeri (About 600 INR) and return next morning)
• I wanted to verify what all I can have for 2000 INR that I have to pay. I was hoping it should cover my food during the stay (2 dinners, 1 lunch, 1 breakfast). Internet posts suggest one day of meals for non members cost about 1200 INR+tax. Club Mahindra notification SMS said no outside food allowed (though sales people were pitching we can cook our own food or get it from outside). If the food cost is too much I would not avail free stay. 
• Thought of using this opportunity to assess how good is Coorg in March end/April- would waterfalls have some water? Would it be cool and green enough?

What happened after the booking?

• I got confirmation SMS and could download a confirmation in PDF
• I tried to call the resort but no one picked up the call several times. Finally got lucky, someone picked up and confirmed that my booking was valid.
• 3 days prior I got another SMS detailing the booking.
• 1 Day prior I got a call to confirm my arrival. Got some basic questions answered. I was reminded vaccine certificate and ID card is needed, no outside food is allowed and there is no driver accommodation.

With this much planning and preparation I embarked on a 6 hours, 250 kms bike ride from home to reach Club Mahindra Virajpet. Thankfully I was accepted. I got an early check in at 12 noon as room was available. Had to pay 2000 INR in cash as cover charge.

So remember the following if you are trying to redeem any Club Mahindra Gift Voucher you may have got

• Availability will be limited. You may get lucky if you are flexible with dates and locations. If you are thinking of some weekend trip to nearby popular resort you are very likely to be disappointed
• You’ve to pay 2000 INR on check-in as cover charges. This is enough to get you 1 lunch (1592.11 INR after all taxes and charges) and a cup of juice or box of French fries. If you are planning to have all the meals at the resort, budget about 3500 INR per person per day. You can manage with cheaper alternatives as explained in this post.
• Resorts are good and CM hospitality is great. No complaints on that. If you can manage to book, do visit and experience their resorts.
• Membership is another ball game altogether. They have more members than they can handle so availability will be scarce. Plus the high cost of everything might throw your holiday budget out of gear.

Detailed review of the resort and food options while staying at Club Mahindra Virajpet are now live in separate blog posts.

Detailed review of Club Mahindra timeshare is already available here. Recently launched GoZest 3 year membership is detailed here.