AVOID HOTELSEAPRINCESS- PALANDEBEACH
Last weekend from 30th April(after casting my vote) till 2nd May I had visitedthe beautiful beaches of Harnai, Palande and Anjarle. The road is itself very beautiful after Mahad with greenery even in this month all around. There isanother road from Mangaon after the right to Harihareshwar on NH17, the road is bad in patches but saves about an hour ask Mandangad and from there ask Dapoli and people will direct you.
Visit the ganesh temple(Tekadivarcha Ganpati) at Anjarle, the road again is atreat. Just go there and relax. We had the pleasure to watch Dolphins, you willmeet the fishermen on the beaches or come to your hotel who will take you insea for Rs.100/-, if you are lucky enough(we were) you will get to see Dolphins, well how many days you have in your life where you can see Dolphinsin sea at distance of 50 meters? Go ahead and enjoy. The fisher menauction their catch at the Harnai bunder after 4, if you are interested inbuying a lot of fish and OK with the smell, get some cheap fish.
We had a major problem with the hotel, though we had made bookings fromNIVALINK, I paid about ten thousand for less than two days stay. There was mistake from Nivalink while making the booking. My booking was supposed to befrom 30th to 2nd, but was booked from 1st to 3rd. Though this was informed tothe manager while checking in, when checking out the of the hotel on 2nd he demanded Rs.3000/- more as Iwas not booked on 30th, I had paid for two days and stayed for two days sothere was no question of paying more the owner a person named Talati and hiswife are the rudest people you will ever meet on planet earth. Though I hadstayed for two days and paid a bomb, thanks to Nivalink, else he takes only1600/- bucks for a couple, I was asked to pay the amount without which I wasnot allowed to leave and they locked the gate, I have a small girl so imaginemy plight, he was then demanding 5000/- if I agreed to stay on as per mybookings. Nivalink was not helpful at all and the contact person said that Ihave to pay the amount and Nivalink will see what they can do later. So muchfor customer service. the manager did not even allow us to use his phone tospeak with the rude owner and we had to use our cell phone. If you arewith a family there is little you can do, we argued with them for abouttwo hours standing in the sun and my daughter was hungry and thirsty, but allthey wanted was money.
The food is pathetic and no room service is available, more than 50% ofthe time there was no Airconditioner(they dont give you the remote) and thegenerator was switched on after half an hour in the night. They don’t changebedsheets and not provide you with the fresh towels. Theyprovide you with buffet, so there is no choice of food
You can check Nivalink’s site for this useless, most unfriendly, terrifyinghotel and still want to book at the same place take enough cash with you asthey don’t accept cards and will not even provide you with a bill.
There are many small places where in you can stay for a day or two they willnot charge you more than 500/- for a room for a couple and you can inform theowner the fish you want to eat. There are many options for hotels too, Kamathas one in Murud, which is nearby or a small bungalow at Palande by the name ofSagar Visawa and many hotels in Karde all the beaches are next to each other, youget great food there and he has rooms to offer. Do not let such people rob youof the beauty of Kokan, the hotel owner and the manager are not locals and froma nearby place(about 190 kilometers away from Dapoli) in Maharashtra(yourguess is as good as mine), the locals are very cooperative and will offer you loadsof advise about the place. The local staff is very good and helpful in thehotel itself.