Great Views of Ganges
This hotel is a beautiful building.An old family Haveli(1918)- it has been well converted into a luxury hotel. It has a perfect position, on the banks of the Ganges, it has large, spacious and clean rooms with marble floors.. The furnishings are tasteful, and tiled bathrooms a good size with shower and good lighting. A private bathing ghat is available, although no-one was using it.
The front terrace of the hotel overlooks the fast-flowing Ganges, and there is a large common balcony with tables & chairs, an ideal place to sit and read, meditate or just chill out.
The ayurverdic spa on the roof-top offers various packages- the massage was professional.
Yoga & Meditation classes are also on offer.
I fear, however, that the lines of communication between the front-desk management and guests is definitely non-existent.
On arrival- all goes well- until one finds that the acommodation originally booked (and paid for on demand) is NOT what one gets. We had booked & PAID for a room facing the Ganges (called a "Ganges Facing Room"- which costs extra). We were shown to a room that was at the FRONT of the hotel- nowhere near the river. After heated arguments- we were eventually given what we had booked and paid for. It seems that the booking agent (in Delhi) had given gross mis-representation of description of the room.(according to the front-desk manager). Who to believe???
Anyway- after settling in, we were told that the hotel guests should not visit the Ganga Aaarti ceremony on their own, as they would be "hassled" by touts etc at the ghats. The hotel, apparently, had its own guide. This was a blatant con- because the "hotel guide" was nothing more than a tout himself.
The next upsetting thing was that we booked (at the front desk) a car for a trip to Rishikesh
at 8am the next morning. We were told by them that it is a 2 hour drive to Rishikesh- NOT TRUE. Rishikesh is only 23 kms away from Haridwar. It gets worse- at 8am we were waiting & ready , in the foyer, for our car & driver. At 9 am I enquired what the hold-up was, to be told, quite casually, that no car would be coming! They had "forgotten" to organize it. Of course, the buck was passed from one staff member to another. We eventually found our own transport- but I was fuming by this time.
Its really a pity about all this nonchalant management, because this hotel has everything it needs in order to be a perfect place to stay.
The food in the diningroom was very good, (it is B&B but Evening Buffet cost R300 per person)
The service in dining-room is good,if a bit slow.
Richard & I are very patient people- and we very seldom are dissatified with service. We realise that we are in India, and things don't always run smooth. However- if an hotel purports to call itself "The Best Hotel In Haridwar", and charge accordingly, one would expect the standerd of service to be much more efficient. There were apologies, of course, but by this time, we were just thoroughly fed up. A shame. It could have been a great experience. The few other guests that we talked to were also very disgruntled- one English couple cut their stay short.
Unique Quality: The Ayurvedic Spa on the rooftop is fantastic.
The rooms are large and airy.
The Balcony overlooking the Ganga
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