Enter The Blackbuck Lodge and you will feel as if you have reached an oasis in the middle of the desert. This luxurious property is spread across 70 acres within Velavadar National Park in the state of Gujarat. It greets its guests with mud-coloured walls, giving a rustic rural look. The lodge is surrounded by nothing, but expansive grasslands, trees and utter serenity. Its reception has warm and earthy colour tones, large windows, wooden ceiling and comfortable sofas. You will be accommodated in 14 cottages, situated away from each other for complete privacy. All cottages are quite airy and have a modern and elegant décor. Each one of them has high ceilings and wooden floors, interspersed with greyish-blue granite slabs.

The white walls of these cottages have been decorated with rough boulder patterns and pictures of blackbuck, the animal that the national park protects and gives Blackbuck Lodge Velavadar its name. Every cottage is air-conditioned and is equipped with comfy sofas, set by large windows to look at the scenery around the establishment. Apart from these, cushioned chairs have also been kept in every room. The king-size beds with clean linen are arranged atop raised plinths of granite for a royal feel. Telephones with direct dialling facility, flat screen television sets with satellite connection, mini refrigerators, power points, tea and coffee makers and paid Wi-Fi are common features of all rooms.

Vibrant chandeliers light the bathrooms, which are all equipped with showers and bathtubs. Each bathroom also has a large open area in front of it with a shower for those who want to bathe outside under the bright sun or starry night sky. Every bathroom is provided with bathrobes, clean towels and a range of basic amenities, such as shampoos and soaps. The walk from your comfortable cottages to the restaurant of The Blackbuck Lodge will take you along a winding path of bricks and stones through the thick grassy jungles. Like the cottages, the large dining hall too is adorned with pictures of the blackbuck antelope. It has a well-laid out buffet of vegetarian and non-vegetarian regional Kathiawadi as well as Indian dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

From Blackbuck Lodge Velavadar, you could go for a Jeep safari in Velavadar National Park. These safaris are available exclusively for couples or for four, six or 10 people. This protected territory is inhabited by blackbucks, nilgais, wolves, jackals, bustards, foxes, hyenas, hares, cranes, jungle cats and storks. Along with such safaris, the establishment can also be asked to organise excursions to nearby places, such as Bhavnagar, Lothal and Palitana.