Ocean Tree Beach Resort & Spa — Hotel in Havelock island

We had booked a villa with breakfast and dinner for one night and were to spend less than a day in havelock. We reached the property at 3.30 and when we tried to check in, the man at the counter (Jugal) looked into his computer and looked at his colleague and they both smiled. I asked if something was wrong but they just asked us to wait. After more than 15min of waiting, we asked them how much longer since we had to catch the sunset at 5pm at Radhanagar beach (we were leaving the next morning). But they just looked at each other and pretended like oh we didnot know u r waiting, just wait a bit more and then proceeded to giggle. This annoyed us and we asked them to tell us clearly whats going on. They then told us they had given our room to someone else with a similar name, the only thing similar in both names was the first alphabet. So we asked what is the solution. They said to wait until the other guests return and then they will make them vacate and give us their room! Can you even imagine such a situation! So we said we r in a hurry and this is not at all a solution, not to mention completely unfair to the other guests. We told them to refund our booking so that we can leave. To which the person at desk(Jugal) promptly said that he cant do that, and to contact makemytrip for the same. We said we have no mobile network firstly, and secondly, since it is his fault, why shud we call makemytrip. After arguing with me for another good half hour, he called up the ‘owner’ who told him to give us a ‘deluxe room’ ( which is not even listed online and he claimed it to be 5k per night, we had booked out villa for 9.7k) and we finally checked in at 4.45 pm and obviously missed the sunset.

I have attached pictures of that ‘deluxe room’. I have never been to an Oyo room, but am sure this room would have even put an Oyo room to shame.

Our ordeal didnt end there. We were then served stale food for dinner and no service whatsoever. We were also told that we cant use the tap in the hotel to wash ourselves of beach sand.

In this entire fiasco, not once did any of the desk staff apologise to us, infact the language and tone they used does not befit civilised human beings, much less those in the hospitality sector. Giggling amongst themselves, fooling us, taking our time for granted and shouting on top of their voices, all for their own mistake. I havent heard such slang and poor Hindi in even gangster bollywood movies.

Very poor attitude and even worse accommodation. We just couldn’t wait to check out and leave that hellish...

1st the cons- it's a very average hotel. The pool water was not that clean & clear, means you can't even see the blue tiles of the pool. The breakfast was pathetic. It had very limited options (say only 3-4 items) and that too very tasteless. The staff at the restaurant didn't even cared to serve the water. They were always found busy chitchatting among themselves. You won't find basic things at the dining table such as salt, tissues or glasses & will have to ask for it each & everything. The latch of our bathroom door was broken & we were not able to lock the same while using it. The lamp in the corridor and the staircase which went towards our room on 1st floor was not working properly and hence we had to use our mobile torch each & every time. Also the staff won't care to switch on & off the lamps at the staircases, u will only have to take care of the same. There were lot of mosquitoes in the room at night. Power cuts are very frequent in Havelock but it seems the hotel was either not having automatically starting generator or they didn't cared to start the same during night hours. Usually the power went off for atleast 4-5 times a night and we stayed there for 2 sleepless nights. So better to stay at a bit expensive hotel which will have these basic facilities and good service so that your holidays won't get ruined. Pros- Rooms and balconies are spacious and have all wood interiors and feel. Bed was comfortable. Beach in the backside was beautiful although there was no proper path which leads towards it. The lady at the reception was good and very welcoming. Overall our stay was very average. It seems there is lack of proper management & maintainance. Also ditch their restaurant food and go out and have it...

Date of stay - 16-18 Dec 2022

Positives: The staff is just amazing. Very well behaved and cordial. Special thanks to Shusmita for such a warm hospitality. Good location. Many other properties and local restaurants are nearby. Walking distance. You can walk outside easily. Rooms are clean and as shown in pics on internet.

Negatives: No Private Beach - if you plan to sit by the beach at night and enjoy the time, the resort is not for you. You have to walk through another property to access beach. Also, there is no lighting on the 100 mtr walk towards the beach. Further, the beach is rocky and full of trees and leaves. Small swimming pool. Breakfast - very Limited spread. No spa - and i am talking abt supposedly peak season. Small property. I have attached the pics for reference. The property is a rectangle shape land with 20 rooms and a swimming pool in the centre. (Do consider looking at Coral reef resort before booking here, the rates of coral reef are marginally higher but you get a entirely upscale experience).

Conclusion - Although the experience was decent but the price for my booking was very high. We visited the adjacent property "Coral Reef resorts" that was just class apart with beach view rooms and true beach access. The tariffs were almost same. Take your decisions...