Kabini River Lodge by Jungle Lodges

Fabulous resort. Beautiful, river facing Maharaja cabins. Highly experience and knowledgeable guides. Great safaris (we saw myriad birds, tiger, sambhar and spotted deer, wild boars, elephants, giant mongoose...). Awesome food. Fantastic service staff. They went out of their way to accommodate any special needs (e.g. some of the visitors were dairy intolerant; others could not eat gluten and yet others could not eat garlic or onion. The kitchen staff modified the menu for these special needs visitors. The place is not cheap but well worth the cost.

The grounds and cabins are lovely, and the room clean and well appointed. The food buffet is extensive and high quality. The staff are very attentive. We did 4 jeep safaris over 2 days and saw lots of birds and animals including spotted deer (thousands), sambar deer, langur, macaque, gaur, boar, giant squirrel, mongoose, monitor lizard, crocodile, elephant, leopard and tiger. The jungle is also lovely, although due to the desire to see animals many of jeep roads have been kept relatively free of vegetation in wide strips on both sides. Our cabin was one of two not on the waterfront so they moved us the second night to a waterfront cabin. The place seems expensive but it's good value all things considered, and 1 or 2 nights is still an excellent experience because of how organized it is around the safaris. For the best safari experience I suggest telling them what you want. There can be a conflict of interest because some people in the jeep may want to only see large cats and others may want to see everything at a more comfortable pace. Being aware of this problem and talking to the safari manager can go a long way. Also, they don't always provide a naturalist in the jeep but it's worth having one and you should consider asking for it. They didn't give us one on the first 3 safaris but on the last one we got one specifically for finding the cats and it paid off (and we got lucky). Also, make sure you check in right at 1:00 (or before) so you can get the most out of the meals and safaris.