Renting out your home in Lonavala

Our advice for Lonavala

Lonavala and neighbouring Khandala live on the rhythm of the Mumbai and Pune calendars. Families and groups of friends drive up for the weekend, for a long holiday or for the first rains, and the house is quiet from Monday to Thursday. Owning a villa here means accepting that pattern and organising around it.

Three things guests come for

First, the monsoon: the ghats turn green, waterfalls appear and viewpoints such as Tiger Point fill up. Second, privacy: a private pool, a lawn or a terrace where a group can gather without neighbours. Third, easy access by the expressway, which makes a Friday-night arrival realistic.

Preparing the property

• A resident caretaker or a reliable local team. Weekend turnovers are tight, and a group checking in at 1 pm needs the house ready.
• Power and water backup. A generator or inverter and a water tank; outages in the hills are longer than in the city.