The Oberoi Vindhyavilas Wildlife Resort — 19 air-conditioned tents and two pool villas on 21 forested acres at Bandhavgarh National Park, home to more than 150 Bengal tigers — opened in March 2025 and has already made TIME’s World’s Greatest Places.
There are only a handful of places on Earth where seeing a wild tiger is more likely than not, and Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh tops most of them. It was only a matter of time before India’s most polished hotel group arrived at its gates. The Oberoi Vindhyavilas Wildlife Resort, the newest destination in the group’s storied Vilas collection, brings Oberoi’s understated brand of luxury to the country’s tiger heartland — and within months of opening it had earned a place in TIME’s World’s Greatest Places 2025 and the Michelin Guide’s hotel selection.
That pedigree sets expectations high. Oberoi is no stranger to tiger country — its tented Vanyavilas has been the Ranthambhore benchmark for more than two decades — but Bandhavgarh is the sharper bet: nowhere in India are the odds of a sighting better. Here are the facts first, then what makes this opening genuinely different, and what I would check before booking.
The Oberoi Vindhyavilas: Key Facts
- Opened: March 2025 — the newest destination in Oberoi’s Vilas collection
- Location: 21 forested acres near Bandhavgarh National Park, Madhya Pradesh — 40 km (about 55 minutes) from Umaria airfield and 100 km (about two hours) from Jabalpur Airport
- Keys: 19 air-conditioned luxury tents with private floating decks and planted gardens, plus two Luxury Villas with private temperature-controlled pools
- Design: Studio Lotus — tribal-inspired tent canopies, pale local Katni stone, Gond artwork throughout, and an entrance door hand-chiselled by Gond artisans
- Dining: five settings — The Dining Room, The Bush Kitchen, The Tree Court, The Deck and The Lounge — plus starlit Bush Dining by the lake and the Royal Baghelkhand dinner
- Wellness: Asmi by Oberoi spa, an 18-metre temperature-controlled infinity pool, a 24-hour fitness centre, outdoor yoga and guided meditation
- Safaris: morning, afternoon and night drives in customised 4x4s with naturalists trained by the acclaimed Ratna Singh; the resort advises booking game drives at least 120 days ahead
- Season: October to June — the park’s core zones close during the monsoon
Canvas, Craft and Gond Artistry
Set across 21 forested acres a few minutes’ drive from the park, the property takes its cues from the Vindhya hills and the artistic traditions of central India’s Gond and Baiga communities — beginning at the entrance, where that hand-chiselled wooden door opens onto a soaring lounge lined in pale Katni stone and flooded with light.
The tents are the heart of the stay. Canopies are patterned with tribal-inspired motifs, bathrooms carry vivid Gond murals, and hand-painted studies of local wildlife by Bandhavgarh artist Rakesh Prajapati bring the forest indoors. Sliding doors open onto a private floating deck and a garden planted with fountain grass, frangipani and flowering kachnar — the kind of outdoor room where an afternoon between safaris disappears easily. The two villas add private temperature-controlled pools and forest views for those who want the full hideaway.
Royal Recipes and Dinners by the Lake
Dining is a genuine event here rather than an afterthought. Executive Chef Sachin Kumar trained with the Royal Kitchen of Nagod, and The Dining Room showcases heirloom recipes and Madhya Pradesh’s signature styles alongside wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas and grills. The settings move with the day: high tea and bonfires at the Tree Court, lakeside barbecues at The Bush Kitchen, Indian and international plates at The Deck, jungle-inspired cocktails at The Lounge, and Bush Dining under the stars by the lake. The one to book is the Royal Baghelkhand dinner, a regal menu drawn from the traditions of the erstwhile Baghel kingdom — while the Asmi by Oberoi spa handles the post-game-drive recovery with nature-inspired therapies and an 18-metre infinity pool.
Tigers at Dawn, Culture at Dusk
Bandhavgarh’s reserve spreads across more than 1,500 square kilometres and holds one of the densest Royal Bengal tiger populations in India — more than 150 tigers, by Oberoi’s own count. Dawn drives into the park — led by naturalists trained by the acclaimed Ratna Singh, in the resort’s customised 4x4s — are the main event, with leopards, sloth bears and more than 250 bird species on the supporting cast, and afternoon and night drives rounding out the programme.
But the cultural programming is what sets Vindhyavilas apart from a standard safari lodge: guests can sit with Sukhiram, a third-generation master Gond artist, to learn the storytelling behind the paintings on their walls, or walk through neighbouring Sarmaniya village before folk performances under the stars. Khajuraho’s temple complex sits within road-trip reach for those extending the journey.
Tip: Bandhavgarh’s safari permits are limited and the resort advises booking game drives at least 120 days in advance — lock in your drives when you book the tent, not after you land.
The Oberoi Standard, First-Hand
A preview is not a review, and my full verdict will wait until I have stayed at Vindhyavilas myself. But I know the Oberoi standard first-hand: at The Oberoi Beach Resort in Seminyak, Bali, gardens tended like a botanical exhibit and some of the most attentive service I have found anywhere in Bali earned a 4.5 out of 5 — I called it “one of the best beach hotels Bali offers in the Seminyak area”. Not everything was perfect — the pool lunch let the side down, and I said so in the review — which is exactly why previews here stay previews until I have checked in myself. That service culture is the group’s real signature, and it is precisely what a safari lodge lives or dies on. Some of my most memorable wildlife stays, like Ol Malo in northern Kenya — four rooms on 5,000 private acres — win on hosting rather than hardware. If Oberoi delivers its usual service at this scale, 21 keys at the edge of India’s best tiger country, Canvas has its own rules, too — Capella Ubud in Bali is the other tented camp I have reviewed, and tented luxury tends to live or die on how the tents are detailed and serviced rather than on the canvas itself.
How Much Does The Oberoi Vindhyavilas Cost?
For a mid-November midweek night (11–12 November, mid-season and comfortably inside the tiger-viewing window), the entry-level Luxury Tent is bookable at ₹92,630 for two — around US$970 — with continental breakfast, taxes and fees included, while a Luxury Villa with its own private pool comes in at ₹147,500, or roughly US$1,545, on the same basis. Both carried free cancellation at the time of checking. Rates shift often with availability and platform promotions, especially in a resort’s first year — swings of 10–20% for the same dates are common — so it is worth a quick check across sites before booking. Taking 5 minutes to compare the websites below can save you hundreds of dollars. To save time, you can simply click on the links below where we have already entered the info for The Oberoi Vindhyavilas.
Check the rate on Booking.com — free cancellation on most room types, no prepayment needed.
Compare on Trip.com — often worth a look for travellers based in Asia.
See it on Expedia — useful if you are bundling flights with your stay, and they sometimes have better prices than Booking.com.
The classic season runs October to June. Fly to Jabalpur — around two hours by road, with daily non-stop connections from Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Indore — or charter into Umaria airfield, 55 minutes away. Oberoi also runs an Unforgettable Holidays package that bundles all meals with savings on laundry and a late check-out. Whichever way you book, reserve your safari permits at the same time — the resort advises at least 120 days ahead.
On paper, this is the most compelling new address in Indian wildlife travel in years.
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Photos © Oberoi Hotels and Resorts / Amit Mehra
This preview is based on official announcements — I haven’t stayed yet. Read more about how I review or visit my Work With Me page.
