Chelavara village, Coorg · since 1993
A small family-run inn at Chelavara, hosted by P.N. Appaiah since 1993. Five acres ringed by forty acres of coffee plantation, breakfast and dinner included with every stay, and the sound of birds you came to hear.
Five hours from Bangalore. Three from Mangalore. Worth either drive.
12.31° N · 75.78° E
32 years
Hosting at Chelavara since 1993
5+40 acres
Property ringed by coffee plantation
2 meals
Breakfast and dinner, every stay
14 keys
Six cottages, eight rooms in main house
About CHIPL
We are Coorg Heritage Inn Pvt. Ltd. — fondly, CHIPL — at Chelavara village, seventeen kilometres from Virajpet and thirty from Madikeri. Five acres of inn surrounded by forty acres of coffee plantation, with pepper creepers on the silver oak and cardamom under the canopy. Three things have shaped how we host since the doors opened: the land, the water, and the people.
i. the land
Cottage doors open to azure skies, green mountains, and clouds that arrive most mornings before nine. The plantation around us holds coffee under silver oak, pepper on the trunks, cardamom under the canopy. Birds, butterflies, the occasional rabbit, fish in the rivulets that thread the property. The inn is sited so the land does most of the talking.
ii. the water
The water that runs in our taps comes from a natural spring above the property, brought down by gravity to the inn, the staff quarters, and the village beyond — no pump, no electricity. The same hill feeds it all. Small things like this, kept in their place since the inn opened, are why we feel like we belong here.
iii. the people
Coorg has its own dance (ummathaat), its own ancestral observances (meedi), its own quiet pride in armed-forces tradition and field hockey, its own way with a kitchen. We are happy to introduce you to as much or as little of any of it as you ask. Most guests start with the food, then ask about the rest by the second evening.
Cottages and rooms
Every cottage was given the name of a bird that nests in these hills. The names are in Kodava, the language of Coorg. All tariffs include breakfast and dinner; nothing on this list is room-only.
the good-luck bird
₹5,999 per night, plus tax
Breakfast and dinner included
The first cottage built on the property, taking its rust-warm tones from the Chombuka itself. A single room with the forest at the window and a small private patch in front for morning coffee.
the bird of the open sky
₹5,999 per night, plus tax
Breakfast and dinner included
Sited where the Kombakshi sees what it sees — azure overhead, mountains in the distance. The view is at its best on cloudless winter mornings; the rest of the year, the mist is its own reward.
the golden bird
₹5,999 per night, plus tax
Breakfast and dinner included
Named for the golden bird whose nest the locals consider lucky to see. Tucked deeper into the property, quieter even at full occupancy. A single room with light from the south.
the woodpecker
₹5,999 per night, plus tax
Breakfast and dinner included
Set among the tallest trees on the property, where the woodpecker's drumming is the morning alarm clock. The cottage closest to the forest line.
the inseparable pair
₹10,999 per night, plus tax
Breakfast and dinner included
Two interconnected rooms named for the Manithore birds, which are always seen in pairs. The right pick for families travelling together or two couples sharing a holiday — privacy at the bedrooms, common ground at the verandah.
the main house, eight double rooms
₹5,999 per night, plus tax
Breakfast and dinner included
The main house, named for the family ancestor. Eight double rooms upstairs; reception, lobby, and the dining mess on the ground floor. A conference room available for small offsites and family gatherings.
All tariffs are exclusive of GST. Extra beds for adult guests can be arranged on request.
Activities
All activities are arranged by the inn — most are included with your stay, a few priced separately. Tell us at breakfast and we'll set it up for the afternoon.
i. on foot
Guided treks to the peaks of Coorg for the serious walkers, shorter trails through the plantation for everyone else. The estate nursery is open to anyone curious about how shade-grown coffee comes up, or what to do with a pepper creeper that has lost its tree.
ii. by the water
Tributaries of the Cauvery thread through the property. Fresh-water dips on summer afternoons, riverside barbecues by request, picnic lunches packed for the day. Quietest in the early morning, before the cicadas warm up.
iii. on the tracks
No coffee planter in Coorg is without one. Day rides through the surrounding plantation tracks, night rides for guests who want to hear what the forest sounds like after the sun goes. Two hours, with a driver who knows where to look.
iv. after dark
An evening fire on the open ground, on request. Most guests stay until the wood runs out, which is later than you'd think. Food can come out — let us know at lunch and the kitchen will plan accordingly.
The mess
The dining mess at Bheemaraja House serves two meals every day — breakfast at first light and dinner at sunset. The kitchen leans Coorg: pandi curry, kadambuttu, akki roti, the wild greens that come in with the rains. Vegetarian by default, non-vegetarian on request, both done well.
Daily · breakfast
07:30 to 10:00
Filter coffee, akki roti, set dosa, eggs to order, fruit. Included in every tariff.
Daily · dinner
19:30 to 21:30
A short Coorgi menu. Non-vegetarian on request, with twelve hours' notice for pandi. Included in every tariff.
Around the inn
Coorg has more than the inn. We will arrange the car and the timing; you walk out of the gate.
i.
Thirty kilometres up the road. The Wednesday market is worth an early start — honey, cardamom, wild pepper, the small-leaf greens. The fort and Raja's Seat are within walking distance of the bazaar.
ii.
The Cauvery rises at Talakaveri, an hour by car. The temple is small, the climb short, the view long. Best at first light, before the buses arrive from Mysore.
iii.
A short drive from the gate, on a good monsoon day. The waterfall runs full from June to September; the village is quiet year-round and lets you see Coorg the way Coorgis live in it.
In the forests around
Elephant, gaur, sambar, wild boar, jungle cat, lion-tailed macaque, leopard — and on rare nights, the panther and the tiger that the forest department records.
Numbers and listings per the Karnataka Forest Department, Kodagu circle.
Before you book
Visit
Reservations are direct, by WhatsApp or phone. Mr. Appaiah confirms every booking personally; please tell us your arrival time and any dietary preferences when you write.
Coorg is best when you stop driving and start walking. We have the cottages, the food, and the morning birds. You bring the time.
Reserve a stay