Jun 07, 2010 09:45 PM
2554 Views
(Updated Jun 10, 2010 11:45 PM)
Seeing their website https://togmanali.com we booked 3 nights MAP package for 2 rooms for Luxury Room. However, when the rooms were allotted upon check-in we were dismayed and utterly disappointed to find out that the rooms as well as the bathrooms were in a completely dilapidated condition with the carpets worn out and stinking. The'luxury' in the so-called'Luxury Rooms' was absolutely missing. Also, the so-called'Luxury Rooms' advertised in the'Rooms Category' section on their website https://togmanali.com was completely different from what was actually allotted to us. The room actually allotted to us is showing as'Deluxe Room' on ther website. The Hotel Manager at Manali told us that the so-called'Luxury Room' advertised on the website and brochure is actually the'Suite Room' which is available at higher cost and this made us feel absolutely cheated.
Since we had checked in late at night and I had my family consisting on small children and senior citizens I had no option but to stay that night in this hotel. When we went to have buffet dinner that night(included in the package) we found the food quality absolutely pathetic with no taste at all. Also, the overall service including the room service in the hotel was absolutely pathetic with delayed response. The quality of the morning breakfast was also pathetic and most of us had upset stomach the entire day after having the buffet breakfast at your hotel. To add to all this misery, even the staff at the Hotel including the Manager were absolutely non-courteous and refused to be of any help.
Our holiday mood was totally spoilt by all this and I was compelled to search for another hotel next morning. In utter desperation I spent my entire morning looking for a new hotel and went through a lot of mental agony and feeling of resentment for choosing to trust them, pay the full advance money, and yet get this kind of dilapidated room and appalling treatment at this hotel. By God's grace I managed to find a decent luxury hotel of a well-known hotel brand offering'luxury' in the true sense very much unlike what was promised in your so-called'Luxury Room' which was also wrongly advertised on their website and the brochure. Hence we decided to immediately check-out of this hotel even if we had to lose all the money here.
I did inform the Manager of'The Orchard Greens' of my decision to check-out around 11AM, well before the check-out time of 12PM and requested him to deduct the amount for one night and refund me the balance amount of the advance payment since I had stayed only for one night. He however refused to refund me any money and said that I should contact the TOG - Delhi Office for any kind of refund. I am still having discussions with them for the refund of my money and it seems that they are not interested in refunding my money.
Lessons learned.please do not go by the photos or Star Rating on the website for any hotel which does not have a well-known brand image like Taj Group, Holiday Inn etc. The photos and star rating are usually misleading. This hotel had 3 star rating.I would not even give it 1 star. Always go for a well known hotel brand even if they charge you little more.at least you are assured of their quality and services and they would take their brand image very seriously.
'The Orchard Green' kind of hotels are not interested in providing good services and also give a damn about their brand image. All they want to do is make quick money during the season at the cost of gullible tourists who end up spending a lot of meney booking the hotel in peak season and have nowhere to go and are stuck with this kind of hotel. At least I was lucky enough to get another good hotel on such a short notice and salvage my holiday, even if I had to pay extra money for the new hotel.
I still haven't got my money back from The Orchard Greens in spite of several follow-ups. This is the worst hotel I ever came across in my life. All are advised to learn from my mistakes and stay away from these kinds of hotels.
