Ajanta Continental is a family run hotel in Dehradun, Uttaranchal. I stayed there for two nights in May,2008 and thought that a small quick review with some pictures might be helpful for fellow ghumakkars. It is located on Rajpur Road, the one which connects Dehradun to Mussorrie. Most of the other reputed hotels are located on the same road. If you are coming from Ghanta Ghar (Clock Tower) side then keep going on and pass ‘Hotel Madhuban’, which is the most expensive and supposedly one of the best hotels in town, and after a little more drive you would see ‘Hotel Ajanta’ on your left. Its just bang opposite ‘Hotel Great Value’ which is now under Clarkes and is expensive.
Its not a big building but the good thing is that they have enough space for parking. As you enter, you would find that the lobby is clean and front office is right in the front. The lobby is also not very big but I guess you do not expect large lobbies since most of the visitors are tourists and they really do not need the lobby for any interactions or likewise.
Rooms are spacious and clean even though they spot a carpet. I stayed in a suite on my first day and it was decently big and can accommodate four people, two on sofa-cum-bed which is becoming very popular these days. Here are some pics of the room.
Hotel is centrally air-conditioned. Rooms have a TV, a Fridge, chairs, writing table. There is no internet facility and no tea-cofee maker :), tea/cofee maker is life/money saver but somehow you still dont find them at many places. Pity.
The loo is clean but not well stocked (no hair dryer for example).
Since its right on the road and there is not much space in front so the balcony is not of much use. We stayed in the rooms which overlook the road, probably the rooms on the back side might have a better view. There is a swimming pool and I think Ajanta is one of the few (or may the only one) which has a pool. The pool is not great to write home about.
There is a restaurant but we could not go there. There are very good restaurants outside as well (Moti Mahan for instance) so we tried elsewhere. We did order for food once and it was pretty ok. Somehow ‘Naan’ is never a ‘Naan’ outside Dilli.
Tariff is 2.5K for a deluxe double including break fast which is reasonable in these time for a city like Dehradun. So a clean, non-rushed, small decent place. All in all I would recommend this hotel if you are in a city and are not looking for a lavish place to stay. I would add the relevant phone nos and website address when I find the copy of the hotel bill :)
During an official visit, though scheduled to return to Delhi on the same evening, owing to time constraints and our policy of not travelling during the nights, we landed up at Ajanta. Impressed by the courtesies extended by the front office staff, we decided to stay there for the night.
My boss has a knack of having people around for the evening. So, we invited a couple of friends from State Bank, and thus started the party at the small, but decently stocked bar of Ajanta. The service and food, both were great.
Nandan’s post made me nostalgic about that evening at Ajanta. It’s a good and reasonably priced place.
I like the picture of Pihu in the third picture.:)
:) I never thought this post would be much read (forget that someone would actually comment) but I wrote it for the hope that if someone is actually looking for a decent play to stay in doon, this review might help. Glad to know that it made you remember something, Ram. Its a small world.
Thanks Celine.
hi
No scorpio this time in the parking lot…..
it s simply great as even hotel sites dont even offer full 360 view
Deepak – Look hard, its there.
The one who finds it first, would get a special goodie from me.
Reception pic, see through the door glass :-)
Right. You get a SLR-carrying bag (which you further gift someone since you dont use a large size camera). Its a pretty high quality LowePro bag with couple of compartments for keeping memory cards or an extra lens :). This is just to let everyone know that goodie was indeed in offer.
Dear Nandan,
Thanks for sharing ur experience with us. It really is very useful for me as my work often takes me to that part of the country.I normally stay at Avalon Resorts in Mussorie which again is a decent yet reasonable place.
Although, have never seen this hotel on Rajpur road but it looks pretty decent and sounds practical. and iam sure if you felt that the hotel was worth a mention in ur post then it must be worth a stay.
It seems Ram too had a gud experience at the same hotelso surely worth a visit.
Thanks again for sharing ur experience with us.
better luck next time….
Neerja – Glad to know that this was helpful to you in some way. If you do choose to stay there then please write a comment here on what you feel. Sometimes a hotel might just work for someone and may not for lot of others.
Deepak – sure.
Short and sweet review Nandan and I do think that it can be helpful for many travellers.
Coffee maker, hummmmmm, for me its trivial :)
Indeed, one of the best hotels in DehraDun. The best point about this hotel is that it is located on Rajpur Road, which is like heart of the city.
If you are looking for a comfortable stay, this is the best place to stay in DehraDun.