Why Rashesh Shah loves Alibaug, the Mumbai version of Hamptons

Alibaug. Five hours by road and 20 minutes by speedboat from Mumbai. Inaccessible by boat for about four months of the year, during Mumbai’s infamous monsoon. Still in great demand with the elite of the country’s financial capital, thanks to its vast open areas, clean air, beaches and trekking spots.

What the coastal town of Alibaug has to offer the select few is the exact opposite of their life in the fast lane. The trick, however, lies in being able to grab a slice of nature and upgrade it with a slick coat of luxury.

The rustic charm


Gauri Devidayal, cofounder of a fine-dining restaurant in Mumbai’s Colaba, looks forward to her weekend retreats in Alibaug. In 2007, Devidayal and her sister bought a two-acre property in Sasawane, roughly 10 minutes away from the Mandwa jetty.

Three years later, they built two bungalows on it, with a common pool. Once they started visiting the bungalows frequently, they welcomed a speedboat, a 30- foot Mahindra Odyssey, into the family.

“We have a car stationed at the bungalow and the driver picks us up from the jetty,” says Devidayal.

Once there, her agenda is, “Chill by the pool and go for walks. We’ve set the house up in such a way that we barely have to leave it.”

Rashesh Shah, chairman and CEO, Edelweiss Group, first bought a plot in Dhokawade — a five minute drive from the jetty — in 2000 and for a long time kept the three bedroom house it came with. Says Shah, “The house didn’t have any AC and that’s how we kept it till we converted it into a five-bedroom bungalow with a pool and a tennis court. That was about five years ago. We would go there to enjoy the simple life. We’d have dal and fresh salads, read a book and play a lot of cricket and football with the kids. But now that the kids are all grown up and like to go there with their friends, we thought it was a good time to upgrade it. We travel there by speedboat or catamaran.”

Talking about how Alibaug has changed over the years, Shah says, “Travelling to Alibaug is a lot more pleasant today. The roads are maintained well and the new jetty is fabulous. I’ve seen a spike in the number of speedboats docked at the jetty. But it’s the old characteristics of Alibaug that still draw us there — its rustic qualities.”

The Shahs visit Alibaug in December and January. At times, they bring in the New Year there. The family grows vegetables, coconuts, mangoes and several herbs there. “If someone is coming to Mumbai from Alibaug, they get us a chunk of the produce. The mangoes from there are the sweetest I’ve ever eaten.”


Great escape

Rudhra Kapur, who owns a fashion store at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Colaba, reiterates what almost every bungalow owner in Alibaug feels. “I go to Alibaug to get away from Mumbai,” he says. On most Fridays, Kapur’s schedule reads something like this: Have some wine, cheese and other essentials packed and send them to Alibaug by car in the morning, with a house help and his pet dog, named Mushti, in tow.

After business is wrapped up, walk over to the Gateway of India and hop on to a speedboat. At the Mandwa jetty, a car waits to drive him back to his six-bedroom bungalow. Once there, Kapur goes to the local fish market and to his horticultural farm to bring back pesticide-free, home-grown vegetables. He uses them during his stay in Alibaug and in his kitchen in Mumbai. His weekend involves sitting by the pool and reading a book.

Getting back to nature

Rohan Parikh and his fashion entrepreneur wife Cecilia Morelli Parikh can’t have enough of their six-bedroom bungalow in Saral. The Parikhs acquired the bungalow a decade ago and bought a speedboat to allow easy commuting. After the rains, Parikh supervises repair work to keep the property in top shape for the rest of the year. The Parikhs visit it at least twice every month, armed with wine, cheese and chefs.

“We brought a lot of the outdoors, indoors, ” says Parikh. “My three-yearold daughter used to be scared of spiders and insects, but Alibaug has helped her get in touch with nature.”