I have been an avid weekend traveler and on one such long Christmas weekend, we happened to visit Diveagar. Diveagar boasts of a very beautiful and clean beach. I would call it as a beach lover’s paradise and one of the exotic places in Western Maharashtra.
While our experience at the beach was awesome, sadly our stay wasn’t. We were put up at Hotel Pinakin, which is just a 5 mins walk from the beach. We were very dismayed with the hospitality provided at the hotel. The property is owned by Arti Kene(Heramb Travels) of Pune, and I must say they have no clue of hospitality. Within minutes of us checking into the hotel room, we were reminded that some amount was pending as balance. That itself was a no starter. While the rooms were quite average, the toilets were not maintained at all.
With regards to food, it was oily and spicy. The hotel doesn’t have a restaurant and instead has a small place to dine. This place is next to the kitchen and hence while having food, half the time we were sneezing and coughing! Moreover, the Promfet served to us was uncooked and we were charged Rs. 250 for that!
The most disgusting thing was when the hotel people asked us to check-out when our actual check-out date was next day! It seems they had goofed up on bookings. When I threatened them, they were trying to adjust. However, who would want to stay in such an inhospitable place after a nightmarish experience?!
The hotel people also went wrong with our billing. While we had booked a room at Rs. 2500 per day(nothing inclusive!), the hotel was trying to charge us at the rate of Rs. 3000 per day!
The only good thing about this hotel is that it has got all the urban necessities such as TV, fridge, AC etc, which not all others have. There are many better places in Diveagar that I would recommend – Exotica(by far the best), Oasis, Ambience Cottages, Prathamesh Holiday Resort and then there are so many wadis that one could stay in. But avoid Pinakin, unless you are going with friends(I mean stags).
When we looked around in Diveagar, we realized that Pinakin is the only concrete structure in Diveagar, and regretted that we missed a chance of being a part of nature by staying in Wadis.
Other good places which one could visit when in Diveagar: - Ganesh Temple(Suvarna Ganesh), a couple of nearby places – Srivardhan(around 16 kms from Diveagar) and Harihareshwar(around 35 kms). One could also club the trip with a visit to Murud Janjira, if you hail from Mumbai.
Some more important tips(not for teetotalers): - Please carry your booze, as you will not get a single wine shop at Diveagar. Liquor is not even served at any hotel/wadi/resort. If you can’t carry booze from your town, you can buy it from Borli which is just 3 kms from Diveagar.