Leh: Hotel Caravan Centre

Hotel Caravan Centre: Leh
Stayed July 2011
Rooms: 311 and 312: Deluxe suites
We booked this hotel after doing an extensive internet search. Most of the reviews were outdated. We apparently arrived in a middle of a heat wave, as the temps were in the mid 30s C.
The rooms we had were the biggest rooms that they offered, with a sitting room and bedroom that were approached by a staircase in the back of hotel.
312 did not have a balcony, but 311 did, which overlooked the kitchen.
Since it was July and hot, we asked for table fans (no ceiling fans). Apparently there are no fans to be had in Leh, but the hotel staff was able to find two table fans at a local store for us and delivered them to our room.
I would not recommend room 311 in the summer. It is the biggest of the bunch, but that balcony overlooks the kitchen, and if you have the windows open, the rather nauseating smells from the kitchen overwhelm the room. We sent a staff member out for incense sticks and burned them nonstop for the duration of our stay, which helped mitigate some of the smell. (Altitude sickness nausea + kitchen smells do not make for a good combo). In the winters, I presume the windows would be shut.
The website says "multicusine restaurant" when in fact, it was a dining hall with buffet for lunch/dinner. The dinners were "themed" in that one day was north indian, one day was indochinese, etc.. The food was excellent!
Breakfast was cooked to order, eggs, toast, etc. with an indian option such as aloo puri, etc.
They apparently have no fridge on site, so ice cold water and soft drinks are a bit hard to come by (an issue with all of Ladakh).
The staff was top notch and outstanding, in terms of service and responsiveness. Requests for bottled water and tea were handled promptly. Wifi access depended on internet connectivity for the city in general. Rs 50 for 30 minutes, Rs 100 for an hour. The staff was able to run errands for us, such as picking up cookies and chocolates for the kids at the local shops, which we paid for and supplemented with tips.
Leh is very dusty, that combined with the heat and open windows made the room dusty, and the floors reflected that. Requests to mop the floors were done promptly.
As for the tours, we booked through the hotel, and it was essentially just the fee for the driver and vehicle, no guide (extra cost). Please be sure to request a newer car. First day was a old Scorpio, which jostled our insides. We requested a Xylo for the rest of the days.
We booked the hotel based on the availability of hot water, which is centrally provided. The timings for the hot water a still a bit of a mystery, and the water temp is very dynamic, from tepid to scalding in seconds. I suspect that all of the hotel guests took baths at similar times, and thus depleted the hot water. We had to call several nights to make sure that the hot water was on. Room 311 has an annoying plumbing leak in the center of the floor in front of the sink, with water pooling on the floor after using the sink. A towel on the floor solved that problem.
The hotel is in the center of a residential area, and the views are not entirely unobstructed, but beautiful nontheless.
If we ever go back, we will stay again, but not in the deluxe suites we had, as we simply did not need the sitting room, and wished to be away from the kitchen. The adjacent room we had, 312, did not suffer from the kitchen smells.