One of Delhi-Gurugram’s Best Getaway With Glorious Outdoors To Take In The Views: Karma Lakelands Review

With autumn setting foot in September, Karma Lakelands' lush greenery welcomed us. Finding such a relaxing place with stunning outdoors outside Gurgaon was a huge respite.

Our search for a good weekend getaway around Delhi-NCR was about to end without yielding a result. This was after we thought and exhausted ourselves in thinking about nearby mountain towns in Uttarakhand or Himachal Pradesh. Finding solace in the hills would take at least a five-to-six-hour drive. Our schedule only allowing us to leave on Friday and be back by Sunday, left us little option. Finally, a friend’s suggestion helped us land in Karma Lakelands, a sprawling and magnificently kept 235-acre property on the Gurugram-Manesar border.

With autumn setting foot in September, we were welcomed by the lush greenery lining the almost half-a-kilometre drive after we left the Delhi-Jaipur highway right after the Manesar toll plaza. The very openness of the place is striking. Lake walks, forests, nicely kept villas with private pools, bougainvillaea walks, a nursery with hundreds of plants, an organic farm, an all-weather swimming pool, restaurants, and a lot of open spaces to spend time with your family and unwind. If your weekend getaway checklist has forest-bathing, botanising, gardening, birdwatching, long walks, fish-feeding, cycling and good food, this probably is the best place around Delhi-Gurugram. It is a pet-friendly place meaning you don’t have to worry about leaving your four-legged friend for boarding.

The property offers lodging facilities for different needs. The room inventory includes five cottages, a garden suite, and three and four-bedroom villas. We stayed at the presidential villa with a private pool and a view of the golf course. The villas have finely kept lawns for your big-family lunch or group get-togethers. The presidential villa where we stayed had four suites and a massive drawing-cum-dining area opening into the lawn. There’s also a basement room with a snooker board and fun games for kids.

Evenings are a highlight here. Dinner at the multi-cuisine restaurant— On Kourse —was probably the best thing we could have hoped for. Trip Advisor rates it as one of the best restaurants in and around Gurugram. You got to experience it to believe it. The poolside sitting area with live music and a nice breeze from the golf course provide an idyllic setting for the evening cocktail or dinner. The food and service were the biggest takeaways for me. We have often been in a spot while travelling with a kid who is selective on what to eat. My daughter’s expression after having the pizza summed it up. The broad smile it brought on our faces was proof enough that the restaurant had passed its litmus taste. On Kourse – the restaurant in the club offers Continental, Mandarin, American and Indian cuisines, a customary thing for such a place these days. However, it is the taste and service that stands out and makes it one of the finest restaurants in Delhi-Gurgaon. Though I have been to some equally good five-star experiential dine-in places/ restaurants in Delhi/Gurgaon, the one at Karma Lakelands stands out for the hospitality and service. If you are visiting the place, my recommendation would be to try out the caramel coffee.

Lake 360 and Pizza Bay offer variety of settings to enjoy as per your liking. The place would do well by tying up with folk artists and musicians to give added life to the proceedings, especially for the young crowd.

Getting to Karma Lakelands, Gurugram: It is a 90-minute drive from the furthest point in Noida. The place is a 45-minute drive from South Delhi, a half-an-hour drive from the Delhi Airport and a nice drive-out from the hustle of Gurugram.

Planning: Get in touch with the front desk to book outdoor activities for a group or a joint family. Attire would be required for swimming or some activities. It is advised to check the rules beforehand. Check the dos and don’ts if you are bringing your pet along.

Verdict: This is a place for— writers, poets, songwriters, architects, strategy planners, and policymakers — whatever way you think. I prefer a book in front of a fire, golfing lesson on the immaculate lawns on a winter morning and a late-night drink before calling it a day in one of the suites.