3 Homestays in Kemmanagundi, Ranked by Guests

The state Horticulture Department's guest house, standing inside the Krishnarajendra botanical park and still called Raj Bhavan after the Mysore king whose summer retreat this was. It is the landmark everything on the hill is measured from — the Z Point path and the Hebbe Falls jeeps both start here — and it takes visitors in a plain, government-run way rather than as a resort. Rooms go through the Horticulture Department, not through a booking site, so enquire ahead; turning up unannounced in season is optimistic.

A homestay of independent cottages on Glendale Farms at Ballavara, on the Kemmanagundi road below the hill station, taking guests since 2010. It sits in its own grounds with a swimming pool, a campfire and walks out through the plantation, and it books direct on its own site and phone rather than through a platform. Being partway up the hill it works as a base for both Kemmanagundi and the Baba Budan range, and it is a different proposition from the government rooms at the top.

A second Horticulture Department guest house, this one down at Kallathi village beside the Kallathigiri falls and the rock-cut Veerabhadra temple, about 10 km from the Kemmanagundi gardens. It is basic government accommodation rather than a hotel and it exists mainly because the falls draw people, but it is a genuine option if the rooms at the top of the hill are full. Enquire through the Horticulture Department; there is no booking site.