Manali Places To Stay

Could I have a kind feedback on Manali hotels : Johnsons Hotel / Johnsons Lodge / Kalpana Hotel / any others in the < 3k range

Manali Continental, Shingar Regency, Neha Palace, Sitara International, Snowline

Most of the hotels will offer package rates in the summer season though

Hotel Kanishka is fine in this range.

Johnson Lodge is best place to stay and its near mall road,

Why don't you try for HPTDC hotels? I find them good, unlike other govt run hotels, the HPTDC properties are very well maintained and moreover are at the best locations. Not very pricey also.You can book these on internet also.

I heard "The Kunzum" on Mall Road is good and well within your budget...It's run by HPTDC...Their Presidential suite is about Rs. 2400. I'm planning to stay there in July.

Log Huts (Manali) are also HPTDC Run on the Hadimba Road. Stayed there these winters. Awesome Place

Got not many feedbacks to my previous posts for Manali accomodation before I was there in May 2008.Allow me to contribute:

We gambled on & finally stayed at the Negis Mayflower in May 2008.SURE DISPELLED A FEW MYTHS !!!
Room Service/Excellent/Ontime/Polite
Hot water/Central but adequate round the clock except after midnight.Sure dont need a shower those hours.
Food / Great.
Front Office/Quite efficient.Manager Mr.Dharmendra great!!!
Linen Cleanliness/Spotless
Overall/A very good impression.
Location/ 12 minutes walk to the Mall.17 minutes up back.Quiet area.Keep the good work up.
One suggestion only:Must be able to cater Continental a-la-carte.Presently they do pre-order basis only.
We were there in the high season.Probably the people who reviewed negative were there in the low season.The hills are anyway difficult in winter with poor electricity & freezing water.ON THE WHOLE,VALUE FOR MONEY.

A word about "Mama's kitchen" a quaint laidback restaurant a little way up the same Road from Negi's Mayflower.Fantastic homecooked food by the lady of the house and her hubby,a very suave gentleman who looks after the place.Apparently they are form Delhi settled for years in Manali.Anybody remember their names/numbers get back to me please????

The Club Mahindra & Sterling Resorts on the way to Naggar from Manali are really well-located.Fantastics views to the North & West of the entire valley and the Rohtang/Other peaks beyond.

The Manali Mall was a disaster when u compare to Shimla which has CLASS stamped all over it.The best buy was some "Apple wine";great stuff,dirt cheap.

The fabled Solang Valley was a sore,dusty,dung-infested disappointment in summer.Probably when the snow camouflages all,it looks better.Felt sorry for the Solang Valley Resort which is close to the turn-off to Solang on the Manali - Rohtang Road.A well -appointed great resort;must be fantastic in winter.

By the way,understand the DRDO/BRO is blasting a civilian tunnel from Solang north right beneath Rohtang to emerge somewhere south of Keylong.This would mean we cud get to Keylong from Solang/Manali without crossing Rohtang Pass.Shorter time,better roads probably BUT SURE MINUS THE FEELING OF CLOSING IN ON HEAVEN.Looks to be a year dowm the line at least before it opens.

Rohtang was crowded,freezing but fantastic.Great snows.Pass opened 13/14th May this year.For first-timers,BE SURE TO get up there early by 08.30AM or so;push your driver to get you to the milestone which says ROHTANG ZERO.COVER YOURSELF FULLY TIP TO TOE,IF YOU REALLY WANNA ENJOY THE SNOW AND THE VIEWS.
Most drivers park you way below pleading traffic and you never get to see the real geographical Rohtang Pass.Have a snowscooter/tobbogan ride to ZERO POINT FOR FANTASTIC VIEWS OF THE LAHAUL/SPITI PEAKS and the descent down to Gramphoo/Keylong.

Walk the walk down fronm the Log Huts past the Hadimba temple to the Mall;quiet pleasant.

The Johnsons Lodge & Johnsons Hotel side-by -side close to the Negis Mayflower but closer to the Mall.Well maintained,great views,great lawns.But only if you can do with Continental food,no Indian curries except a thali.They would be a sell-out if they had at least some Indian items on the menu.Well if McDonalds,KFC & Domino's have adapted;maybe they cud think about it.
Thanks for bearing with my long ramble.Hope it helps.

I stayed at the Johnsons last month and it was pretty good. Good food and the ambience was pretty good too. Try their trout fish speciality!!! It is really nice. After coming there from Ladakh I did not really enjoy the place (Manali) after coming down from Heaven on Earth!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

Balvar (or anyone else who may know) - I'm heading up to Manali in may and I'm looking for an interesting place to stay for about a month. Where can I find more details on these log huts? Prices, size (i'm travelling alone so don't want anywhere too big), availability, etc... ?

Justboy

Log Huts

Size - Big, two bedrooms, a drawing-dining hall, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a huge lawn in the front.

Price - About 65 quid a day (Lesser in off-season) considering GBP is now about 72 rupees.

Availability - Available on prior booking usually. Check here http://hptdc.gov.in/custsw/viewuser8.asp

That's a bit beyond my budget and space requirements unfortunately but thanks for the reply . If I make some travel buddies and feel like splurging some cash for a little while though I'll defintely keep it in mind.

You may want to check the link I posted, It has some cheaper options.

You can also try 'Sunshine Guest House' in Manali, I think its under 7-8 pounds a day. Just use 'search indiamike.com' link on the top right hand corner of your screen

Hey i am being offered a very reasonable deal at Johnson's Lodge . However its not any of the rooms it is the penthouse . Does any one have any idea how it is ? We are a group of 10 of us and we do not want to spend more than 800 bucks or so so we are getting this within our budget . I have to book by tonight . Please help .

I stayed on Lords Regency last October and I paid Rs.1100/day. The hotel is preety good view, has a small lawn and parking too.

The best part was the room (last room on the same floor as reception). It was quite big with river flowing below and you could clearly hear the raging river

The staff is also quite decent.