A group base near Manali where you all stay, and eat, together

Most group trips near Manali fall apart the same way. Everyone books a different hotel because no single place had enough rooms free, the meals happen in three separate cafes on three different bills, and the one evening you all pictured — sitting together around a fire — never quite happens because the rooms are on four floors and the lobby closes at ten. We built the opposite of that.

Between our two homes we can hold a real group under one address. The Badgran farmstead runs 14 rooms across a single orchard property, so a family of twenty or an office team of a dozen can take a large block — or, in the quieter months, the whole place. Shanag adds wooden chalets and stone cottages on open lawns, closer to the snow line, for groups who want the higher, wilder side of the valley. Tell us the headcount and the dates and we'll tell you honestly which home fits, or whether to split across both.

One table, one kitchen, everyone fed

The thing that makes a group trip feel like a group trip is eating together, and that is exactly what our farm kitchen is built for. It is a small family kitchen, not a hotel banquet setup — but that is the point. We cook one menu for the whole table: rajma-chawal that actually tastes of the hills, siddu (a steamed Himachali bread we serve with ghee and chutney) on request, trout when it's good at the mandi, a proper dham-style spread if you ask ahead. You sit down together, the food comes out together, and nobody is hunting for a restaurant at 9pm in the cold.

For a group of more than eight, give us a day's notice on the menu so we can shop for it. We'll talk through veg and non-veg counts, anyone with allergies, whether the kids want something plain. It's the same conversation you'd have with a relative who's hosting you — because that's roughly what's happening.

Lawns and a bonfire the whole group shares

Both homes have open lawn space, and the evening bonfire is a shared one — not a per-room add-on you each pay for separately. That's where group trips actually land: fifteen people pulled around a fire, someone's speaker playing low, chai going round, the kids running the edge of the orchard until they tire out. In summer we set it on the grass; in deep winter, when the Shanag lawns go under snow, it moves closer to the building but it still happens.

For a small office offsite this is the useful part. You get a private-enough outdoor space to do the informal half of an offsite — the unstructured evening where the actual team bonding happens — without booking a conference hall you don't need. If you do want a rough indoor spot for a morning huddle, tell us and we'll clear the dining area between meals.

A travel desk so nobody has to organise the others

The hardest job on any group trip is being the one who plans it. Our travel desk takes that off you. We keep the local numbers — a driver who knows the group won't all fit in one small car, the Solang paragliding operators (a tandem flight runs roughly ₹1,800–3,500 depending on length and season), rafting on the Beas below Pirdi (around ₹500–1,200 a head for the standard stretch), permits and taxi rates for the Atal Tunnel run up to Sissu. You tell us the vibe — lazy, adventurous, mixed — and we line up the day.

Distances that matter for a group base, from the Badgran home: Mall Road and Hadimba Temple are about 14 km north, roughly 35–45 minutes depending on the season's traffic; Solang Valley is about 22 km; the Atal Tunnel mouth around 30 km. From Shanag you're already 4–5 km north of town, so Old Manali and the Solang road are much closer — worth it if your group's plan leans toward snow and treks rather than the market.

How to book a group with us

• Message us on WhatsApp with your dates, total headcount, and rough split of adults, kids and any pets — both our numbers take calls and WhatsApp.
• We'll confirm which home (or both) fits your group and hold the rooms while you decide — there's no online payment and we sort the tariff with you directly.
• Tell us the food you want ahead of time for anything over eight people, plus any dietary needs.
• Give us a sense of the days you want filled and we'll pre-arrange transport, activities and permits through the travel desk so nobody in your group has to become the trip manager.

The nicest bit is watching a group that arrived in three separate cars end the first night as one table. By breakfast they've stopped asking us where things are and started telling each other. That's when we know the trip's going to be a good one.

— the hosts

A last honest note: our rooms are cosy and comfortable rather than large, so plan on the shared spaces — the lawn, the fire, the dining table — being where your group actually gathers, not inside individual rooms. For most groups that's the whole idea. If you're a bigger party than one home can take on your dates, tell us early and we'll work out the split across Badgran and Shanag before you commit.