Review: Yelagiri residency Mathura Resort, Yelagiri
Yelagiri is getting commercialized at a fast pace. Several years ago, there were hardly any decent accommodation options in Yelagiri. Now there’s everything- resorts, hotels, B&B and all. And many more buildings are under construction all over the hill town.
We spent one night at a hotel which is located near the entrance of the town, called Yelagiri residency. I had booked in advance, which wasn’t necessary as November is not a tourist season here and every hotel had vacant rooms. A more sensible option would have been to just arrive, check out the hotels and deals, then only check in.
Anyways, this post shares what is good and what is bad at the hotel we stayed.
Good things about Yelagiri residency:
- Geyser in room, which means hot water anytime. Many other hotels had display indicating specific timings for hot water (like 7AM to 9AM only)
- Small garden, play area and a nursary inside the campus
- Veg restaurant inside the campus
- A small strip offering “actu-therapy” is nice.
Not so good things from our experience at Yelagiri Residency, Mathura Resort:
For the amount we’d paid (Rs 1014), nothing was complementary. We ate our food outside. When asked, the response was “For Rs 1800 package, we offer free breakfast”
No internet in campus. Though internet was not listed as an available service during booking, when I called previous night person who received the phone said yes, internet is available. But it was not available. In fact, most of the hotels in Yelagiri do not have wifi facility. There is only 1 cyber café in Yelagiri which has super slow connection on Ubuntu systems with some open source office editing tool, which were totally useless for any practical use. I had to ride down to Ponneri to access net. (In a way it is good thing- you go to hill station to relax, not to browse internet)
Previous day I asked if they can arrange a guide to take us trekking in the hill. On phone I was told yes, but on arrival, the staff had nothing to offer in this regard. My afternoon went in search of a cyber café to complete some urgent office work, so trekking couldn’t happen. But nonetheless, person manning their phone number should be careful not to set wrong expectations with the guests.
The property didn’t seem to have power backup. On the day of our check out, at about 10.30AM, when we came back to room to check out, there was no power. As we were about to check out it didn’t bother us much, but if you need power to charge your devices or heat water or something else, you might face some inconveniences.
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