‘The Pugmarks’ – Ranthambore – Review

The hotel looks fairly plush if you visit their website and the tariff could be real dampener but don’t let these two to not read the rest of the review of ‘The Pugmarks’, Ranthambore. We were there for a couple of nights along with friends and I thought that this small post might help fellow travelers.

Location
Its well located, close to Ranthambore Park main gate but a little away from the booking office. Its also a little away from the tarred road too so you do get that rustic touch as your wagon manages and maneuvers through the mud-track.

The entrance is calm with more greens, crawlers and talls with bushes and sundry, and less concrete. The guard at the gate is non-intrusive and bell boys never come running to open the car doors. With enough parking space, the front office decor is frugal and might not be manned at all times. Ranthambore maps detailing the history, places which are close-by and general info material cloth the brick walls. As you get in, you get a more closer and real look at the place.

Its a collection of single story cottages, units with each having two sets of one room with attached loo back-to-back. There are two rows of these units separated by a wide corridor of green which is very impressive. There are more rooms on the sides but overall the place is not huge which some of the resorts are.

Photo Courtesy – Deepender Sehajpal

The central green was very well kept with a large collection of well-laid flowers, a provision of minor stream, bonsai sized bamboo bridges. This worked very well for us since we had 3 kids with us.

The dining room is large and there is no ala-carte. You get buffets which are monotonous and strangely during our stay for those 3 days they didn’t offer many (rather remove the m) Rajasthani cuisines, no Ker-sanghari, no Dahi-raita, no lal-mans and not even the benign dal-baati. But other wise the dining hall is clean, food is ok prepared, ok served. I am sure food is not the driving force behind your visit to Ranthambore National Park.

There is no room service and that can affect, specially if you have elders, kids or folks with special needs.

Rooms are clean, right-sized but doesn’t have the usual room kits. There is no TV (I know I know, you dont go there to watch TV), no Tea-Cofee maker kit, no fancy toiletires and the other usual stuff. Beds are comfortable (spring mattress) and bed-sheets are crisp.

There is a pool which is inviting, a spa to pamper your body and a souvenir shop which sells various local stuff.

Photo Courtesy – Deepender Sehajpal

What else, well the staff is polite and effective. There is no Bar per-se but you can buy drinks though they are fairly expensive, I remember Rs 270 for a small IMFL and Rs 250 odd for a bottle of bubbly.

In the evenings, you can enjoy local folk music rendered live by local artistes, have a drink and be warm and cosy with those angithis.

Tariff – We were lucky to be referred by someone and paid almost nothing but we did book another room and got it for 4K a night, includes a double room with all meals for a day. At Rs 2K per person, it was a steal deal.

Recommended if you can get a place for that kind of price.
Location – Good
Food – OK
Rooms – Good
Open Spaces – Excellent
Tariff – 2-2.5K INR per day with all meals is a good price.