Red Panda Eco Huts, Kolakham — Hotel in West Bengal

I have stayed at this place twice. Once in 2017, and again in 2019. The experience has been mixed.

Pros Excellent location, views of the valley and mountains, interior decoration, behavior of caretaker.

Cons This requires some detailing. The owner of this place, Mr. Debashish Nag, has been a terrible host for multiple reasons described below. Anyone attempting to stay here should keep these in mind to avoid the troubles I had to go through. The first time, he tried hard to convince me that my existing plan of travel in North Bengal was disastrous, and tried to change my itinerary in order to make me stay at hotels and places of his choice, and using cars as per his suggestion, with an obvious motive to make some money off these changes. I refused politely, but he kept nagging me until the last moment. Looking back, I know I made the right plan, and I'm thankful I didn't fall for his trap.

The second time I actually fell for his trap and as a result lost quite a bit of money and got my whole mood for the trip pretty thoroughly ruined. I had a last minute change in puja plans and called him to enquire about vacancy only one day before my journey. He had multiple empty rooms, but he made quite a story about a last moment cancellation and offered me a room at "any price I wanted" since I was "such a valued returning customer" to him, and in any case the room would go empty the next day. He kept pushing me to go by a bus that apparently he owns, but I refused and got train tickets in tatkal instead. Now, after he knew that I had booked the railway tatkal tickets, his tone completely changed. He started to ask for en exorbitant sum of money for booking confirmation, all in advance, and inclusive of transport by car. I realised that I would lose the railway ticket money and my holiday plans if I backed out now, and got kind of blackmailed into paying the whole sum. To add further trauma, the car that came to pick me up at the station told me that they had received no payment from Mr. Nag. It was at this time that he behaved quite rudely and stopped receiving my calls for an explanation, and all through the trip the bitter taste of this cheating remained with me.

To all of you who plan to visit Kolakham, please do. It is a beautiful place. However if you're planning to stay here, keep my story in mind and do not let this person twist your arm for money. Also, there are PLENTY of other, often cheaper, cottages with a similar location, decor, and view. And some of those are probably not run by crooks....

The one & only major thing I want to highlight: The owner of this place, Mr. Debashish Nag, has been a terrible host I have ever seen till date. We booked 2 rooms for 2 days from Kolkata by paying 50% in an advance, and it was said hat rest of 50% will be paid after we reach to his property. But, on the way to Kolakham when we were about to reach, when we called him up, suddenly he stated doing misbehave. He said that, as we hadn't pay the rest of the amount, he won't allow us to stay in his property. He started blabbering that, his homestay is praised by no. of national & international guests throughout 8 years ( donno who're those heavy weighted guests although!! neways..), so he'll open the room ,let us shown his property but will not let us enter. But our advanced payments was with him, and we were just about to reach and had no other options left, so we got trapped in a pathetic situation. Finally, we checked in after so many unnecessary hustles. That person Mr. Debashish Nag, I got him utterly unprofessional, rude (doesn't even know how to behave with a lady although), and, mentally retarded person upto some extent. Sir, GET WELL SOON!! I won't recommend anyone to be there, only for the owner's misbehavior. Except hat, coming to the good sides, the property is not an excellent one, but all over, it's a good one. Nice and simple interior, well cleaned rooms, though the property is beside the road, but from other side, if you open the window, you can have a serene look of valley and mountains from your bed. And, ofcouse, the caretakers are really...

Being a Trekker, Traveller & Biker, having travelled my fair share of Northern & Eastern Himalayas, i would humbly say, very few places leave a life long impression as vivid as Kolakham, and in it, the Red Panda Eco Hut.

We were on our Long Road trip of eastern Himalayas when we took a Break, midway and chanced upon Kolakham & Red Panda Eco hut, first. Since then, it is Love at First Sight!! And First Love, always.

If you look for thrills of bustling bazaars or, crowded lanes full of curio shops & eateries, then this is surely not your place! But if you seek Tranquility, Peace, A Whispering dialogue with nature, in most pristine settings, then THIS IS THE PLACE!

Built of Wood, in the Woods, this Small, cosy Log Cabin type dwelling is Value for Money, with Some of Best Food rustled up the Ever Helpful Caretaking staff. Rooms are Spacious enough & yet not too big to give you the palatial feel of an Overpriced Resort. All Amenities we found available, as assured. The Best was/is, the Liqueur Tea, best to be had sitting outside in the balcony. Most endearing part was , even before meeting for first time, Owner Mr Debashish took all the care & ensured, we reach the place safely by giving us correct directions to the location & informing the Care Taker family in advance!

Surely a Homely Experience In High Himalayan Forests!

I Highly recommend a Stay at Red Panda! You are sure to come back with lifelong...