The River View, Manali, Himachal Pradesh | Hotel Review

Manali is one of the biggest tourist towns up in Northern India and there is no shortage of Hotels in that region. You can always find a hotel in Manali suiting to anyone’s pocket. Every time we visit Manali, we stay in some different hotel as you cannot judge someone as best without trying others ;)… This time we stayed at Hotel “The River View”, as we wanted some cheap and decent accommodation just for a night stop over. Here is my detailed review for the same…

Address:

The River View, Near Beas Bridge, Left Bank Manali, District Kullu, Himachal Pradesh.

Price:

They offered us Rs 800 for a four-bedded room. The price range is between 700-900 for four bedded room and 300-500 for a double-bedded room. It also depends on the bargaining power as well as the off-season discounts too. Himachal Tourism offers a 30% discount in off-season and at the same time private hotels offers close to 50% discounts. Hence, if it is an off-season then bargain hard. The price of the food items in the Hotel were similar to what you can get at the mall road in Manali. Hence, just by walking down few hundred meters you will definitely get a much more tastier meal and variety of cuisines.

Bookings / Reservations:

Booking or reservations can be done by calling at one of these numbers

Location:

After you enter Manali town there is an exit from the Mall road going towards Manali – Rohtang Pass road. You are supposed to cross a bridge over Beas river to enter the Manali – Rohtang Pass road. Just when you cross the bridge (used by vehicles exiting Manali town) take right towards Naggar (left goes towards Rohtang Pass and Solang Valley). Drive few hundred meters ahead and just when you bypass the second bridge (used by vehicles entering Manali town) then, after 4-5 hotels, you will see this Hotel on your left side. This road is called Manali – Naggar road and if you follow, it will lead you to the breathtaking views of Naggar Castle (30 odd KMs ahead). For pictures and complete review of Naggar Castles click here: Naggar Castle, A Complete Review

Personal Experience:

We stayed in a four-bedded room which was moderately comfortable with basic interior. The balcony offered the views of Beas river in full flow. The room was spacious enough with attached bathroom having hot water supply and basic bath fittings. There was no room heater to provide warmth in cold conditions (at least we didn’t need it :)) or may be since it was summers so they didn’t provided us. There was a TV as well in the room with a DTH connection which can help you relax after a long hard day provided if you don’t booze ;)…

Quality of food/tea/coffee was just at satisfactory level, at least for us. However, I feel since the Mall road is very near to the hotel offering variety of cuisines, very few tourists are interested having food in the hotel. Even the meal serving time was very high for us and we were almost over with half sleep by the time food reached our room.

Well for booze lovers, Liquor shop is at the Mall road of Manali town, which is near to the Hotel. Even staff from the hotel can help you get the desired booze but just pay them the tip.

Hospitality we received from the staff was good and Mr. Thakur the manager of the hotel, seems to be a very nice person. I praise him a lot as he helped us and took great care of my car in our absence for more than the days expected. We couldn’t cross slush stretches at Rohtang Pass in our car on our Ladakh journey, so had to leave the car under his care. Then, when we reached Ladakh we witnessed the disaster (Ladakh Flash Floods, August 2010) and had to fly back to our homes after being stuck in Leh for more than 4 days. I was worried of my car too but it was Mr. Thankur’s authentic assurance for its safety and care which helped me concentrate on our return. Finally, after 10 days I finally got my car back and it was a great help by Mr. Thakur to keep it secured. If interested, you can read the whole account of my Ladakh Journey from the link: My Journey to Ladakh

Parking:

The hotel does have a parking facility for about 6 vehicles at the front gate. They also have another hotel, about 200 odd meters ahead, where you can park the vehicle incase their own parking is full.

ATM:

Nearest ATM is at the Mall road in Manali which is approximately 1 KMs from the hotel.

Petrol Pump:

Nearest Petrol Pump is on the road connection Manali – Rohtang Pass , approximately 2-4 KMs from hotel.

Medical Assistance:

For any medical assistance you will have to approach the Mall road in Manali town which is at the walking distance only.

Attraction In-Around Hotel:

Well, you are in Manali town and there are a lot of things to see around in Manali. You can check my Manali Travel Guide for comprehensive details on places to visit in Manali, by clicking the link: Manali, Travel Guide

Conclusion:

If you are looking forward just to stay as stopover night on your journey to Lahaul Valley or Spiti Valley or Leh – Ladakh then you might consider this hotel for its cheap prices and decent comfort. It is next to Beas river and only problem I see is that being right on the Manali – Naggar road, you will feel the noise of vehicles moving around all the time, apart from night when rarely someone drives in hills. In the end, if you are looking for some good and economic accommodation in Manali without much luxury then this Hotel may serve you the purpose. But, please do not consider the food at the hotel. Walk few paces and hit the mall road for the food.