I went to Coorg for three days and came back rethinking how I take holidays and plan family vacations

A three-day stay at Club Mahindra Virajpet changed how I think about short holidays, with food, coffee, family time and plenty to do.

I think I have been doing short holidays wrong. For years, a three-day trip meant one of two things. Either I would pack the itinerary so tightly that by the time I was heading home, I needed another holiday to recover. Or I would book a lovely hotel, stay put for three days, eat, swim, sleep and eventually start wondering what we were supposed to do next. My three-day stay at Club Mahindra Virajpet in Coorg made me realise there is a third option. Find a property where the holiday is already happening. And suddenly, three days felt like a lot more.

Do you really need to leave the resort?

This was the first thing that struck me at Club Mahindra Virajpet. The property is enormous, surrounded by the green hills of Coorg, with its own coffee plantation, private lake, walking paths and plenty of open space. It is the kind of place where you can arrive, check in and then realise you have absolutely no reason to get back into the car.

That sounds like a small thing, but for me it was quite a revelation. I usually want to see the place I have travelled to. If I am in Coorg, I want coffee, viewpoints, local food, pretty roads, little shops and all the things that make Coorg, well, Coorg. But when you only have three days, trying to fit everything in can turn a holiday into a very attractive version of a timetable. Here, I could actually slow down. Our family room was spacious enough for two people to spread out properly, with a sofa cum bed and a balcony overlooking the greenery. And that balcony quickly became my favourite spot. Coffee in hand. Rain in the distance. Green hills in front of me. Honestly, I could have sat there for hours.

What do you do for three days without getting bored?

This was the other pleasant surprise. There was so much going on that everyone could do their own thing for a while and then come back together. There was a gaming zone, pottery, cycling, live music and a pool. You could book a pottery session and actually sit down to make something instead of simply watching someone else do it. There was also a cake decorating session where a pastry chef prepared the cake and brought out all the cream and decorations for us to use.

It was the sort of activity that made sense for the entire family because everyone could get involved at their own level. Then there was the spa. We tried a Swedish massage, and I think the weather decided to provide its own soundtrack. Sitting there while the rain fell outside was possibly one of the most relaxing parts of the entire stay. And when we did not feel like walking all the way across the property, there were golf carts to take us around. Which, considering just how big the place is, was very welcome.

The coffee plantation walk was my favourite part

I will admit I was slightly apprehensive about this one. A coffee plantation in monsoon sounds gorgeous until you remember that you have to actually walk through it. So we put on long socks, pulled on our boots and headed out. It turned out to be completely worth it. Walking through the plantation, surrounded by all that greenery, felt very different from simply looking at a coffee plantation from the road. We also got to do a coffee tasting, which made the whole experience even better. This was one of those moments when I realised the property was giving us a taste of Coorg without making us spend the entire day driving around Coorg. And that became the recurring theme of the holiday.

Then came the food. Lots of it.

I have to talk about the food because it was a fairly important part of our three days. Breakfasts became long, lazy affairs. We sat in the balcony area of the buffet restaurant, ate slowly and looked out at the scenery instead of rushing off to the next stop.

Then came the Chef's Table, which was a completely different experience. The chef served us a menu that brought together Kodagu flavours and international cuisine. It was fun, a little fancy and very different from simply picking something off a buffet. We got to try dishes we probably would not have ordered on our own, and the whole afternoon felt like an occasion.

Then there were the Coorg thalis. What I particularly liked was how much attention went into individual preferences. Vegetarian meals were catered for vegetarians, ingredients could be left out for people who did not eat them, and the non-vegetarian thalis could be planned around the meat each person preferred. It made the meal feel personal rather than like a standard regional thali placed in front of everyone. And yes, I ate very well.

Maybe the property is the destination

There was something else I liked about the stay. You could still get a little local shopping done without turning it into another outing. There was a shop selling local coffee and chocolates, along with another space where you could pick up local silks. So even the little bits of Coorg that I usually look for while travelling were right there. Of course, you can leave the property and explore the rest of Coorg. The location gives you that option, and the drive itself is beautiful. But for this particular trip, I did not feel that familiar pressure to make sure we had "seen enough". That was new for me.

This changed how I think about a weekend holiday

I came to Coorg thinking the destination was the important part. I left thinking the property might matter just as much. If the purpose of a three-day break is to spend time with family, catch up with friends, relax with your partner or simply get away from city life for a bit, you do not necessarily need an itinerary filled with tourist spots. You need enough things to do, enough space to breathe and enough variety that everyone can enjoy the holiday in their own way.

At Club Mahindra Virajpet, one person could be at the spa while another was playing a game. Someone could be walking through the coffee plantation while someone else was sitting on the balcony with a cup of coffee. We could all come together for lunch, a thali dinner or an activity and then disappear into our own little corners again. That, I think, is what made the three days feel longer. Not because we were constantly doing something, but because we were never stuck for something to do. And perhaps this is what I have been missing from short holidays. I do not always need to see more places. Sometimes I just need to choose a place that gives me more holiday.

For three days in Coorg, Club Mahindra Virajpet did exactly that.

What to expect	Details
Location	Virajpet, Coorg, Karnataka
Setting	Green surroundings with coffee plantations, walking areas and views of the Coorg landscape
Room options	Studio and one-bedroom accommodation
Room features	Air conditioning, king-size bed, sofa cum bed, dry kitchenette, microwave, mini fridge, tea and coffee maker, safe locker, TV and hot water
Our room	Family style room with plenty of space and a balcony overlooking the greenery
Dining	Buffet dining, Coorgenburg resto bar, Unwind coffee lounge and in-room dining
Food experiences	Breakfast buffet, Chef’s Table, Coorg thalis and other curated dining experiences
Wellness	Svaastha Spa with treatments including Swedish massage
Pool	Swimming pool within the resort
Activities	Coffee plantation walk, coffee tasting, pottery, cake decorating, cycling, indoor and outdoor games and family activities
Family facilities	Children's play area, gaming and activity spaces
Getting around	Golf carts are available within the large property
Shopping	Souvenir and local shopping options
Other facilities	Gym, Wi Fi, laundry, parking, travel desk and banquet or conference facilities
Nearby experiences	Coorg sightseeing, jeep safaris, e-cycle tours, trekking, Nagarhole National Park and other local excursions

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