SaffronStays Gardenia, Alibaug

There were ***y hidden charges . Bunglow was not properly maintained . Overall experience was very bad . 3000 +gst they were asking for using gas stove. In one room the Ac was making too much on noise . Only the garden area is good . Rest it is not worth for money .

The Villa is good and spacious but the staff and the good is really bad. And the stay becomes useless without good food. The staff tries to save their own money by offering less food until you ask more of it. I find this to be a very very bad practice.

The house is great, specially the pool. However the services recieved were not upto the mark. DO NOT even consider the food by the staff there, its a complete waste of money. Do not even expect a 30 min extension in checkout timings! With toddlers, we requested for a 30 min extension and the staff took offense and rudely told us that he cant give more than 15 mins. We eventually left before the checkout time due to such a behaviour.

We visited Gardenia for the second time. Our first visit was in September 2021 and one of my earlier reviews has covered our experience. We decided to visit a second time for 3 reasons…a) Excellent well equipped villa b) Outstanding food quality and c) Terrific service by the caretaker team. On our second visit, the quality and upkeep of the villa continues to be excellent but we were disappointed with two of the 3 key reasons for us to visit again, namely a) Food quality and b) Caretaker staff service. I will elaborate on both aspects of our dissatisfaction. a) Food quality We had enjoyed the traditional Maharashtrian dishes on our first trip as chicken curry, mutton curry, fish curry and Zunka bhakri. The dishes prepared at that time were extremely tasty and authentic. We ordered the same set of dishes this time around and there was a huge difference in the quality of the preparation of these food items. They were not authentic at all and were hugely disappointing. Also, we were 15 of us visiting the villa. The food at meal time would be set up as a buffet and we would serve ourselves. This was a big letdown… we were a family spending time together and wanted to eat together with food being served. We would expect that with the villa accommodating 15 guests, there should be adequate caretaker staff available to ensure that meals are comfortable sit-down versus a buffet being set up. b) The caretaker staff has changed significantly from the last time. The caretaker staff on our earlier visit were much more customer centric in their approach. This time around, we observed that more staff should have been available to take care of 15 guests. Also, we observed them squabbling amongst themselves. Another limitation is dinner to be served by 9:30 pm or so. It’s too early for those visiting Gardenia for a holiday and there should be availability of the caretaker staff later into the night to ***age dinner. Gardenia is one of Saffron Stays Signature property and the charges for stay & food at the villa are steep. Hence, anything less than top notch service & food quality is unacceptable.

We stayed at the Gardenia villa in Kihim for 3 days. It was a family outing and we were 8 adults. The reservation process was smooth and we were ably assisted by Nikhil andPranay through the planning and reservation formalities. Sachin Purao connected with us a day prior to guide and confirm on the meal plan for the first day. The villa is around 25 minutes from the ***dwa jetty. It’s a gorgeous property with a sprawling well maintained lawn garden with lovely sit-out garden seats. The villa is huge with a sprawling sitting room and elegant furniture. The 4 bedrooms are very large in size and well furnished. The attached bathrooms are large, well equipped and very clean. The dining area is well planned overlooking the well maintained swimming pool and seats eight people at a time. The food and service provided by the staff was outstanding. The quality of meals was superb and the staff takes great pride in taking utmost care of serving you at all times. We relished the Maharashtrian cuisine that was served and the mutton curry with vade, fish curry, zhunka bhakri were excellent. Batata wada, kanda and potato bhajias and kothimbir wadi with steaming hot masala chai were perfect to relish during the rainy evenings. The desserts like piping hot puran polis and ukdiche modak were out of the world. Also, there is very good cuisine variety as we enjoyed Chinese food prepared for dinner. The staff catered to every need. One of the family members cannot eat spicy food and the staff prepared each dish without the chilly spice unfailingly. We would like to thank Sachin, Jayendra, Rahul, Malti, Sushma, Vishal & Ravi for a wonderful stay.

Wonderful experience with an excellent staff. One of the cleanest pools I've seen. Luxurious 4 bedrooms and a sprawling lawn. 💯 Worth the money and one of the most on point courteous staff. The food was good at very decent prices. Very close to Khihm beach.