When I read some of the reviews posted on this place I just get one thought going through my head - ’’why the name of God did not not read about this horror story of a place before landing up in Ooty and straight into the jaws of hell deceptively named hotel Lakeview’’.
It was deceptive because of the following reasons :
(1) There are many touts hovering around who swear on whatever it takes to convince you that this place is a so called heaven on earth - (I fell into this trap after the weary trip and also the guesthouse I was supposed to stay in for free ;o) was not upto my expectations )
(2) It has a very calm ambience , which place in Ooty would not !!, this damn place actually looks good to the eye at first glance
(3) When you walk into the reception the staff (all of them wear a strange uniform and I found a lot of matronly looking women who look like they belong in a army boot camp) are quite courteous
(4) The room at first glace looked decent to the naked and untrained eye
So for the above 4 reasons I checked in and got a ’’so called’’ DELUXE SUITE ...
But this is where the dream ends and the nightmare starts ....
(1) I wanted to freshen up and I put on the geyser ...(yes yes the DELUXE SUITE has a pathetic outdated looking geyser that supplies hot water) and then I waited and waited and waited for my hotwater that never came.Turns out that the performance of the geyser lived up to its pathetic looks.
(2) Tired of waiting I thought I will get a bit of rest .The bed had a bright red cover and I threw back the sheets and lo and behold I practically yelled out eeeeeeeks !
I would not insult my vocabulary by saying it was dirty in reality it was far more. At the risk of sounding gross let me tell you that bed sheet was stained all over with God knows what.DELUXE SUITE again ladies and gentlemen!!
So to calm ourselves from all this I dutifully asked housekeeping to clean the room and repair the geyser and my family thought we will do a bit of sightseeing so we left.We returned around 9.45 PM.. presenting to you part II of the nightmare ..
(3) On entering we found the room oops sorry DELUXE SUITE ...cold and FREEZING
there was no heater but there was a fireplace which we actually found quaint when we took the room earlier. But then we needed wood which we were promised would be supplied so I called housekeeping and a really irritable voice picked up and very curtly told me ’’SAARRY HOUSHEKEEPING ISSH CLOSHED’’ and they actually chided me as to why I did not order it before closing time.... How the hell am I supposed to know when the damn housekeeping closes ?? ahh I suppose you have to wait for a little birdy to tell you that haha
(4) Final straw came in the guise of a extra bed that we wanted for our DELUXE SUITE . It was 250 Rs extra so I assumed it would be a mattress and surprise surprise It was a thin foam sheet that you normally would find on a settee.You know at that moment I did not know whether to laugh or to cry!!
So for the above 4 reasons I and my family quit at the middle of the night and checked into the Nahar Nilgiris - which is costly but worth the money!!
The next day I raised hell and got them to refund my money which they did.
So dear friends if you happen to go to the ’’queen’’ of hill stations please please do not book a DELUXE SUITE or any other SUITE in the disaster called HOTEL LAKEVIEW unless you are on a suicidal mission and are in the lookout for a the last reason that would make you actually want to kill yourself.