We traveled during the sudden flash floods in Himachal Pradesh in early July. Without the floods, we would have given the retreat a perfect score. However, the resort's response to the disaster revealed significant shortcomings.
Firstly, the hotel reception was shockingly clueless about the situation outside the hotel due to phone line issues caused by the flooding. Their lack of knowledge was frustrating, especially when we wanted to book a return taxi to Chandigarh after the weather cleared up. They could have sent someone to Manali or used their own cars to inquire about taxi services, but instead, they just smiled without offering any assistance. There might be a foreign invasion happening just 1 km away from the resort and these guys would still be clueless about it if the tower went down. This lack of responsibility towards guests and the level of cluelessness should be addressed by the retreat owner.
Fortunately, we met another family at the resort who helped us contact a taxi through their driver, who went to Manali on our behalf, and avoid being stranded beyond our check-out date. This reliance on others for assistance was not ideal.
The other issue was the frequent power cuts. Despite running generators, the hotel should have prepared better for the impending storm and stocked up on extra diesel. We expected basic conveniences, such as having the lights on, especially considering the high cost of the hotel.
Overall, the retreat's response to the floods and the lack of preparedness for such situations were disappointing.
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