This was the highlight of my trip to India. The resort was beautiful and the staff were very friendly and helpful. The owners even make sure that every guest thoroughly enjoys their stay. The food was also fantastic. I highly recommend hiking on the trails around the resort as the views are breath-taking.More
Our primary requirement was a beautiful peaceful place that overlooked the Himalayan range. And we found just that at Misty Mountains at Ganglioghat Uttarakhand. Lovely comfortable cottages, that had a view of the Himalayas. Although since it was the end of June, the views were hidden by clouds,but would open up every now & then to make us run like kids to grab the sights. But I must say we lucked out and were able to catch the magnificence of Trishul peak. On a good day one can easily have entire range view including the Nepalese side. The patio outside the cottage with cushioned seating provided uninterrupted peaceful view of the mountains while sipping tea or while I gazed meditatively at cosmic creation.
The staff was very helpful, courteous and ready to do all, to make us comfortable. The hosts Ambika & Madhur are a wonderful friendly couple who did their best to mingle with the guests. Ambika is a great cook & the resort kitchen works on her instructions to ensure that the food is par excellence with that home style touch leaving you craving for more. Do try her home made jams, preserves & pickles while in the dining area. The chef cooks up some wonderful delights. Food tastes great. With one of the days sampling Kumaoni cuisine. We got hot rotis all the time. You must request Ambika for the Kheer desert, which is to die for. Madhur makes sure the guests are well taken care. We stayed for 6 days and on one of the days Madhur organized a trek to the mountains to catch the sunset and also to Avani - a lovely NGO that showcases & sells weaves made out of organic homegrown colors & fabric.
The resort is drenched with Blue Hydrangea flowers everywhere and some very exotic varieties. We loved Misty Mountains and will always come back for more of the wonderful mountain air, the Himalayas, the relaxing peaceful respite from the city & of course for the lovely people there.
Dear Seema ji,
This year we got a few guests who stayed for more than 3-4 days. Its a little challenging to keep people engaged and entertained for so long.
It is heartening to note that you liked the stay and facilities for a long holiday at Misty. It motivates us to work with more enthusiasm and belief. So, thank you for that. :)
Hope to see you here again sometime soon.
warm regards,
Ambika, Suroohi, Rags and Madhur
Large well lit room, bunk beds for kids, acres of trees and fauna, friendly staff, a place remote and secluded from elsewhere + On a clear day a view of the Himalayas (Trishul, Nanda Devi cluster etc.) right from your room.
If you are an early riser there is quite a bit of bird watching you can do in the morning.
In addition, you can do a few treks, play badminton/table tennis/chess/game of cards in the indoor high roofed hall.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner are buffet affairs. You are better off having these, as the property is self sufficient & delightfully remote. Through our entire trip to Uttarakhand we had been wanting to have local food and were lucky enough to have Kumaon food when it was served at lunch on one of the days. Would vote for more variation in the breakfast buffet though, and perhaps some continental in lunch or dinner.
The place is so serene and relaxing that i would take a few books along the next time. Now, where's my hammock!
Thank you for the sweet and short to the point review.
The hammocks have been purchased and are in transit. Should be installed most monsoons. Next trip then?
regards,
Ambika, Madhur, Suroohi and Rags
The Misty Mountains is a small property in The Misty Mountains is a small property
in the Kumaon hills, a mind-blowing location, more beautiful than anywhere I have been before. Though the journey is a long one, 490 km from Delhi, it is more than worthwhile once one gets there.
The rooms all face the Himalayan snow ranges, and the view is a 180 degree one. One could spend hours just looking the mountains.
We were in a suite which could comfortably accommodate a family of 4. Everything was clean and comfortable, the service excellent. Since the property is built on a hillside, a bit of climbing up and down was required if one wanted to stroll about, but nothing very demanding even for us senior citizens.
This is not the place to go if your idea of a holiday is 5 star hotels, chilled beer by the pool side etc. It is a place where you breathe clean air, listen to birdsong all day and watch the valleys and mountains stretching out before you. Long walks in the forest are also organized, where an experienced young man, Raju,took us through the forest to a distant meadow from where we had a magnificent view of the sunset. All along the 4 km walk there and back, Raju took excellent care of the group especially one of us who was having greater difficulty than others. He was by her side all along and at the end even she was as surprised as she was happy that she had been able to do it!
Since Misty Mountains is so remote, we ate all our meals there, and I can't speak highly enough of the food. It was delicious, and made more so by the array of pickles and jams made inhouse using locally available fruit and vegetable.
What made our stay so wonderful was also the presence of the couple who run the hotel, Madhur and Ambika Chabra. They were wonderful hosts - warm, friendly, a mine of information about the forests, the birds, the animals found there. In fact, every person who worked there was so friendly and willing to help, that it felt as though we had known them for ages!
A place I certainly would love to go back to.
I rarely write negative reviews, but this is the first time I have been let down so badly by tripadvisor suggestions .
The visit began badly. Though there were 2 families waiting to enter the resort, the owners sent only one jeep to pick us up. The other family immediately installed themselves and their luggage in the jeep, leaving us with no alternative but to wait on the road for 45 minutes. The driver berated us, and said 'get in get in, or you will see how long you have to wait.' In the event, we waited for 45 minutes. We reached the resort, and the owner was not in the least bit apologetic for the discomfort we faced.
What went well :
1. The room we were upgraded to was spacious
2. One of the staff, Mr Raju, was welcoming and helpful. He was the only bright spot in the entire dismal experience.
3. We asked for Kumaoni food one day, and that was pretty good.
4. The trek to the Lambkeshwar mountain was enjoyable.
What went badly:
1. We entered the room to find that the toilet and washbasin lights had fused. The sheets were filthy - all changed only after we called the reception.
2. Though the room was large, the furnishings were poor - there were plastic buckets in the bathroom, a half empty plastic bottle of santoor on the sink , dirty sheets - lending it a tawdry, downmarket feel. No hangers for our clothes and jackets.
3. No view at all on the days we were there. Of course, we don't blame the owners for this, but it takes away the only reason people would visit this place.
4. After the friendliness we had experienced in the other places we stayed in Kumaon, the standoffishness of the owners was surprising, especially considering there were only 2 families at the resort at that time. Maybe it was because we said we were more comfortable with English than Hindi? After the brusque welcome, the owner interacted with us only when we were checking out, to ask us to pay for the vegetable pakodas which were ostensibly a welcome snack.
Tips.
1. Though there are walks in the morning and evening, you need something to spend time in the afternoon. When asked for suggestions, Madhur shrugged unhelpfully and said 'Chill'. It would be better to get good books or your kindle, because the book collection in the resort is pathetic.
2. The best thing would be to skip this place altogether and stay an extra day in Munsiyari , Binsar or Sonapani.
Dear Mam,
First and foremost - a qualifier for the response below. I am absolutely sure that had your experience at Misty not begun so badly, your whole experience would have been completely different.
Having said that - no surprises here.
Your review is expected and I am glad for this opportunity to respond to you. Till the time you were a guest at my place, I would not have been able to speak my mind.
Allow me to respond to all that you have said here -
1) "the visit began badly" - Yes!! For us and the other guest that you mention too. There were only 3 people in the 8 seater jeep and enough space for the 3 of you. You chose not to come with them in spite of their asking you in! And you were disappointed because there was only one jeep? So if I have four rooms checking in - I should assign each of them a separate vehicle?
The fact is that you had met the same guests (verified by them) earlier in your trip and did not wish to share any space with them for reasons best known to you. Whatever, happened after this, was just a result of this start.
2) "the driver berated us" - The driver did not berate you. It was the other way around. You were rude to him and the other guest who were sitting in the jeep. You chose to wait at the parking rather than join 3 other people in a 8 seater jeep. By your logic, had you reached the parking before them - you would have asked "them" to wait!
On your arrival - you were rude to me when I came to welcome you as soon as you climbed off the jeep. And although I was not apologetic (I had no reason to be), I did upgrade your room to pacify you. Since it was a last minute upgrade, the room was not as clean as it should have been. And the sheets were not filthy - they were dusty; because the room was not cleaned! This was corrected within minutes of your arrival - as you have mentioned. Even mentioning this here is petty.
3) I am glad you enjoyed a few things and have mentioned them here. Especially Raju's service. At least, his friendliness came through to you.
4) I will not comment on the "downmarket" feel and let other guests' review do the talking. I do not appreciate that term. Incidentally, I would have appreciated it even less if you had called our place "upmarket".
5) In your zeal to list your disappointments, you have mentioned the lack of view and then dismissed it. I really am at a loss of words on this. :)
6) You think that I was standoffish because you were more comfortable in English? Implying thereby that I was not comfortable in English? Lets just say that I am not comfortable in impolite English, and leave it at that.
I am sure you are right when you say that people elsewhere were friendlier to you. I concede that I could have been friendlier, as I was with the other guests during your stay. I tried - maybe not hard enough.
But no, I did not meet you to ask you to pay for snacks and dinner (which was not part of your package) - I met you as a courtesy. I make it a point to meet all my guests, on arrival, as well as, at departure. Payments - Raju can very well take care of. I was being polite; unsuccessfully again.
As for you very helpful tips -
You are right about one thing - this place is not for everybody. Leave alone people who need to do "something" to spend time in the afternoon or otherwise. A 3500 sq ft indoor space with board games and badminton/ TT is also not helpful. Nor are the many corners filled with beautiful flowers and sit outs where one can experience peace. The mini library has already been rejected of course. :) .
This place is primarily for people who can, and do, chill. This place is for people, who are first and foremost, happy with who they are. We love to host such people. They spread positive energy everywhere - be it here or Munsyari - Binsar - Sonapani (all of which we love and highly recommend for those travelling this side). The filter remains the same though. One does need to know how to "just chill" and let the centre of the Universe be an unknown mystery.
sincerely,
Madhur
Misty Mountains is off the beaten path and is a gem of a place once you reach it! We stopped there for a night enroute to Munsiari but regretted not staying there longer! The road to reach the resort is very rough and tough but the hosts are considerate to arrange a vehicle from base point to their resort! We of course decided to take our 4x4 up till the resort and had an off roading experience! The hosts, Madhur and Ambika have made a lot of effort in maintaining the resort and making guests feel welcome! Ambika’s home made jams and pickles are a treat, the food is great and rooms are very clean and well maintained! One has to stay at least two or three nights to soak in the experience and views!
Dear Rajat.
Thank you for your kind words and lovely review. We do recommend to our guests to leave their vehicles at the parking. Its a dirt track at best and best traversed in a rough tough jeep.
I hope you would take your own advise and visit us for a longer duration next time. :)
regards,
Ambika, Suroohi, Madhur and Rags.
