Service at Save Farm

The service & hospitality at Save Farm is something which others in the hospitality industry should learn. Having staff with morose faces and looking like as though they are doing a huge favour to the guests is one thing which can put you off. We were glad not to experience this even once at Save Farm.

We stayed for 4 nights and not once, believe me, did the smiles slip or seem artificial or the service slacken. Whether we went to the office, sat for our meals in the dining area or simply walked around, whenever we met a staff member the genuine warmth was obvious. This applied to all – from the office receptionist Bhavana, to the dining area staff, Tanvi, Ushiya, and others, to the handyman, Anil who fixed our TV to the lady cleaning our rooms, Nilima and Girij, and even the night watchman (unfortunately don't know his name).

Here are some specifics of the service we got:

• My aunt requested for an extra bed to be placed on the existing one as, post TKR, she finds it difficult to get up from low level seating. This request was adhered to right away.
• The TV signal went on the blink. Anil, who seemed to be the "Mr.Fix It" of the farm and also drives the motorized buggy for the farm tour, changed the Set-Top box in our room. On the third day, when something within the TV set itself went khaput, he went and brought a new TV itself and when that did not fit on the wall, went and brought a stand for it. All this was done in super quick time & it was not like we had to go and give reminders at the office a second or third time.
• When we requested for limbu sherbet or kokum sherbet in the morning or evening as per our wish, except for the first time when apparently our wish was not conveyed to the kitchen, it was given to us at our rooms.
• When we sat for our meals, we would be told what would be served for the next meal or for breakfast. This was because at the time of booking we had mentioned that there are certain dietary restrictions for various members of our group. At our request, we even got sheera instead of sabudana khichdi and upma instead of poha for breakfast. The only food that they could not cater to was our request for jwari or bajra bhakris.
• The side tap in the loo went awry one night after 10p.m. and we had to hastily place the bathroom bucket below it to prevent wastage of water. When it did not close at all, I stepped outside the room to see if any staff were around. The only one to be seen was the night watchman with his large torch. He said he would check the tap himself and voila – he fixed it! No fuss made at all and not the usual spiel, "Let it be, it will be fixed in the morning. I cannot fix it."

Here I would like to suggest to the farm owners that some kind of call alert button/alarm is a must in the rooms. Supposing there is some emergency, how to get the attention of the staff? Sure, the owner was staying right there and we could always ring his door bell, but that would be considered as awkward to do by a guest to just report a broken tap.

• When the owner realized we had taken a cycle, he immediately told a staff member to check whether there was any air in the tyres.
• The room door bell was rung only when cleaning & change of the sheets had to be done. At our request, we were not disturbed for morning tea (7.30a.m. – you can ask for it if you want it) or evening tea (4p.m.) but was kept in covered cups on a tray outside. 
• Rotis and vegetables were packed for us on our request after our last day's lunch so that we could take it home for our night meal & not have to cook. 
• There are no hidden charges or pointless last-minute extra fees. You pay exactly what you have been told will be the amount at the time you do the booking. When we went to the office to finalize the bill payment, we informed Bhavana that the car driver's breakfast had to be paid for. She told us that since one of our group had not had breakfast on the day we arrived, the driver's breakfast did not have to be paid for. Nor were we charged for the arrangement they made specially for us for the second round of zip lining. So you can expect 100% honesty, something which is rare at places where you have to shell out some unexpected last minute charges.

To sum up, it was high quality service, with not a blip - much appreciation for the owners and entire team at Save Farm.