Experience a serene retreat at Sohana, a picturesque 3-BR 4-Bath farmhouse in Karjat. This haven, adorned by lush greenery, features a pool, a flowing river & featured in Hotelier India. Crafted with love, the rustic design offers spacious, open areas, inviting a sense of freedom & communion with nature—an ideal escape for a city detox. It stands out for commitment to environmental sustainability.
This villa can sleep 15 guests overnight & 30 guests for the day making it ideal for parties.
The space
Sohana has been designed to be self reliant, naturally cooling and above all else environmentally friendly. Hence the solar panels, the high ceilings, ventilation ducts and insulated roof. While it stays true to its name most months, we have experienced warm afternoons in the summer months during which cooling off in the river or in the pool is an additionally great way to experience the place. Since we are based in an Indian village, continuous electricity supply may be occasionally, faulty. for which we have an inverter and solar back up. Internet has separate 8hour backup. AC is available but not guaranteed die to voltage issues.
If you do go ahead with your stay, you will find a beautiful 100 acre mango estate to walk through, a bubbly little river down the pathway, or just a nice living room to sit in and enjoy quiet time or to have a blast with friends and family.
Eight adults can be comfortably accommodated in two bedrooms. 12 adults at a push along with a few children - 15 max.. Daytime you can have 30 people comfortably.
Water is drawn from the borewell, and filtered and is very drinkable. We have it tested once a year.
Government Electricity supply, in case it fails is backed up by solar power and an inverter. But the electricians try and do their very best to have the grid supply restored as soon as possible. We have not installed a generator as it is not environmentally friendly. On request the caretaker can be asked to spend the night.
Our water tank in the courtyard is vacuum-cleaned, filtered and chlorinated everyday. However, you may still find some natural sediment on the bottom due to the outdoor nature of the place, which may cause it to feel sandy underfoot and some insects occasionally floating on the surface which are easily removable with a net. It has been deliberately tiled with Taandur tiles, to create a rough and therefore non-slippery tank floor.
Please do note that we are in the midst of nature, surrounded by intense greenery. There may be the occasional lizard on the walls, which would be seeking some coolth. We love them as they cause us no harm, and also eat up all the mosquitos and flies.
The River Pej borders the orchard and has a path to help you explore its banks and rapids. If you have a kayak, you can go straight into the river from the farm.
We have high speed WiFi connection on Fiber offering 150 Mbps speeds with routers in every room and outdoors.
ACs, while not a featured amenity, is available on request. As an eco resort we prefer guests enjoy the natural cooling of the environment. It is not guaranteed due to frequent power fluctuations.
Guest access
The house is exclusively yours upon booking. You may access all the areas except office and utility room. TT Table, badminton area, ( rackets, shuttlecocks and balls provided) fussball table, carrom board and a host of other interesting games are also available. Food is catered, guests are strictly not permitted to cook their own food unless it's for infants. You may of course make tea if you'd like to bring your own ingredients.
Food is available @ Rs 1200/head and includes 1 lunch, 1 afternoon tea with snacks, 1 dinner and 1 breakfast with tea. Meals comprise of a choice of 2 veg dishes for a veg package and 1 chicken and 1 veg dish for a non veg package per meal including daal, papads, salads, achar. BBQ (veg and non veg) will be chargeable as per current rates in the village. You can also bring your own prepared paneer/fish/chicken and avail of the BBQ for a small extra cost of 350/BBQ for the infrastructure. Our caterer, a lady from the village, has a superb repertoire of dishes she can prepare. It's hygienic and delicious fare which can be agreed upon before hand. We provide a menu by WA once you book. You will be provided with all the hardware required for doing the BBQ. My helper lady will not be able to do the BBQ for you.
We have 300mbps WiFi, and normally it's a pretty good service on Fiber.
Our farmhouse has been deliberately built with an open plan in mind. Please be aware that we pride ourselves on keeping the place very clean since we live there ourselves, however atmospheric dust can get the better of our intentions and you may find some dust settled on top or the bottom of the swimmable water tank or on other surfaces like table tops etc. We don't consider this dirty but dusty. Nothing that the cleaning net or a single wipe cannot fix.
The use of coloured bedsheets is a deliberate decision, as experience has shown that the white ones are better suited for the city or for closed places, where dust and atmospheric ash is not much of an issue
We are constantly busy with the good upkeep of the place, however, it being a farmhouse in the middle of a village, it may not always be possible to have everything in 100 percent working condition even though we try very hard, but everything that matters to you definitely will.
Make this your home away from home and relax in your own way.
Other things to note
We understand that a relaxed smoke is part of the experience for some of our guests, for which we have specially designated areas, where you may enjoy it.
1. In the backyard
2. In the car parking area.
Ashtrays are provided to stub out your cigarettes.
Huge request to not stub them underfoot and flick outside.
CIGARETTE SMOKING IN THE LIVING ROOM, KITCHEN, BEDROOMS, BATHROOM AREAS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. We don't encourage smoking in the courtyard area.
