Sitara international is one hell of a shock. last to last year, we drove to manali from delhi via mandi. we stayed at the visco resorts in mandi. a good overnight stay. relaxing and soothing environment, surroundings, and service.
On reaching sitara international, we were dumbstruck as it is far from the tall promises made by the agency that we had booked through. without a decent view the windows are of no use and the hotel’s understanding of cleanliness and hygiene are questionable. the room offered to us had seepage marks all across the walls and looked out on to nothing in particular. since we had paid in advance in delhi, we were stuck. but some phonecalls and some serious expression of nerves got us the required result. they offered to provide us alternate accomodation in some other place. the person at the desk was good enough to take us around to 3-4 other places but I guess our understanding of comfort was not matching theirs. we were reimbursed our deposit although minus one nights room charges (not fair since they had defaulted on the promises made. the brochure and website was quite appealing, unlike in reality.)
We ultimately found refuge at manali resorts. the rates were quite different to our budget, but once there, it was difficult to find anything cheaper and yet livable. my advice to all. please check the veracity of the promises made by agents sitting in delhi. try to speak to people with past experiences of the agency , as well as the accomodation in consideration.
The people might have been good at sitara, we never got to know about it. the frontdesk was definitely helpful. the hotel is a bad one and in very poor shape. agency has refused to entertain any calls and claims from our side. we are also fed up of following up on something so long back in the past. forgotten, but not forgiven.