Off late, courtesy brilliant travel experiences at Ghumakkar, I have been shying away from writing my own. But to remain relevant, I am rather writing hotel reviews now. There is a lot of good ‘room’ there, pun intended, so let make some hay while I start to find another category. Of course road reviews remain my favorite but for this particular travel, Delhi-Manali has been penned multiple times.
Parvati Kuteer is a small mini hotel-cum-resort right on the banks of river Parvati, 2 KMs before of Kasol, the town popular for green reasons.
Access
At Bhuntar, Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, take the road which goes to Manikaran. There is a fork at Bhuntar, the left goes to Manali and the right goes to Kasol/Manikarn. Take that road, that leads to a bridge to cross river Beas. Kasol is about 30 KM from Bhuntar.
By Road, from Delhi, plan for a 12-14 hour drive. There are overnight buses to Manali from Delhi, you can get down at Bhuntar and take one of the frequent buses to Manikaran Sahib. It would take you about an hour.
The nearest practical railhead is Pathankot/Chandigarh.
By Air, you can reach Bhuntar directly and then another hour on road.
Location
It has an amazing location, except though for the road which is loaded because of the traffic to Manikaran Saheb. The non-stop, background music of fast-moving Parvati helps to cut all the noise and make the place sound-proof. You need to climb down a few dozen steps so if you have old people or very small kids, an extra caution is warranted.
The Kuteer enjoys un-interrupted views of great Himalayas. We were there in June and it was so green, it was feeling as if its August, right after Monsoon. Won’t rate it exceptionally high on the location but the positives win over the negative and one doesn’t feel disappointed.
Facilities
Currently there are two cottages and a few rooms. Cottages come with their own little sit-out area and one of them is a little secluded. Good for spending some quiet time.
We were in a cottage and it was clean, done in the local style with wooden walls, flooring. Sheets are clean but not crisp, probably because of the rainy season. The wardrobe is large enough to help you keep the small room in order.
Bathrooms are clean with modern fittings. A clean loo is a boon and Parvati Kuteer scores very high on that.
There is a nice small central lawn and a laddered-row of flowers. The lawn has a pear tree which attracts a special visitor during the dark. More with pics of it later. Lawn is not big enough to play cricket but big enough to host a cosy bon-fire in the evenings. They played India-SriLanka One Day matches on a large projected screen and it was fun.
Kids made use of the area during the day to put an impromptu tent.
There is another small lawn on the further lower level, flaunting a Hammock, just few steps below.
The parking can easily accommodate four to five big cars.
Eat
Kitchen is humble and very basic, and trust me, you won’t even notice since Kasol offers extremely well made international cuisine at a throw-away prices. Here, one does get the standard stuff viz. Eggs made to order, Paranthas, seasonal veg curries, Rice, Chapati etc.
Hospitality
Its a small place and when we were there, Abhay Tamaria (who owns the place) and Ram (his strong local connection) were themselves there and ensured a very high level of customer satisfaction. Abhay is a new age entrepreneur who chucked his high paying MNC job and decided to use his MBA skills to work for himself. He also has another camp at Ranthambore, called Badi Guadi.
Tariff
In late June, we paid the basiic fare of Rs 1750 for a cottage which included breakfast for two. At that rate it appeared pretty good to me.
What to do
They help you to do treks. You can hike to Tosh, Malana, the waterfalls. A visit to Manikaran, the Sikh shrine, is mandated; though be wary of passionate travelers. Take long walks. Do nothing.
There is also hotel ‘Himalayan Village’, as another option and lots of budget rooms available in Kasol town. Between the two, I would recommend this any day.
And before we close, the nocturnal visitor to the camp is a flying-squirrel and here is it posing for us. You read it right. Not only did we see this big one, almost of the size of a big cat, but also saw two young off-springs. Am amazing sight.
The place would have bigger charm if you go with your own small group of, say 08-10 people and occupy the whole place. They would allow you to cook your own meals and have a lovely vacation.
Go and have a blast.
ParvatiKuteer is committed to give best of the best customer service and as we grow we will try to introduce new concepts and experiences which will make family holidays unforgettable.
I would like to elaborate on the two things here:
1. The excellent amazing surprisingly well-priced eating options – your palate can never get big enough to consume it all. And thanks to Abhay for his recommendation on the right places – Bhoj and Evergreen are the best, not to be missed.
2. The trekking attempt to Malana – the mysteriously mystical village – was the most memorable part. If not for Abhay and Ram, we would not have gathered the motivation to go all the way up the hill, go down, cross the river and climb up again. But we did not do the whole thing – while now, it seems we could have. So with this, I make a promise to myself – to do a visit real soon.
Thanks Smita.
‘Slice of Italy’ is another joint which is much more visible and on the face, if not for Abhay’s recommendation, we would have headed to ‘Slice’ and it was not at all happening (poor service, ok food, dubious beer) and probably would have never discovered Bhoj.
Malana trek, whatever little we did, was inspiring. After a while there was no road and it was quite an effort to drive safely. Once we reached top, we trekked down to the river below and took the way up on the other side for Malana. Indeed, all the credit goes to Abhaya and Ram. Thank You guys.
It was ‘Little Italy’.
welcomes you
its amazing, its rocking….:):) one place to unwind and relax and shun all yr worries…. go visit and enjoy
Dear Nandan,
Short & sweet Post !!!!!!
If I am not wrong , this one must be yours shortest write-up .
Thanks for sharing with us.
Thanks for the appreciation. Yeah, probably one of the shortest.
Eager to be there. Had almost made up the plan but could not work on it due to personal reason.
Will it still be a good holiday/honeymoon destination in December/January as well?
thats a good write up nandan!!
n i dnt think u need to give us that excuse for doing up hotel reviews!!!
Very Nice hotel review Mr. Nandan. I really wanted to know about such hotels near Manikaran. I think Mr. Mahesh is right , it would be one of your shortest write up , rightly so as it is not a road review.
Sahil
hey Nandan…I am visiting naukuchiatal on 13-16 aug. have you started anything on your land !!
@ tanya – :-). Would try.
@ Sahil – Thanks. Its very well suited for a trip to Manikaran.
@ Nayan – Nothing :-(. Keep asking me, probably that would make me put some effort. The plan is intact so no change in that , the execution is lacking. someday for sure.
Nandan,
Thanks for the review. The hotel looks like a good place but the room is rather small.
Thanks Tarun.
Yes, the room is a little small but its done in a hut style and since you stay most of the time out and only get-in when its a little chilly outside, it rather works in your advantage. But yeah, your observation is absolutely correct.
Amazing description, I ve been to Kasol a couple of times (and wrote blogs for both the occasions). I am looking forward to go for the Kheer Ganga trek soon. Will definitely try Parvati Kuteer, the very next time i visit the place.
Hi Nandan, an excellent hotel review this is! You know, when I travel, I often stay at amazing places. Thay are mostly circuit houses or forest rest houses. But never think in the line of writing a review on them. May be because I usually spend no more than a night in one place. But i’d look to change that.
By the way, you visited Mcleodganj recently. I was expecting a write-up on that trip. Please let me know if that is still in the offing.
Cheers!!!!!
Congrats to Ghumakkar on 5 lac hits.
Thanks for sharing..the one thing that inspires me to visit this place is the last snap of flying squirrel. I was in an impression that they are extict species in india. I congratulate that you caught sight of them.
Hi, I had a question. You mentioned about a camp at Ranthambore, called Badi Guadi by the same owner. Do you have details (web, phone anything) of this place or the owner?
@Vikas – Try getting a discount from Abhaya :-)
@ Anandrup – Thanks. Please try to write one. Though it sounds an uninteresting thing to do but I have found that they are not that uninteresting. And these are probably helpful for fellow Ghumakkar.
Yeah, I could never get enough desire to write about Mclo. Nothing much happened there. :-)
@ Pat Jones – Thanks.
@ Sameer – Sure. Make it soon before it actually disappears.
@ Vinay – Vas (https://www.ghumakkar.com/author/vasanth.gopalakrishnan/) was asking for the same and I have requested Abhay Tamaria, as I hear back I would let you know.
Also please try at Parvati website (http://www.parvatikuteer.com/). Thanks.
hey m n my frnd is comin in late june can u temme d tarriff and d exact location
Nice review. It looks nice in all the way. Will definitely plan in future.