Bandipur Tiger Reserve cottage booking

 As mentioned in my other post, my friends and my family decided to visit Bandipur National Park & Tiger reserve and have a wildlife safari over the weekend.

I decided to book the Govt. run accommodation that is located inside the national park, instead of booking other available resorts located outside the park gates.

https://bandipurtigerreserve.in/ is the website you can visit to book it online. Please note, we pay the cottage accommodation fees, safari fees along with park entry fees and parking fees at one place and this helps in a way.

This website takes us to https://www.bandipurtigerreserve.co.in/ for reservations/bookings post registration. You get different options to pick a cottage from many options like Gajendra, Vanashree, Chital, Harini etc along with dormitories. Since I was booking it in a short notice, I had only the 9-bed dormitories as the only available option. Only annoying factor during booking process was that the calls to contact numbers provided and emails go unanswered despite trying multiple times, something they need to fix asap. It's very common that someone would want some questions to be answered before booking.

Well, initially I was hesitant to book a dorm considering it’s our first time there and that too with family and friends. I was worried about cleanliness and things but once we reached the place, we realized following things:

• It’s situated in a beautiful location inside the national park. That’s why we witnessed many deer casually walking around, resting near the cottages.
• The campus is huge with no boundary with big bungalow kind of cottages & dorms.
• Dedicated buildings as canteen and reception area etc with very good staff who are ready to explain things neatly.
• Our dormitory having bunker beds was cozy and clean with bathrooms on both sides. (They can however plan to keep the bathrooms posh and sheets cleaner. It was ok but it can be improved. Those who are super particular about sheets, please carry your own ones).
• Breakfast & meal options are limited but they served good food.
• We were not allowed to walk around by ourselves post sunset and were escorted around in electric carts.

Well, to summarize, it’s a very good accommodation for those coming in with families or just with friends.