Polo Cherrapunjee Resort — Hotel in Meghalaya

I’m writing down my feedback keeping in mind that we paid around Rs 20,000 a night to stay here. The issues I will highlight might have been excusable at a 5-7k hotel cost, but when you charge an amount comparable to the Oberoi, the standards are higher.

First, I’ll start with the positives - the staff are wonderful. They are polite and ready to help. On the night my husband and I arrived, there was a huge storm. To help us get to the restaurant, a housekeeping staff member loaned me his own raincoat, which was extremely kind of him. In general, the staff here are truly lovely people and I want to emphasise that the negatives I listed below are purely a function of management and infrastructure.

We faced numerous issues that the hotel should have been prepared for:

Heavy rainfall: Considering that this is Cherrapunji (the wettest place in the country, as we all learned in school), the windows should have a seal strong enough to withstand heavy storms. They did not. On our first night (in the storm) we had to change rooms three times because water was seeping in through the windows and flooding the room. When we tried to alert the staff we found out that thanks to the rain, the intercom was also not working. The restaurant kitchen got flooded as well, thereby impacting the available menu for dinner. Considering we had just flown 2 hours and driven 4.5 hours to get here, this was not a pleasant first night.

Bathroom structure: Some rooms don’t have a separator between the shower area and the rest of the bathroom, and in the ones that do have a separator, it doesn’t work, which means regardless of which kind of bathroom we had, the whole floor would get wet when one of us had a shower. There was also no bath mat.

Hot water: We had some hot water issues, in that there was no hot water at certain parts of the day. The showers in the spa also did not have hot water.

Wi-Fi: On the day we were going to check out, the Wi-Fi crashed, which made things unnecessarily irksome.

In a foggy, rainy place like Cherrapunji, these things are basic comforts that one expects when paying such a high price. Unfortunately there are not many other options in Cherrapunji, which is why I suspect these issues continue to...

We booked a room for two nights, and the total cost came to around 38000. To our surprise, the size of the room was incredibly small, far smaller than we had anticipated. We had even requested an extra bed for our son, which added an additional expense of 8,000 for the two-night stay. With this extra bed set up, the already limited space felt even more cramped, leaving us with hardly any room to move around comfortably.

When we looked forward to relaxing by the pool, we were disheartened to find it not nearly as pristine as it appeared in the online photos. In fact, we saw several dead insects floating on the surface of the water, which was both unappealing and concerning regarding cleanliness. The hotel had boasted about their beautifully arranged rooms on Instagram, but the exorbitant prices they charge do not match the quality of service or accommodations we encountered during our stay. Given the high price point, we had expected much more in terms of comfort and hospitality. Our disappointment was palpable.

Additionally, the bathroom was another area of concern; it lacked proper ventilation, which made for a rather unpleasant experience. After using the washroom, an awful smell lingered, which was quite uncomfortable. The bathing situation was equally frustrating, as the hot water supply was inconsistent. We found that after ten seconds of lukewarm water, it would suddenly turn cold before intermittently providing hot water again. Unfortunately, the water supply cut out altogether at one point, leaving us in a bind. We could hear the chaos outside our room: other guests were expressing their frustration over similar water issues. At one point, a guest in the room beside ours was taking a shower when the water supply stopped, leading to obvious distress.

Despite the numerous issues we faced, management seemed to offer nothing more than excuses and failed to address the problems effectively. It felt as though they were simply profiting from guests without providing the necessary services in return. We left feeling as though we had been taken advantage of, having paid a premium for a profoundly...

I stayed at Polo Orchid Resort, Cherrapunjee from 28th to 29th June with my family, and it was truly a memorable experience. A day before our arrival, I received a call from one of the resort team members, Pawan, who warmly introduced himself and offered assistance in case we needed anything.

While we were on our way to the resort—about two hours before arrival—I called Pawan and mentioned that it was our 15th marriage anniversary, and asked if he could help me arrange a surprise for my family. To my pleasant surprise, when we arrived at the resort, Pawan personally escorted us to our Rainforest Suite Cottage, and the moment we entered, we were absolutely delighted!

The room was beautifully decorated with balloons, "Happy Anniversary" cards, and a cozy celebratory ambiance. To top it all, Pawan had arranged a delicious anniversary cake for us. Later in the evening, during the live singing session, the singer announced our anniversary and even dedicated a romantic song to us. We cut the cake together and enjoyed a sumptuous dinner—a truly unforgettable evening.

The next morning, we relaxed and had fun in the infinity pool while enjoying the breathtaking views. We captured many beautiful moments in photos. The resort is conveniently located close to the Seven Sisters Waterfalls, and the surrounding scenery is absolutely stunning and serene.

The complimentary breakfast was another highlight of our stay. It featured a wide variety of options, including my personal favorite—South Indian breakfast items.

Overall, it was a wonderful and heartwarming stay. My wife, son, and daughter thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. Special thanks to Pawan and the entire resort staff for their warmth, hospitality, and attention to detail. We felt genuinely cared for and will always cherish this special anniversary celebration at...