Pawna Lake Camping and Resort — Hotel in Maharashtra

Visited on 25 Dec 2020.

Let me start with the drive to the camp (we drove from Pune). It’s a drive of slightly under two hours with zero stops. Although it’s not too much distance, the long duration is thanks to the condition of the roads for most part of the drive. There are no signboards except one painted on a wall, which is about 3 kms from the camp. There’s no road at all for the last 2 kms, so let’s call it a path. It’s just a path or terrain of ascends and descends so anybody driving there in a sedan will struggle (we drove in a Honda City). Feedback - upon booking, the team must inform customers of such facts and they can then decide type of vehicle to bring.

Upon arrival at the camp, there’s no sign that tell you where the reception / front desk is. They informed us by text to arrive by 2 pm and then upon arrival inform us that tent will not be allotted until 4 pm. So what do you do for two hours, unless you’ve booked lunch with them? Absolutely nothing and wait for time to pass. Kids can try out the sub-standard adventure activities (not maintained at all). They serve tea, coffee and a snack. Feedback - be more organised when asking guests to come in early.

Finally we got our tent and let me tell you .... don’t expect any quality. The whole area where tents are erected is loose mud (no problem) but not kept clean. The sleeping bags and blankets are dirty but what choice do you have once you’re there. Even a replacement is almost the same. Chairs and tables outside the tents are dirty and dusty, so where do you sit? Feedback - in today’s times where cleanliness is paramount, this is significantly below standard.

Once you’re settled in your tent, then you’re on your own so you can relax or use the open space for sports. The camp has provisions for cycling, football, cricket, badminton, carrom.

Around 8 pm, you are given your respective stock of pre-marinated chicken and paneer (depends on your choice of veg & non veg spread and number of guests). A while later the tandoors arrive, which are ready to use. DIY is great fun and it was great to eat hot food straight off the barbecue. This is an experience not many get too often. Chicken and Paneer taste good and the quantity is very good.

Dinner is served around 10 pm. Food was simple yet delicious. It’s exactly what you’d expect at such places - oily & spicy gravies (tasty too), vegetables, salad, yellow dal (the best), roti and rice. For dessert we were served Shrikhand, which was excellent. It’s an unlimited buffet so no complaints at all.

Then it’s time to either sit under the open sky to enjoy the company & the weather or just sleep. Wake up early morning and see the sunrise just behind the tents. It’s a beautiful sight, with all the fog and the sun rising behind the mountain over the Pawana lake. Loved it!!

Tea (chai), coffee and breakfast starts around 8 am, so they said. We only got tea & coffee. We were told that breakfast is delayed and will be served by 8.20 am. No sign of it until 9 am and no sign of any staff to ask. We finally walked out and left because we were hungry. So breakfast was on the way back home. Moral of the story - I paid for breakfast and still had to pay more outside because I didn’t get any at the camp. Any chance I’ll get some money back? I know the answer!

Lastly, they claim to have separate toilets for ladies and gents but it’s a free for all. They claim that toilets are clean at all times but they’re too far from clean. The flush doesn’t refill and no one around to clean toilets. Only 1 soap dispenser for 7 washbasins. Atrocious experience!!

Now comes the end .... finally!

If the owners read this, which they should, you must know why I’ve rated a one star and bothered to write a detailed review. This is not my money’s worth. I will not recommend this camp...

1 star because only because of there is no option for 0 star.

Not recommend. Worst Experience.

Visit only if you want to ruin your weekend / holidays.

We traveled 50km from pune to have exciting weekend. But experience was worst than imagined.

First of all road to the location is not good.

When we reached camp site by 5pm. We meet our alloted coordinator. Then he said that there are lots of bookings done so you need to adjust for tent count. After calling the authority, we got required count of tents. Tents were dirty.

Sports items were broken.

Evening snacks quality : 1/5.

There was BBQ and There was another unexpected surprise badly waiting for us. That we need cook the BBQ on our own.

After arguing we got our charcoal stand after 45 min. Then there was shortage of chicken and sticks for BBQ. Finally we received all required things at 9.30 pm. It took 30 min us to cook the BBQ. Everyone's mood got ruined.

We went for dinner at 10.30 pm. Food was not properly cooked. Dishes and spoon was not cleaned.

Arrogant staff. Evening snacks quality: -5/5. Management: -5/5 Food quality: -5/5 Basic amenities like washrooms: -10/5. (was not clean, flush were not workings). Electricity shortage for half an hour.

Next days for breakfast there was misal pav. Same situation was there, dirty dishes and spoons.

Before check-out we met Sonali Chavan to give her feedback, her excuses was very funny, She said workers are absent... intake is too much.... She was on emergency...

Not a place to visit on Weekends. The place is just too much crowded. First of all, they say the tents are IMPORTED, MAYBE, but they are dirty as hell. They do not even clean them properly, let alone washing. Blankets provided are full of DUST. Try tapping on them and see the dust yourself. Food is very very average. Chicken provided to grill, lacks everything. But still food quality can be ignored, but the stay quality is really very bad. Cycles are there on premise, but all of them are punctured. Rifle shooting gun is rusted. Bow and Arrow are in very bad condition. Only good thing is the location, but that also loses its charm when there are more than 150 people. DJ - there is no such thing as a DJ, just a single speaker provided and song request are taken from everyone, not allowing a single song to run properly. In short, if you wanna dance to your favorite song, you get only 5 seconds.

Evening Breakfast was OK. Morning Breakfast was good.

In short there is no Maintenance of anything, be it, cycles, board games, washrooms, tents etc.

THIS IS NOT AT ALL WORTH 1500/- PER PERSON (Though we got a group discount and were charged 1200/- pp. But even that was not worth it.)

Totally disappointed.

Word of Advice to Owners/Organizers -- PLEASE DO NOT CROWD THE PLACE SO MUCH THAT YOU CANNOT HANDLE IT. TAKE CARE OF FOOD QUALITY AND ON...