Hotel Sonar Bangla Kolaghat — Hotel in West Bengal

Excellent hotel, fabulous location, pathetic service for the price.

We had got the premium room, the ones on the top floor with the best views, and that is true the view of Rupnarayan River is truly stunning and during monsoon it is breath-taking.

The rooms are clean, spacious, the furniture is of good quality, well decorated; the bathroom is clean, ample amenities are provided.

The property is massive and very green, the air feels fresh and it feels like a detox after polluted air of our cities.

They have a decent sized infinity edge pool and the water is clean and the pool is well maintained.

Unfortunately, this is where the good things end.

The parking feels like a public parking, they have more than a hundred rooms and not enough parking for that, there are a few security personnel who run around frantically trying to manage all vehicles coming in.

The reception is another tedious experience, during check-in which is at 1:00 pm, there is a huge Q like that of an airport check-in counter, we waited the best part of 30 minutes before we could check-in.

When we went for lunch, there was a buffet spread available which for the day was 799 + GST and the spread was decent and the food quality was good.

The restaurant feels more like a college canteen/ food court rather than the restaurant of a hotel where the room rent can go up to Rs. 8398 (List price of the Suite, inclusive of GST).

The service is also like that of a food court, you have to keep looking for the service people, as there are so many guests, they are unable to keep up. And the restaurant management did not seem to care.

We got a cup of tea and coffee in the evening and it was good.

We placed our dinner order at 8:15 pm to be delivered by room service and asked them to deliver it to the room at 10:00 pm and the food arrived at 10:35.

The dinner was a disaster, except the tandoori roti and fish tikka which were really good, everything else felt like it was cooked in a hurry; not seasoned properly, the devil prawn felt like it was not fully cooked, the mixed fried rice was full of black pepper and near inedible.

Next morning when we went for breakfast, the scenes were like that of a food court on Saturday evening, people grabbing tables, it felt like a charity event rather than a hotel.

Next comes the check-out experience which is the final nail in the coffin for me to never visit this hotel again.

Our room was on the 3rd floor on the far end of the hotel, and our car was parked in gate 2 so I asked my wife to go to the reception to do the check-out formalities and I will get the car to the gate 1, so that none of us have to walk a lot because it was raining heavily.

I got to the parking of gate 1 and after about 5 minutes when my wife had completed the formalities, we were leaving the property and the security at gate no:1 told me we need a gate pass, I was like why does a hotel require a gate pass?

I showed him the invoice showing that I have already paid, he asked me to kindly wait while he asks someone and then he stood there and did nothing.

I went to the reception asking for the gate pass, they said that the room is not yet clear, I said how can you collect payment before the room is cleared? And why wasn’t this said while the payment was being made? I could have been asked to wait until the room was cleared and then they could have collected the payment and given the gate pass.

On hearing this one of the executives at the reception hurriedly wrote the gate pass and gave it to me, I took it, gave it to the security and left.

For 1 night for the 2 of us for a premium room, breakfast, lunch and dinner it was Rs. 9357 inclusive of everything. And I got the room for 20% off.

My advice to anyone going there is, please only visit if you don’t care about the service, because the hotel is really good, being run...

We stayed in the Suite Quadruple—the most premium room at Hotel Sonar Bangla, Kolaghat—intending to enjoy a peaceful staycation. Instead, we were left dealing with frustration, poor service, and a complete breakdown in basic hospitality.||There was no hot water in the room. Water flowed, but only cold—from both tap and shower.||When we called the intercom, the staff responded with a condescending remark, saying someone would come to “show us how to operate the geyser.” That wasn’t assistance—it was an insult. No guest, regardless of room type, deserves to be spoken to like that.||Two staff later admitted the geyser was non-functional due to burnt wiring, and that hot water wasn’t being supplied at all.||At 11 PM, we were offered a room shift to a downgraded category—neither a fair nor practical solution.||We were later given access to another room just to bathe, where again, hot water was available only from the tap—not in the shower.||The next morning:||At 7 AM, I requested tea and asked if it could be sent in a flask for multiple people. The response was:||“Amader ekhane ei shob hoy na, flask e kore cup e dhele flask niye chole ashbe.”||The tone was rude and indifferent. I cancelled the order immediately.||Just 30 minutes before checkout, there was no water at all—hot or cold—on the entire floor. Multiple guests were visibly frustrated by then. I had to go down to reception in a towel to ask for help. One manager, who showed basic courtesy, brought a bucket of water for us to use. That one decent gesture highlights the overall failure—guests should not be bathing with buckets in a so-called premium property.||At checkout, no feedback forms were offered. I had to ask for one myself, as if complaints were being quietly discouraged.||The intercom operators were consistently rude, dismissive, and unaccountable. It felt like even picking up a guest’s call was considered a favour. Their attitude was, without exaggeration, one of the worst parts of the stay.||Here’s what’s frustrating: the property location is brilliant, and the surroundings have great potential. But sadly, the owners have not invested in proper staff recruitment or training—or perhaps the staff is just hugely underpaid and unmotivated. Either way, the guest suffers.||This was my second visit to this property. The first was average. This one was unacceptable. It will also be my last.||Most importantly, the entire point of this trip—a calm, hassle-free staycation—was completely ruined.||I will be escalating this to higher authorities in Sonar Bangla’s management. What we experienced isn’t a one-off inconvenience—it reflects serious operational and cultural flaws.||To future guests: If this is the treatment in their top-tier room, it says everything about the rest of the hotel.||Avoid. There are far better-managed options elsewhere.||As I was checking other reviews i noticed, the hotel routinely replies to negative reviews in Google with the same generic, copy-paste response:|| “We apologize for the inconvenience. We will work on it and ensure a better experience next time.”||Please don't do this here. This is not resolution—this is avoidance. Guests don’t need rehearsed apologies. They need functioning services and respectful treatment. Also just yesterday my friends went to the Joypur Area Property of Sonar Bangla, they faced the same issue with food and no water. What...

A Staycation That Turned into a Stress Test – No Water, No Courtesy, No Accountability

We stayed in the Suite Quadruple—the most premium room at Hotel Sonar Bangla, Kolaghat—intending to enjoy a peaceful staycation. Instead, we were left dealing with frustration, poor service, and a complete breakdown in basic hospitality.

There was no hot water in the room. Water flowed, but only cold—from both tap and shower.

When we called the intercom, the staff responded with a condescending remark, saying someone would come to “show us how to operate the geyser.” That wasn’t assistance—it was an insult. No guest, regardless of room type, deserves to be spoken to like that.

Two staff later admitted the geyser was non-functional due to burnt wiring, and that hot water wasn’t being supplied at all.

At 11 PM, we were offered a room shift to a downgraded category—neither a fair nor practical solution.

We were later given access to another room just to bathe, where again, hot water was available only from the tap—not in the shower.

The next morning:

At 7 AM, I requested tea and asked if it could be sent in a flask for multiple people. The response was: “Amader ekhane ei shob hoy na, flask e kore cup e dhele flask niye chole ashbe.” The tone was rude and indifferent. I cancelled the order immediately.

Just 30 minutes before checkout, there was no water at all—hot or cold—on the entire floor. Multiple guests were visibly frustrated by then. I had to go down to reception in a towel to ask for help. One manager, who showed basic courtesy, brought a bucket of water for us to use. That one decent gesture highlights the overall failure—guests should not be bathing with buckets in a so-called premium property.

At checkout, no feedback forms were offered. I had to ask for one myself, as if complaints were being quietly discouraged.

The intercom operators were consistently rude, dismissive, and unaccountable. It felt like even picking up a guest’s call was considered a favour. Their attitude was, without exaggeration, one of the worst parts of the stay.

Here’s what’s frustrating: the property location is brilliant, and the surroundings have great potential. But sadly, the owners have not invested in proper staff recruitment or training—or perhaps the staff is just hugely underpaid and unmotivated. Either way, the guest suffers.

This was my second visit to this property. The first was average. This one was unacceptable. It will also be my last.

Most importantly, the entire point of this trip—a calm, hassle-free staycation—was completely ruined.

I will be escalating this to higher authorities in Sonar Bangla’s management. What we experienced isn’t a one-off inconvenience—it reflects serious operational and cultural flaws.

To future guests: If this is the treatment in their top-tier room, it says everything about the rest of the hotel.

Avoid. There are far better-managed options elsewhere.

As I was checking other reviews i noticed, the hotel routinely replies to negative reviews in Google with the same generic, copy-paste response:

“We apologize for the inconvenience. We will work on it and ensure a better experience next time.”

Please don't do this here. This is not resolution—this is avoidance. Guests don’t need rehearsed apologies. They need functioning services and...