Hotel Aranya Virasat — Hotel in Uttarakhand

Location- One of the best locations you can ask for. The view is amazing from the terrace cabin and it’s quiet and peaceful.||||- Amenities- You’ll find a TV, Heater, Kettle, mosquito repellent in the room. And for toiletries, there’s liquid soap, bathing soap, shampoo and moisturizer. But they would only give bath towels and no hand towels. But they did help us with extra beddings – extra bath towels, blankets and stuff.||||- Food- Our first meal at the property was lunch and it was very disappointing. One of us had been to this place earlier and had an amazing food experience so we happened to mention this to them and ask if the cook’s been changed or something and yes, the previous cook had left. But after this conversation, they took note of this and served amazing food. We had Aalu Poori, Poha and parathas for breakfast; Chinese for lunch, and Indian for dinner. And all in all, everything was nice.||- Cleanliness- Major issues with cleanliness and hygiene. Overall the place needed major hygiene and sanitation lookout. They didn’t come even to clean the rooms in 3 days that we were there. There was carpet in the entire room and it definitely wasn’t clean. There were spider webs all over the property. The bathrooms has this weird smell, it’s not that they were dirty or something but still the constant smell would be not pleasant right. And lastly, the utensils always needed to be swiped clean from tissues before using so that wasn’t great either.||- Staff- The staff is nice and friendly but they sometimes get lazy and would want to dodge the work like this one time they were just plain lazy to light the bonfire so 3 staff kept putting it on the other and would make excuses like the wood is wet from last night and stuff. And the service is super slow. But, I would still say the staff is friendly and I can ignore the minute problems here because it’s a tough job to go up and down 2 floors for every little thing. Even if they are forgetful, they’ll get the job done with a few reminders: p||- Property Maintenance- The outdoor chairs and tables weren’t kept well, the beddings could be cleaned better and smell nice, the wash basins in the bathroom is weirdly built, it’s like you have to bend down to use the tap. Even then the property is very well built, it’s only about a little maintenance.||||Overall, I would only say that they need to put in a little bit of more work with cleanliness and maintenance and they’re good to go because the property is located in gem of a place and is also built quite nicely.||But do visit the place for atleast 2 nigths, because the view from the room and 2-sided balcony takes the negative away. It’s magical to wake up to that huge glass window on 2 sides of the room with that view of...

Ok...now that I am looking at the other reviews and see that the property is rated a 4.4 (incidentally Taj Fisherman's Cove Resort & Spa Chennai is also rated 4.4 🤔...!!!)...feeling a bit shaky to articulate the pros and cons...I traveled with my wife and kids and parents and stayed overnight and here goes..

Pros: Decent location..surrounded by forests and lots of birds Decent food...tasty and home style Courteous staff...extremely hard working Reasonable rooms

Cons: Please do not visit if you are traveling with old parents. They don't have parking space. They don't have an entrance. The entry is in fact through 3 other hotels and at least a kilometer's walk both uphill and downhill from the car park. The pics we saw were of the bungalows over the terrace...the room we got allotted were ones under the stairs...cramped, basic, no views almost since we were facing the west, bad linens, bad bathrooms. Limited resources...we ordered for noodles..didn't know that they will need to go to the market to buy stock...ordered toast for breakfast...thankfully they said that bread is not available in the house and canceled the request. Frequent power cuts and back up is on their whims...not automated.. No bills...no digital payments..only cash. They do have free wi-fi..but only if you ask..you will have to ask since there is zero connectivity of any carrier...we had Vodafone, Airtel, BSNL and Gio...nothing worked.

My advice - avoid. You will get a lot of much better options at similar prices in and around. Certainly not in line with Taj Fisherman's Cove Resort & Spa...

I stayed at Aranya Virasat last week and unfortunately, it turned out to be one of my most disappointing hotel experiences.

Positives: The only good part of my stay was the room – it was clean, comfortable, and well-maintained. The surrounding weather also added some charm. Sadly, everything else fell far below expectations.

Negatives:

Washroom: The washroom had a constant unpleasant smell, which was extremely off-putting.

Food & Pricing: The food pricing is unjustifiably high. To give an idea: a lemon water costs ₹250, a slice of bread with butter ₹100, a bottle of water ₹45, tea ₹50, and even a plain glass of milk ₹70. It feels like blatant overcharging rather than premium hospitality.

Service: The service was downright pathetic. Staff would only come after being called multiple times (at least 4–5 times). They seemed disinterested in serving guests at all. We were even promised a welcome drink, but that too was never provided.

Restrictions: We were not allowed to have food in the open area, which was disappointing, though somewhat understandable. But combined with everything else, it just made the overall experience worse.

Conclusion: Overall, Aranya Virasat felt less like a place of hospitality and more like a place where guests are simply looted in the name of premium pricing. Apart from the room and the weather, everything else was a letdown – from food to service to management. I would not recommend this place to anyone looking for a genuine, value-for-money stay.

Rating: 1 star only for the clean room and natural...