Hotel & resort marketing · Tadoba, MaharashtraGuests pick a gate first. Be the stay beside it.

The Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur district is Maharashtra's oldest and largest national park, set up in 1955. It covers about 1,728 sq km, with a core of about 626 sq km and a large buffer around it. Guests come for jeep safaris through teak and bamboo forest, Tadoba Lake and the Andhari river, and good chances of tigers, along with leopards, sloth bears, gaur and many birds. Safaris run through several core gates, including Moharli, Kolara, Navegaon, Khutwanda, Zari and Pangdi, and many buffer gates.

Most guests come from Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad, plus a growing number of wildlife photographers from across India. Families come in the winter and summer holidays, and photographers come in the hot months when animals gather near water. Foreign travellers come too, often as part of a central India wildlife trip. Safari permits are booked online through the forest department's portal, up to 120 days ahead, so many guests book the safari first and then look for a stay near that gate.

Stays cluster around each gate: jungle resorts and lodges near Moharli and Kolara, and smaller properties near Navegaon, Zari and the other gates, plus village homestays and a government resort at Moharli. Many properties sell rooms bundled with safaris. Because the gate decides the stay, a resort near the wrong gate for a guest's permit simply won't get booked. Clear location information and safari help matter as much as rooms and food.