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Andaman Islands accommodation, India

country:India
location:Havelock Island, The Andaman Islands 
price:From US $75 - US $180 per double room per night. Single room from US $65 - US $170 per night. Price depends on room type and season. Minimum 4 nights stay in Dec & Jan
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description
Discover the Andaman Islands; India's best-kept secret with stunning beaches, aquamarine coral lagoons, lush green rainforest, active volcanoes, swimming elephants, and giant fish.

Experience the unexplored beauty of these islands at this luxury eco-retreat, set in tropical rainforest and fruit trees behind a pristine 2 km stretch of white sandy beach. The resort consists of 18 beautifully designed and environmentally sensitive cottages hidden in the tropical foliage.

The resort and cottages are spread over 8 acres, thus giving you an uninterrupted feeling of nature and privacy. Our philosophy propagates the use of only natural indigenous materials in the living and recreational spaces.

Savour the delicious vegetarian and seafood dishes created by our chef at the main resort restaurant.

Continental and Indian food are our forte and you can chose from the set menu or dine a la carte. We also have a choice of spirits and a small selection of Indian wines, to enhance your meal. Whatever you eat, you can take comfort in the knowledge that our vegetables are organically grown and fertilizer free, sea food is fresh from the sea and the chicken (and eggs) are “free range.”
special things to do and see here
The Andaman Islands are considered the final undiscovered frontier for scuba diving and the waters around Havelock Island are pristine and unexplored. The diving is exciting - easy dives filled with colourful reef fish, sea turtles, the occasional dugong and plenty of coral. Our own full-service dive centre, is located at Beach No. 3 and offers PADI dive courses and recreational dive trips in and around Havelock.

There is no shortage of activities to while away your time with us…For most the highlight is meeting Rajan, our male tusker elephant whom we rescued from a life of hard labour. He is one of the amazing ocean-swimming elephants of the Andaman Islands and lives at our resort. Join Rajan for a swim in the waters at the beach or catch him early in the morning and help him get his breakfast.

For a more spiritual alternative, we run yoga courses between January and April every year. Practice is held at the resort in a hilltop pavilion overlooking the cottages and cove.

Or borrow kayak or snorkeling equipment from our dive centre and explore the lovely mangrove creeks or shallow reefs close to the resort. Night and day fishing is also available and for the land-lovers amongst you, we can organize jungle treks and bird watching trips.
travellers' tales
The resort is a truly beautiful and peaceful place. Everybody was extremely friendly, the food was wonderful, and the whole place very relaxing. (more)
rooms, food and facilities
Bedroom, Luxury resort in the Andaman IslandsThe ten spacious Nicobari cottages and eight Andaman Villas are constructed mainly out of fast regenerable materials. The walls are made from bamboo or wood, the roofs from thatch, and the floors from local hardwoods. The rooms are 40 sqmt in size with large ensuite bathrooms fitted with modern amenities. Interiors are simple but beautiful. The air-conditioned Andaman Villas additionally have large windows and a skylight shower area with a touch of jungle. All cottages and villas are raised off the ground in keeping with the low impact footprint.

The lounge is furnished in the Indian and Oriental style, with divans and bolsters, low-level tables and aromatic candles, it is a place to sit back and relax, swap stories with other guests or catch up on the 15-day old news (yes, it can take that long…). Or alternatively, have a drink, breathe in the sea air and listen to one of the finest collections of jazz and lounge music to be found anywhere in the Andaman Islands.

Villa, Luxury resort in the Andaman Islands Family friendly: The resort offers plenty of indoor games to keep children occupied. For the more adventurous, an introduction to Scuba Diving or snorkelling can be arranged under professional guidance.

Families can enjoy a picnic on a secluded beach, or a day spent kayaking through the mangroves, or even a trek in the forest accompanied by our naturalist followed by an elephant ride. Alternatively, families can just simply enjoy time together on the vast expanse of what is arguably the most beautiful beach in Asia.
how to find us
By air: Havelock Island, in the Bay of Bengal, is about 3 hours north-east of Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman Islands, which is easily accessible by air or sea. Fly direct from Europe to Chennai or Kolkata in India and then take one of the daily domestic flights from these cities to Port Blair (about 2 hrs). Our boat will transfer you directly from Port Blair to Havelock Island.

By boat: For an alternative and more leisurely experience, ships are also available on fixed schedules, to travel from Chennai and Kolkota to Port Blair. (2-3 days.) There is a daily ferry from Port Blair (3-4 hours) to Havelock Island where we will meet you at the jetty (a 7 km transfer) or if you prefer, you can rent a taxi, auto rickshaw or a bicycle and make your own way to the resort.
how this holiday makes a difference
The resort harvests its own rainwater and draws judiciously from a natural spring that emerges on the premises, and does not compete with the neighboring village for this scarce resource. Kitchen and shower wastewater is filtered in a natural and simple way so that it can be used to water the grounds or recycled for other applications. More than 80% of jobs have been filled within the local community and most food ingredients sourced through the local markets. One in every 3 families in our village has at least one member working at the resort.

We run an environmental education center at Havelock island, targeting local population – schoolchildren, fishermen, tourism sector workers. We sponsor the annual village games we sponsor 2 festivals and the annual carnival each year.

We support the Andaman Nicobar Environment Team (ANET). Our staff volunteer on a needs basis (whenever asked) and we give donations in kind – e.g. we helped build the rooms and bathrooms of their research base. Samit Sawhny is also a trustee of the madras crocodile bank and of ANET. We run special eco-tours where a part of the proceeds go to ANET.

We are installing solar heating for our hot water. We have a laundry scheme where we only wash towels and bedding when it is placed in the laundry basket. We do not use pesticides or chemical fertisers, instead we use elephant dung from our resident elephant Rajan. We border the jungle and take no steps to control incursion of wildlife including reptiles onto the resort. We use very muted path lighting so as not to disturb nocturnal creatures. We have recreated the forest in the land by replanting indigenous trees. The land came to us as a banana plantation and now, after 8 years merges well with the adjacent forest.

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