Baevu – The Village: A Slow Living Escape Near Bengaluru
Have you ever gone back to a place just to see if it still feels the same?
That is exactly why we found ourselves at Baevu The Village again, almost three years after our first stay.
Baevu is near Kanakapura, an easy drive out of Bengaluru, and it is not your usual resort. There are no concrete blocks or long hotel corridors here. Instead, the whole property is built like an old Karnataka village, with earthy mud walls, tiled roofs and cottages inspired by the traditional Thotti Mane homes, where the rooms are built around an open central courtyard. And alongside farms, cattle, local food and a lot of trees – you get a place that is just made for switching off.
So did it still feel the same the second time around? Mostly yes, with a couple of other things we have tell you about. Let us take you through our stay.
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We reached Baevu at around 3 in the afternoon. At check in, they handed us a map of the property, and trust us, you will need it! The place is quite spread out, with the cottages, restaurant, activity areas and pool all in different corners.
Since it was already lunchtime, we decided to eat first and go to the cottage later. The lunch buffet was simple, but very filling and surprisingly tasty. Most of the food here is cooked in a local Karnataka style, and a lot of the vegetables come straight from their own farms and gardens. You can actually taste how fresh it is.
One small thing that made us smile? Near the washbasins, instead of the usual liquid soap, they keep a handwash powder made with natural ingredients. Such a tiny detail, but it fits perfectly with how sustainable the whole place tries to be.
After lunch, we finally walked to our cottage and.. wow, it was huge! Very spacious, beautifully done, full of little artefacts that made it feel like a real village home and not a cottage in a resort.
The show stopper? Right in the middle of the room is an open section where rain can actually fall inside. This comes straight from the Thotti Mane style of building, where the open courtyard brings in light, fresh air and rainwater. It looks absolutely magical during the monsoon. We know this because on our last visit, it started thundering and raining cats and dogs in the middle of the night, and we sat there watching the rain pour into the room. Lucky for us, we caught that moment on camera too! We have attached pictures from that experience below, a then and now version.
There was one thing we did not enjoy though. The bed was quite hard. Mattress comfort is very personal and some people love a really firm bed, but for us, it was a little too hard on the back.
Some places do not hand you a list of things to do,
they simply give you the time to do nothing.
After a short rest, we headed back towards the restaurant for their evening hi tea, followed by the tractor ride. And this was so much fun!! The tractor takes you around the property, past the fields and activity spaces, and finally to a small viewpoint nearby. To be honest, the ride itself is more fun than the viewpoint, but around sunset it is a lovely spot to sit for a while before heading back.
Next to the activity area is the indoor games section, and we have to say, this is one of the best indoor game setups we have seen at a nature resort. Instead of cramming everything into one small room, they have built a big open courtyard with games lined up along all the sides. There are the usual indoor games as well as traditional ones, so if you are here with family or friends, you can easily spend an hour or two here. Right beside it is an open workout area, but please do not expect a modern gym! The equipment is rustic and village style, with simple, locally inspired weights.
Snippets of the cottage and its elements:
Our favourite thing to do at Baevu? Doing absolutely nothing, just savouring the nature around us. Before sunset, we skipped the next activity and just walked around. There are benches and quiet little seating spots almost everywhere, so you can sit under a tree, lie down and just listen. We spent a long time listening to the birds and the wind moving through the trees. At one point, the wind sounded so much like waves that we almost forgot we were nowhere near the sea.
Once it got dark, we started walking to the restaurant for dinner, and that is when we spotted fireflies glowing around the trees. They were almost impossible to capture on camera, but seeing them while walking through the property at night was really special. Dinner was delicious again, with the same focus on local dishes and farm fresh ingredients. The restaurant itself is a beautiful space, with a small lotus pond in the middle and trees all around it. At night, it feels incredibly peaceful.
Snippets of the other parts of the property:
The next morning, we set out to explore the parts of Baevu we had missed the day before, starting with the swimming pool. The location is stunning. It is surrounded by greenery and looks out over the fields, so from some angles it almost feels like an infinity pool. We had actually planned to swim here, but as we got closer, we noticed a yellowish green buildup in different parts of the pool. It looked like algae to us. We are not experts, so we cannot say exactly what it was, but it did not make us comfortable enough to get in. A little disappointing, because the pool really deserves better. We hope this improves with better cleaning and maintenance.
This side of the property is also where most of the outdoor action happens. There is a basketball court, a badminton court, a cricket ground and even a mud slush volleyball area. So it works really well for family trips, big groups of friends or even corporate team outings.
But the nice part here is that, nobody pushes you to keep doing things. You can just sit quietly, watch birds, savour the nature around you, read a book or simply be.
Snippets of the Restaurant, its surroundings and the food:
Breakfast was just like the other meals, simple and really wholesome. This is not a place with a massive buffet and endless counters. The focus is on fresh ingredients and comforting local food that actually fills you up, and we liked that a lot.
For families with little ones, there is a toddler play area and an amphitheatre close by, plus another outdoor play area for kids behind the restaurant. There is also a Goshala where Baevu keeps indigenous cattle, which fits right into their idea of a self sustained rural setup.
And then it was time to go!
What did it cost us? We paid around 15,000 rupees for our stay, and that covered our cottage, all our meals, the evening hi tea and activities like the tractor ride.
Is that worth it? For us, yes. Around Bengaluru, a similar amount can easily go on a nice city hotel room with just breakfast, or on a nature resort where meals and activities are billed separately. At Baevu, you are paying for the whole experience: a big cottage, local meals through the day, a tractor ride, the games courtyard and a lot of open space to just breathe. If you are a family or a group who will actually use the sports and play areas, the value gets even better. Where it loses a few points is the hard mattress and the state of the pool, because at this price you would expect both to be sorted.
If you have read our post on The Kosh Soul Retreat, the comparison is easy. Kosh is a small boutique stay built around art, pottery and slow luxury. Baevu is bigger, more rustic and all about village life, farms and outdoor play.
Both make a great weekend reset from Bengaluru, they just suit different moods.
Good to know before you go
- There are no TVs in the cottages, WiFi is not really part of the experience, and mobile network can be patchy depending on where you are.
- Keep the property map handy. The place is big!
- Carry insect repellent for those evening walks.
- If you like a soft bed, ask the team at check in what they can do.
Overall Verdict?
Baevu is not trying to be a polished luxury resort, and that is exactly its charm. It lets you live village life for a day or two, just in a much more comfortable way. Mud walls, tiled roofs, farms, birds, fireflies and honest local food, that is what you come here for.
If you want soft beds, strong WiFi and every modern hotel comfort, this may not be the one for you. But if you love nature, local food, traditional architecture and simply slowing down, Baevu is a lovely choice. Sort out the mattress and the pool, and it could easily become one of our favourite weekend escapes near Bengaluru.
Our Ratings for the property
CLEANLINESS
LOCATION
SERVICE/HOST HOSPITALITY
AMENITIES AND FACILITIES
COMFORT AND ROOM QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
Overall Verdict
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