The Lavasa Trip [UBC Post 28]

We decided to go to Lavasa [India’s planned hill city near Pune]for little one’s birthday. We wanted to go out-of-town but did not want to spend too much time on the road. Lavasa sounded perfect. After the whole birthday cake mishap and what with baking happening till the last moment; we finally started for Lavasa at 1 pm [as against 10 am].

Lavasa is at about 70 kms from my place. And it took us around 2 hours to reach the hotel. When we go for long trips, I and the sonny boy sit on the back seat because it provides ample space for him to play, sleep or just jump around. The space between the seats is packed with a mattress. We throw in a few cushions, some soft toys, a few books and we are good to go. Of course, he tries to go to the front seat but I manage to stop him somehow.

The moment we started for Lavasa, it was raining in Pune. It rained almost throughout our journey. We enjoyed the beautiful, romantic showers during our journey. The toddler slept for some time just when we were about to enter Lavasa, and would not lie down on the seat, so I carried him on one shoulder and clicked a few pictures from my left hand. I am a complete photo-person that way :-)

Image courtesy: tripadvisor.in

Somehow we managed to locate our hotel, amid fog and heavy rains. We stayed at Hotel The Waterfront Shaw. We had done some research before going, on Tripadvisor. And as suggested, we opted for a Promenade facing apartment suite, but as one of them pointed out, it didn’t matter. It was raining all the time, so we barely stepped out in the so-called balconies.

The apartment suite was very good, for a couple. There were a few things not suitable with a kid around. All electrical points were low. Turning switches on and off was my toddler’s idea of fun throughout our stay. We had to be on our toes all the time to switch them off. There were heavy, glass-top lamps. We removed the table lamp safely into the kitchen shelf, but we had to be extremely watchful for the floor lamp. It was dangerous.

Everything had glass. The centre table and dining table tops were glass. The cutlery was all glass. The lamps had glass. We eventually asked to remove the centre table.

The main door had no locking mechanism which a toddler could not open. He would keep opening the door and we had to be constantly around him. Many times he would wear our shoes and say bye-bye and walk out. It looked very cute, in retrospect.

I loved the suite. It had a microwave, tea-maker, induction plate, mini-fridge, hair drier and iron. There were quite a few options in restaurants / cuisines. We tried Chor Bizarre [North Indian] and All American Diner [American] at Waterfront Shaw. I tried Chor Bizarre only because of all the recommendations on the net but I liked All American Diner more, in terms of ambience and food [which depends on your personal taste]. We also tried lunch buffet in Zodiac [multi-cuisine] at Hotel Fortune Select, which was okay. 

Chor Bizarre
Image courtesy:waterfrontshaw.com

We ordered in our room a couple of times because sometimes the little one did not like anything at a restaurant, so we had to leave pretty quickly. They took last food order at 10.30 pm. Once we had to request to take order at 10.40 pm after we came back from Chor Bizarre. Nothing appealed to the toddler there. I feel that food must be available round the clock, atleast a few things like sandwiches.

All American Diner
Image courtesy: tripadvisor.in

The breakfast was included in our package, which was a buffet. I always look forward to the breakfasts in such trips. Most of the times there is a mix of Indian and European breakfast options. But I did not like the breakfast spread here - too few options. 

We could not try Water Sports or Nature Trail or even the Toy Train ride. But everything said and done, I think we had a good time. I would have loved to walk around this beautiful township but the rains never stopped. Lavasa is styled as a quaint European town but it will take a few years to reach there. A lot of construction work is going on. If you are looking for a quiet time, with or without your partner; go to Lavasa. It is beautiful.