Good family holiday
Trip to Srinagar
(Written on 18 Jul, 2012)
We had, through your representative, TUSHAR ASHER, had booked a 9-day travel itinerary for Srinagar and surroundings, It was organised as per our budgets/requirements.
I wish to place on record that (Read More) Mr. Tushar Asher had gone out of the way to ensure that we could have a good family holiday.
Besides being courteous and prompt always, he had also taken adequate care to be in touch with me virtually everyday of my tour in Kashmir, for which I am extremely grateful.
Here, I wish to point out your local (Srinagar) agent, who had created lot of problems for us.
1) As per the written assurances/vouchers, he did not live up to the promise of providing us Houseboat accommodation at a single location for 6 nights.
2) The one-night in Srinagar hotel was terrible - the hotel had been constructed the morning we checked-in - we could touch the wet paint and the temporary door fittings and other things in the rooms. The rooms were VERY TINY, no proper ventilation, view, etc. Plus, we had to starve that night since they did not serve us food even though we had placed the order by 6.40 pm for 9.30 dinner. Finally, we were served ONLY noodles since even outside, all restaurants had closed down.
HERE, it was the fault of your Srinagar representative, who kept us in the dark, whenever we asked him about our next plans during the trip. He would not reveal the names of the hotels/HB, etc despite repeated reminders... You must correct this.
3) NO problems about the 3 different HBs we were put up, or Centaur Lake View Hotel. However, you must appreciate that for the first six days, we had to travel ENTIRE DAY, to all places like Gulmarg, Pahalgam, etc trudging our luggage. In our 2N at HB Coronation, we had to give the laundry and then go back to collect it the next evening, spending Rs.300 for the autos.
4) The Gulmarg hotel was okay, but VERY FAR from the main Gondola and other sightseeing points. For instance, both days, we spent there, we had to spend Rs. 2000/per head for the horses, so Rs.16000/ EXTRA spent from my Budget, only because the hotel location was inconvenient.
5) Special Mention: The vehicle, Tempo Traveller, was quite comfortable, but the Driver, Mr. IMTIAZ, was the best I have experienced in my past 35 years of travel in India and abroad. He is a strong asset for any company and you should encourage him... perhaps, by directly hiring him from Mumbai, so that he can get better remuneration.
6) I suggest you must make a good field study of all your associates/HouseBoats/hotels/partners/ especially in a place like Srinagar, which had the highest record number of tourists this summer, as per media reports.
ALL the above said, I shall DEFINITELY make my future bookings through your company and also refer my friends, etc, for the same.
My contact details are given below (in the email) for your reference.
Regards & Thanx!
Q. NAJMI.
