Heevan Villas Sonamarg

Firstly Rah Villas is not in Sonamarg but about 10 KMS before the town on the left bank of the Indus river so we had to come back all the way looking for this hotel in the middle of nowhere. Not that I mind middle of nowhere hotels, found this to be completely characterless and overpriced. The pretty photographs are a bit deceptive, and this hotel looks to be tailor made for online travel portal bookings from where they seem to get most of the business. They know a guest has nowhere to go for food so F&B is also exorbitantly priced and seems exploitative on the guest! Rooms are ok and we had a balcony with our room which was nice but housekeeping is sloppy and showers don't work!

We were at Rah Vilas on 12th May…although it rained all day at Sonmarg..the hotel location is excellent.its on the way to Sonmarg..excellent helpful staff..Restaurant is in control of perfect MANAGER..named Navin..he understand and helps you with the right FOOD..as there is nothing for miles around. Rooms are very cosy but need to be serviced regularly. We did have to change the bedsheets,pillow case covers ,as they had not changed them when we came to the room. The place gets very noisy at lunch time… Overall.,the view from the hotel is excellent..invariably the Best in this area.

The hotel looks a little shabby from outside however the rooms are nice and the bathrooms very decent. The food was good. The drawbacks are: a) the heating system of the hotel wasn't functioning so they had provided blowers which provided just about enough heating but in rainy conditions wouldn't have been enough. b) No electric kettles in room so every time you want a cup of tea or coffee you have to order it and pay Rs.100/- per cup! A total rip off considering most hotels provide this facility and if they don't they aren't so exorbitant for ONE cup! That too its cold so you need more tea/coffee... c) despite being in Kashmir no Kashmiri food on the menu even for ala carte orders.

It was snowing outside but they never turned the heat on. The staff asked for tips directly even when the service was fairly average.

Excellent location, clean hotel, helpful staff, every window faces the hill.. very good place to unwind.. Remember to carry your own booze as there are no wine shops / bars in this hotel / nearby