Recently spent a lovely weekend with family at this hotel. Couldn’t have been a better experience.

Location:

Haridwar is mostly about Ganga Snaan, a dip in the holy River Ganga, witnessing the Ganga Aaarti at the crack of dawn and at dusk, visiting the umpteen temples and enjoying the taste and smells of the temple town. Arguably, Har-ki-Pauri is the centre of all that is happening in Haridwar and this hotel is located at the southern end of Har-ki-Pauri. There are quite a few Dharmashalas nearer to Har-ki-Pauri but if you want quality accommodation then there are just 3 hotels near this revered venue and this is the best.

The Management runs another hotel about 400 mts further down on the river called Haveli Hari Ganga. That’s also a wonderful establishment. But all things considered, I have no hesitation in rating the Ganga Lahari as the best accommodation in Haridwar. But more of that later.

Ganga Devi Temple and the Brahma Kund where the Ganga Aaarti is performed at every dawn and dusk, is a 300 mts walk to the north, along along the Ganga. Walk another 50 mts across the bridge to Malviya Dwip i.e. the small man made island opposite the Ganga Aaarti venue, for a grandstand view of the Aaarti. If shopping is on your agenda, Haridwar’s famous Moti Market ends at the entrance to the hotel. If you have driven to Haridwar and want to park your car, then the large Har-ki-Pauri car park is just across the bridge from the entrance to the hotel. Location wise you can’t beat Ganga Lahari.

Rooms and Ambience:

Ground Floor of the building is taken up with shops, commercial establishments and the hotel’s utility services. The rooms are spread over 1st and 2nd floors. All rooms are large, well furnished, excellent King size bed with very comfortable mattress, tea service, TV et all. Rooms 207 and 208 are slightly larger than the other rooms. All rooms open onto a long glass enclosed balcony overlooking the Ganga. Can spend hours sitting out on the balcony seeing the rush and web of this pilgrimage town passing by.

There were three of us staying in a room. They rolled in a low bed. Even with that extra bed there was enough free space in the room to move about.

Service and Facilities:

Do remember that a visit to Haridwar is a pilgrimage for Hindus. The entire town is strictly vegetarian and you wouldn’t find alcohol anywhere. The hotel prominently displays a sign in every room saying it’s a “Non Alcoholic Establishments”. The hotel serves up buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner in the 2nd floor restaurant. Mix of Indian, European and Chinese vegetarian food. Excellent quality and variety. But mind you, every item is intentionally cooked with slightly less salt and less spices. So the food comes out as somewhat bland for Indian palates. But its perfect for European, North American or Australian palates. I suspect that precisely is the purpose of that style of cooking. I wholly agree with the Management’s approach given the large number of foreign guests the hotel caters to.

Room service was quick. Excellent housekeeping. For our return journey they packed a dinner comprising Paratha, Alu sabji (dry potato curry) and sweets. Very happy experience overall.

Hot water, water pressure, electricity etc were all upto expectation. Good strong free WiFi was much appreciated.

Activities:

For our Ganga Snaan (holy dip in the River Ganga) the hotel provided us with large towels which we were allowed to carry to the river. Any body can take a dip in the holy waters irrespective of religion. But a word of caution for ladies, standard bathing suits are not acceptable attire at Haridwar. Ladies generally go in with either sari or salwar-kameez. See pictures of Haridwar Ghats and you will get an idea. Men however can go in with pretty much whatever they desire. I used my swimming trunks. Walked from my room to the river and back wearing my tees, trunks and towel wrapped around my waist.

For the Ganga Aaarti, the hotel would escort you to a spot on Malviya Dwip, directly opposite where the Aaarti is conducted. Standing is free but if you want to sit on a wooden bench then you will have to pay INR 40 per head. Stick with the escort and ignore the countless people approaching you to offer various kinds of services. That’s a problem with Haridwar, too many people asking for money. The evening Aarti is the popular event. A few thousand people congregate around the venue. But in my view the morning Aarti at the crack of dawn is more pleasant. Less crowd and better ambience.

For a ride upto the Manasa Devi Temple on top of a hill just behind the hotel, the cable car station is a INR 40 rickshaw ride away through Moti Market. Do go early as otherwise the queues get rather long. From mid-morning onwards, not unusual to wait for 1.5 hrs to board the cable car.

A trip to the Rajaji National Park is highly recommended. Far too many visitors to Haridwar restrict themselves to the pilgrimage aspect and give Rajaji a miss. The Chilla Entrance Gate of the Park is barely 12 km from the hotel. A safari in an open top vehicle inside the park takes around 3-4 hrs. If you are lucky you can get to see elephants and leopard. In any case the bird life is great. The hotel organized a visit for me and it turned out to be a lovely morning.

And finally do take a stroll around Moti Market, adjacent to the hotel. It’s a fascinating place. Simple precautions are however warranted, there might be pickpockets. Other than that, it’s a perfectly safe place. We bought a huge (about 12”) conch shell for puja for INR 900 and a large brass 4 tired Diya with holders for 31 diyas, for Aaarti for INR 1200. Bargains by Delhi standards.