Sinclairs Darjeeling

The location is close to the railway station and the Mall. The reception area is spacious and offers facilities like a plush lounge with a pool table and a small library. The reception staff are very helpful - special thanks to Sanjog and Swaraj. The service at the restaurant turned out to be prompt and courteous, especially Smriti and young Michelle. The window of our room provided a view of the town. One morning, when it was bright and sunny, we had an excellent view of Mt Kanchendzonga. One of the interesting features of this hotel was that the corridor of the second floor was lined with posters of Hindi and Bangla movies shot in Darjeeling.

There is a very steep incline from the road, which may be difficult for senior citizens to climb. The hotel offers a free shuttle service from and to the road, but their driver is not available all the time. Even if you reach by car, you must climb about twenty or thirty steps to reach the reception and common area. The guest rooms are located on the first and second floors, and there is no lift. There is a restaurant located on the reception level, which offers a rather restricted menu. Their cooking skills are limited too despite our repeated requests for non-spicy food (zero Mirchi please) most of the dishes were too hot and spicy for our liking. The washrooms located near the staircase had puddles of water on the floor and a foul smell. Our room turned out to be rather small. There was just one single seater sofa, though another chair had been provided with the writing table. The mattresses were too soft for my liking (I suffered from backaches throughout my stay). In contrast, the pillows were exceptionally thick and hard, which meant that ones head was some distance away from the top of the bed and ones feet were dangling over the bottom edge of the mattress! There was much scope for improving the cleanliness of the room. The level of lighting in the room seemed inadequate. The bathroom attached to our room was quite small. There was a tiny but noisy fan for ventilation, which seemed quite inadequate for the job. The lighting in the bathroom was quite poor. The flush turned out to be temperamental if it was pressed for longer than one or two seconds, the water would keep flowing for several minutes. In a place like Darjeeling, where there is an acute shortage of water, plumbing must be maintained in top fettle.