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Jaagir Manor is an 80-year-old former hunting lodge in the Terai, the belt of grassland and forest running along the foot of the Himalayas near the Nepal border. It's been restored by the Taj group under its SeleQtions banner, art deco detailing intact, and sits among mango, lychee and guava orchards with farmland stretching away on all sides. Beyond that lies Dudhwa, close to 500 square miles of grassland, sal forest and freshwater ponds.
What Dudhwa offers is not a smaller version of the famous parks but a different India altogether. This is Terai country, and it holds species you simply won't see at Ranthambore or Bandhavgarh: vast herds of barasingha swamp deer, reintroduced one-horned rhino, gharial basking on the riverbanks, wild elephants crossing over from Nepal, and something close to 500 bird species. Tigers are here too, and sightings do happen, though they take patience. What you won't find is a queue of jeeps. For clients who have already done the headline parks and want something genuinely wilder, this is the one.
The other reason to come is the people. It's a small, family-owned lodge, and the hospitality is what guests talk about afterwards. Cold towels and a drink waiting after every drive, bed tea before a dawn start, dinner laid out on the machan or under the stars, cakes appearing for birthdays, and a kitchen that cooks to your preferences rather than off a fixed menu.
Accommodation splits between suites in the old manor house and villas among the trees, several raised on stilts so you wake looking into the forest. There's an outdoor pool, bicycles, orchard walks, and four ways to eat, including the Safari Club for a drink and Jungle Dining out in the open.
What we love
- Warm, personal service in a small lodge
- Wildlife you won't see in the headline parks: barasingha in their hundreds, one-horned rhino, gharial, wild elephants and around 500 bird species
- Private safaris in the lodge's own jeeps, with naturalists guests remember by name
- A tiger reserve with almost no other vehicles in it
- An 80-year-old lodge with its art deco character intact, set in orchards and farmland
- Dinner on the machan or out under the stars, and a kitchen that cooks to your tastes
- It's a long drive from Delhi and properly off the map, so it's worth at least a couple of nights. That distance is exactly why the forest is so quiet
- The park gate is a short drive from the lodge, so safaris start with a transfer. We didn't find this a problem
- Tiger sightings can take patience here. Clients who want a higher chance of a sighting should pair this with a more established park like Ranthambore
- There's no spa, which some guests miss after a long day in the jeep
- Dining is a daily set menu rather than a long à la carte list, though the kitchen will cook to request
- The park closes during the monsoon months, so timing definitely matters. We'll build your dates around it
- This arguably suits a second or third trip to India more than a first. For a first-timer doing the Golden Triangle, it's a stretch too far, but it can be combined with other parts of Uttar Pradesh which are very special and off-the-beaten track
It’s far to reach, so for our international guests, this suits intrepid teenagers rather than young kids. The largest villa takes four and several rooms sleep three, and there's a children's nursery, a jungle play area and a pool. Children old enough to sit through a game drive will love the barasingha herds and the birdlife.
Jaagir Manor is on the edge of Dudhwa National Park in northern Uttar Pradesh, close to the Nepal border.
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