Deeply Rooted to Land: Aahana-The Corbett Wilderness

STARTED BY a family of freedom fighters in the year 2002, Aahana-The Corbett Wilderness stand strong in between the woodland of Corbett National Park. The family, for their deep-rooted concern for ‘Jal’, ‘Jungle’ and ‘Zameen’ started the resort on a land which was sandy and supported no agriculture. Both the partners of the resort Kamal Tripathi and his wife Sunita Tripathi take active participation in giving back to the society by various sustainable initiatives.

Located near Sawaldeh village in Ram Nagar, the resort is a private hideaway of 45 rooms in 10 Victorian styles villas, built with locally available stones and handcrafted by local tradesmen. BW Hotelier spoke to the new generation Director of the property, Ayu Tripathi who told us about the USPs of the property and how they manage to keep it completely environmentally friendly.

“At Aahana it has been a blessing that we have been able to offer the best to our guests without harming the beautiful forests that envelope our essence. We have believed in sustainability as the key to overall development in everything we do at Aahana,” she stated.

Eco-Friendly Practices

The resort recycles 100 percent of the used water with their Root Zone Sewage Treatment Plant, which uses gravity as the driving force instead of any electricity or machinery. Tripathi claims the plant to be the largest of its kind in Asia. Along with it, the resort also has a ‘Zero Untreated Waste’ policy. “We use cow dung, from our Gaushala, in our Bio Gas Plant to generate biofuel that is used in the staff cafeteria. 100 percent Waste Food with the leftover dung is used in our Compost Pits to prepare manure which is used in Organic Gardens,” she further adds.

Aahana Signature Experience

The resort launched its Aahana Signature Experiences this year which is for the travellers seeking different types of experiences. The Signature Experiences are especially for the Wilderness travellers, Women’s Only travellers, Senior Citizens and Wellness travellers. The resort is also promoting Wilderness Excursions that involves a drive in an open gypsy combined with a soft trek in the jungles of Corbett. Adding more to it Tripathi told us about the “Green Wedding” that is promoted extensively by the resort.

Aahana Naturopathy Centre

The resort is also known for its Ayurveda and Western Spa therapies which are curated by the wellness experts. “We understand how stressful work can get, and our wellness experts have specially curated detox, stress management, team building and rejuvenating packages for them,” Tripathi comments.

The major part of clientele for the resort is Leisure and Wildlife travellers. When asked about the expansion plans within or outside the property, Tripathi mentioned, “At Aahana the total build up area is less than 20 percent and we want it to remain as it is. When people come from cities they want to be able to experience nature in all its forms and that’s the environment that we have tried to create at Aahana.”