Pubs are loud, house parties — cliché, dinners at popular restaurants — predictable... if it’s your parents’ silver anniversary or the best friend’s birthday, you’ve certainly got to put in more thought than that. How about renting out a villa by the sea or a heritage home by a lake, or even a pet-friendly bungalow where you and your furry friends can shake a leg and ring in the festivities. To make things easier there is SaffronStays, a micro hospitality collective, that offers luxurious holiday homes at destinations that are a short drive away from your local hub. They have accommodations in Mamallapuram, Kodaikanal, Coorg, Goa, Jaipur, Pune, Alibaug, Panchgani, Igatpuri...
“Our tagline is ‘Where Families Bond’. The idea is to connect families in today’s digitally connected yet disconnected world,” says Devendra Parulekar who launched SaffronStays in 2015 along with his wife Tejas. He believes there is a dearth of personal spaces that can be used by families and groups, when they want a quick getaway from metros. “During a family trip to Europe, the joy, privacy and freedom of a homestay gave birth to the idea of a made-in-India platform that offered the comfort of a home while on a holiday,” he adds.
And how is it different from Airbnb? “We are not an aggregator, or market place of homes. While Airbnb follows a DIY model that is popular in the West, we have adapted to the needs of a typical Indian traveller,” says Devendra, adding, “Ours is a DIFM (Do it for me model). We have a reservations team that addresses any query that guests may have before booking. Our concierge team is in touch with guests right from the time of booking until check-out. They try to make sure that each stay is personalised according to the group — from home-cooked meals to celebrations.”
Loll in luxury Sunshine in abundance at Masaya in Alibaug
Local flavour
SaffronStays, says Devendra, has a checklist for homes that want to be part of it. These even include interiors and landscaping. The team also trains and recruits local staff and specialises in local food. They have curated around 65 properties so far in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. The accommodations are segregated into pool properties, beach, pet-friendly, heritage and hill properties. Some of the houses are in serene places but unknown to people. So, it’s also a great way for lesser-known places to make their presence on travellers’ lists.
“Our biggest home is the recently-launched SaffronStays 8 NM, Alibaug. This is a complex with 12 villas that are all run, managed and serviced by SaffronStays. These can host up to 60 people comfortably, and are perfect for team off-sites and small functions, since it has a banqueting facility and a small turf ground. All the 12 villas have their own individual private pools, gazebos and lawns. We have also started a special café for all the guests here,” adds Devendra. The other grand ones include Jaipura Garh — a restored 19th-Century haveli in Jaipur with six bedrooms, Un Bel Di — a two-bedroom home in Alibaug, with a private pool that offers stunning views of the mountains, Salt Rim — an old Portuguese home that sits right on the beach in Korlai, and SaffronStays Dulwich Cottage, a refurbished Parsi Mansion that is hidden away from the touristy crowds of Panchgani, and yet is a stone’s throw away from the top locations.
Apart from the usual anniversaries and bachelorettes, these homes are also gaining popularity as venues for compact weddings or photoshoots.
“We cater to the needs of all groups. Be it a couple looking for a cottage villa or a large group of 60 guests, we have homes for all. We see that our three to five-bedroom homes have the highest demand since friends, families and colleagues are always looking at ways to destress and bond on weekends,” he adds. Besides planning to launch 200 homes in the next two years, SaffronStays also plans to go international. “We want to set up operations in countries that can be accessed within three to five hours from India and don’t have tedious visa processes.”
The tariff starts at ₹2,400. For details, log onto saffronstays.com
