Banyan Tree Farm | Rooms & Pool

We recently stayed at Banyan Tree Farmstay, and unfortunately, the experience was far from what was advertised. The photos on the website are highly misleading—they show the owner’s private bungalow, which is completely out of bounds to guests. While the property is decent and basic, it certainly doesn’t match the facilities advertised. We expected to stay in the charming heritage farmhouse shown online, but despite there being only two families (ours included) during our stay, we were placed in newly constructed, unfinished basic rooms. These rooms still had construction markings (arrows and numbers) on the walls, with exposed piping visible. To make matters worse, there was no toothpaste, and towels weren’t changed. The so-called "dining area" turned out to be a basic outdoor mess-like area, far from the nice, inviting space we saw on the website. The gym, which is supposed to be available, was in terrible shape—and surprise, it's actually the owner’s personal gym! Even the swimming pool and other facilities (cinema room, cosy dining area, living room area, etc.) were gated off behind a “Private Property - Entry Restricted” sign, as they were the owner’s private areas. Since the owner wasn't there during our stay, we weren’t allowed to even view any of these areas. There’s nothing much to do nearby, which is expected. The trek they offer is just a walk through the coconut plantation. I would be perfectly happy with such activities, if the place were AS ADVERTISED, i.e. nice and inviting so I can spend an afternoon in. Unfortunately, the areas where we could access were quite the opposite - very basic, uninspired, and lacks any charm. I really wish I had read the reviews before booking because this experience was extremely disappointing and felt like a complete cheat. I would’ve been okay with basic accommodations if the facilities were as advertised, but sadly, that wasn’t the case. Be aware before booking—you won't get what you see on the website.

I am certain this is the only "terrible" rating I have ever given on TripAdvisor...I couldn't even imagine what would warrant that rating until we arrived here at the Banyan Tree. I wish I had read the reviews before booking this but instead I looked at the website and saw a property with lovely wooden buildings with the described heritage and charm surrounded by a farm filled with trees and plants of all kinds. However, when we arrived, we were shown to our rooms in a recently constructed concrete structure and provided just basic furniture and completely absent of charm. There was space for a small fridge but no fridge, no extra chairs, just the minimum needed. The bathroom offered shampoo, towels and nothing else. It turns out there are other rooms in a wooden building, not sure why they were unoccupied, but we learned that most of the photos on the website were taken at the owner's private residence. Throughout our room was evidence of recent construction and recent guests including construction dust layers in the toothbrush holder, handwritten marks on the tile, a layer of dust and dead bugs on the headboard, smears on the mirrors and dirty tea mugs. Additionally, there was no service on the second day to refill our water bottles, empty trash and replace toilet paper etc. We had to ask for every single thing and even then we didn't get all that was needed. (as a point of reference the four of us have traveled extensively in India and stayed at locations without electricity or toilets that provided a bucket of cold water for bathing, but it was also what we expected and didn't mind at all) We asked the manager if we could go wander the grounds and explore and he said no, we were to stay in our rooms and relax until dinner (this was at 2pm). Finally our driver called the owner to say there were some concerns and the owner came over to speak to us. He told us things that weren't true such as the manager was new to the job and didn't know what he was saying. When we looked at reviews we could see he had been there at least a year. We felt like we were being told what the owner thought we wanted to hear. Being lied to and deceptive advertising doesn't make for a positive experience. He did offer to show us around and we had a pleasant walk around the farm.  The website also noted the owner was a food connoisseur. At a farm stay one expects to be eating mostly food grown on the farm, this was not to be true. Our meals consisted mainly of lentils and potatoes and the chicken was more bone than meat. No special local dishes or unique meals were provided. The flavors were good but not anything one would expect from a noted connoisseur. The final evening we were served apple crisp which had a piece missing and the dough was partially raw. One of our companions has a serious food allergy and at the first meal an attempt was made to accommodate that (and they knew well in advance from our tour company) but after that minimal to no attempt was made an