A relatively narrow road which is known as the Laitumkhrah main road leads to the hotel. This road is of historical importance in the sense that the British made and used this road for their horses to go down to Polo grounds via the Goralane-assam rifles roads.
Frankly speaking, you might even miss the hotel entry if you are not aware. It stands parallel to the main road right before the main chowk (Police Point). Hotel Poinisuk is in the heart of the city, in Laitumkhrah, beside the Laitumkrah Post Office. They have a big parking space in the basement. Our driver dropped us in the parking. And immediately we had bell boys from the hotel tend to us. The entrance to the hotel is pretty with lots of plants along the walls.
The lobby was chic and well decorated like any 3 or 4 star hotel. they also have a metal detector at the entry, which buzzes every time you cross it. They have installed automatic sanitizer dispensers everywhere around the hotel. At first glance you will like what you see in the lobby. The local ladies at the reception were in traditional outfit and welcomed us. We had a corporate booking in the hotel so we were entitled to the premier rooms with balconies.
The formalities included giving them the dual vaccination reports, ID card and reservation email. We were given 3 rooms, two at 3rd floor and one at the second floor. We took the lift to our respective floors while the bell boys brought in our luggage later. The boys were very cordial and helpful. Since we got the premier rooms, the size was pretty big. It had a double bed, flatscreen tv, mini refrigerator, safety vault, big cupboard, electric kettle, a separate seating section with plush sofas, a small table and chair and a small balcony. They have ample plug points so it feels like a boon for people like me carrying N number of gadgets. The bathroom is also pretty spacious with a big bathtub and hand shower and a separate shower section. Standard set of toiletries were provided in the bathroom. At first glance the room definitely looked premium. But the trouble started soon after.
Out of the 3 rooms, ours was the one which had a bunch of problems from day one. Since they only had 4 premier rooms and none empty they couldn't move us around. The first problem detected was the door to the balcony didn't close, so at night it would be a problem when the temperature dropped. The second problem was that the key card when inserted in the power slot would not work at times, hence we were not able to switch on the lights at times. The third problem was the bedside power switches were made in a funny manner and you wouldn't really understand which is a functional switch because it looks flat like a empty slot on the board. And finally to get hot water you have to keep the geyser running all day long and even after that let the water flow for about 5-10 minutes before hot water started. So over the 2 days of our stay in Poinisukh we had to call for housekeeping staff multiple times and at some point it started feeling like they would surely throw us out for making so many complaints. So to sum up, even in premier rooms we faced certain challenges. However I would say that the particular room on the 3rd floor had all these problems. The other two rooms we had got for our group didn't face most of the challenges apart from the hot water issue.
Also we spent the last day of our Meghalaya trip again in this hotel and this time we got a different premier room. None of the above problems happened in this room. So I think the trouble is only with one of the rooms. I do not remember the room number but it is the last (premier) room in the third floor.
The hotel has a roof top restaurant which serves some nice food. It s a very popular joint during the weekends so there is a lot of crowd in the restaurant at night. Even if you are boarding in the hotel you might not find a place after 8 Pm in weekend nights. Be sure to either place your order in advance or be at the restaurant before 8. We found the Ala carte menu having some wonderful choices. Do try their ice creams it is lovely.
The serve buffet breakfast. Be there before 8.30 am or else if there is a big group staying at the hotel you might end up not getting half the things if you turn up late. It happened with us. And since we were the smaller group, the hotel didnt re stock on some of the dishes once they were finished by the earlier group. Especially things like poori, dosa, vada etc gets over pretty fast and is not refilled if it is a small group coming afterwards. The buffet menu has both continental and south indian options. In non veg there was various types of eggs and chicken sausages.
Overall comfortable stay. The Laitumkhrah Market is just walking distance from the hotel, so if you want you can try out other eating options outside as well. There is also a KFC bang opposite to the hotel.
