This review is about ’HOtel Ooty Gate’ located in Ooty (of course).
We were a team of about 30 colleagues (including families) from Bangalore - made the reservation from Bangalore a week before the travel date. The website showed nice pics of the hotel & saw some decent reviews on internet too. However, the hotel was not exactly what was shown in the pictures. Here is my detailed review on the hotel-
Location - The hotel has a great location. Exact centre of the city and just few metres walk from the bus stand, fuel pumps, restaurants and the main city market.
Rooms - Not so good! Was unimpressed by the maintenance of the hotel rooms. The room had a strange smell of dampness. The bathrooms were clean but not well maintained. The shower was broken - although hot water was available 24 hours. The paint, accessories and furniture The rooms had TV but pehaps with a local cable connection and therefore very few hindi channels (acceptable). The rooms were spacious and well lit.
The difference between Deluxe room & the ’Super deluxe’ is only the carpet. The upper version has a tiked floor. The price difference of Rs 500 among the two isn’t justified at all.
Reception & Common Area - This was the best looking area of the hotel. The hotel has ample parking space which (on request and extra charges) was converted to a campfire area late in the evening. The hote also has a dorm in case for drivers or servants (in case you are hiring a cab or chauffer).
Staff - The staff was helpful, especially the manager. Despite of our check-in time being 12 noon, he gave us few rooms at 7 am that too without any extra charges. Although these rooms were not very clean as the occupants had just checked out and maintenance staff hardly got 15 mins time for basic cleaning. Also during the campfire the staff were very co-operative even when they were falling short of parking space - they never complained or asked us to wind up faster.
Restaurant - Youmay think of having breakfact there which is buffet (about 100 bucks) - idlies and bread, milk, tea, coffee etc. Do not try the reastaurant for lunch or dinner as it was very bad. The better option would be to walk 100m to better restaurants around. There’s a Trident Haveli (Rajasthani cuisine) restaurant just outside the hotel in the same compund which can be tried.
Overall Experience - If room cleanliness, hygine and freshness is what matters the most to you - this isn’t the right place. I would not want to go there again or recommend to a friend because the hotel is not maintained with the same spirit that it was built with. For a price of about Rs. 1600+taxes - I’m sure there must be better options in Ooty itself.