Hotel King Castle — Hotel in Himachal Pradesh

Horrible experience to say the least!

Behavior of staff- The managers (two of them working in shifts) at the reception are rude. They don't know what politeness is all about and clearly does not fit in that role. I urge the owner to look into this as soon as possible otherwise guests will never ever re-book this property.

Room- Just as I stepped in! There is ZERO maintenance. The latch on top of the main door is broken. The smart card holder is so loose that even with slightest of touch, it will fall off.

Picked up a glass (nicely wrapped and kept on the table) to make tea. It was not washed and was so sticky that the wrapped paper was stuck to it. the previous guest might have made tea or whatever , and the sugar crystals got stuck to the wrapping since the housekeeping did not bother washing it and kept it as is. This is downright dirty in times of Covid.

Stains on towels and bedsheet- the towels were stinky and there were numerous stains on it. they have not disposed the towels past couple of years may be. they are old and in terrible condition.

Pillow covers- This is the worst that i have seen in my life! the pillow covers weren't changed after the previous guest left. Stains again and smelly. I could see hair strands on the pillow covers and on the blanket as well. How can you do this, king castle?! Don't you know the situation the world is in. Cleanliness, sanitization, hygiene is of prime importance. I checked in around 3 in the afternoon and immediately went out for lunch and local market hopping. dint notice this mess. on my return to hotel around 5 in the evening , i called this unwelcoming guy at the reception and asked him to change the bedsheet and pillow covers asap. Guess what?! he tells me "aapne pehle kyun nahi bataya? housekeeping 10:30 morning tak hi hai . ab ladke nahi hai mere paas. dekhta hoon main". Mind you, the check in time is 1 PM, so this guy is asking me to inform that the room is dirty before my check in. Such intelligence!

Hotel policy: We will not give you fresh towels, bedsheet, pillow covers upon ur check-in. If you seem to figure out, let us know. we will see if we can change. Else Rot in dirt!

Bathroom - the water from the shower comes down at snail pace. you have to stand under that disastrous thing for about an hour to have proper shower. the shampoo, conditioner bottles are re-used. they just refill them. the bottles are full of stains and dirty. you wont feel like even touching them, its that bad!

I booked a taxi in advance from the hotel travel desk. In spite of clearly mentioning the date and time of checkout , he booked it the previous day. My wife somehow doubted and asked to confirm once. Alas! He did book it at the wrong date and time. had to get that changed again.

On the check out day, me and my wife boarded the cab, this manager smartly comes and sits in the front seat without even asking for once. He had to go somewhere and he dint find the need to at least ask if we are comfortable or not. He travels with us all the way to the airport in a cab that i had paid for.

Please guys, for God sake, avoid this hotel if you don't want to spoil your holidays breaking your head on needless issues. I made a grave mistake booking this property and request everyone to go through my review and then make a decision.

Thanks for...

My husband and I decided to stay at this hotel based on its good reviews but little did we know that our vacay would turn awful. When we entered the hotel the receptionist was on call (fair, we don’t mind a little wait) but his call went on for 20 mins! It was raining outside, we were slightly drenched but he did not have the courtesy to hang up the call and show us our room. Moving on, my husband had booked a premium room but were disappointed to find out that the room had absolutely no view. There were two broken chairs in the balcony however the room was small but cozy. The shower did not have hot water, so when we called the front desk to fix it, the receptionist blamed us for ‘breaking’ the shower! We then requested to change our rooms, to which the receptionist simple handed us the keys of another room and told us to pack our luggage and move out on our own. He didn’t even ask to help move our luggage. At about 2:30 am in the night my husband and I heard a loud noise. We thought its a landslide and ran to the balcony to check. Turns out it some drunk guests who were creating a ruckus and damaging the property. We could see from the balcony that there was a very drunk man who was self-harming himself and bleeding. We immediately called the front desk but there was no answer. The noise coming from the adjoining room increased and we were quite worried for our safety because the man was throwing dishes out the room. My husband went down to the front desk to enquire but there was no one there. Turns out there was no one at the hotel. The staff was peacefully sleeping in their quarters. We then had no option but to call the police. The police then called the manager who finally came to the scene. In this whole process we spoiled out sleep just because there was no one at the hotel to manage rowdy guests. I would not recommend anyone to stay at this hotel. It may seem decent from outside but it is quite shady. Best not to stay here with family. There are many other good hotels in Mcleodganj at...

I am so happy to have found Hotel King Castle! I was staying at a really awful ashram before and had to leave abruptly and Ravi and his staff graciously took me in same-day. I was still packing at the ashram when Ravi was already arranging my transportation for pick up! Once I arrived, the front desk staff helped me with my bags, took my payment (they accept cash and/or credit card!) oriented me to the room and hotel services, the room was warm (!), the bedding was clean, and complementary coffee arrived!

The food at the hotel restaurant is very delicious (vegetarian-only) and the prices are very reasonable. I tried a variety of dishes and was always happy with my order! The flavors were incredible and made to order fresh. I was able to order room service and pay at the end of my stay; I recommend you have breakfast in the restaurant because the morning view is absolutely remarkable.

During my stay, I needed to go to an urgent care and the front desk staff kindly assisted. They oriented me to prices, my options, and called a taxi driver who ended up staying at the clinic with me (shout out to Anil, who I recommend you hire as your taxi driver!). Every single staff member was respectful and kind! Big props to Ravi for hiring such great staff.

The location is perfect for what I wanted to do with my time. It’s walking distance to the main McLeod Ganj square/market, the Dalai Lama temple, the Tibet museum, the Dharamshala skyway, and many cute cafe’s and restaurants. I felt very safe as a solo-female traveler and definitely recommend you stay here! My favorite things: the heaters in the rooms, the elevator/lift (my foot was injured so this was incredibly helpful), the warm showers, the big comfy bed (very spacious room btw!) the restaurant, the location, the staff, and Ravi’s communication.

After a terrible experience at the ashram, I felt like these guys saved me and gave me another chance at experiencing Dharamshala. Thank you! 🙏🏽 🙏🏽and...