Windsongs

Just fantastic! This property sits snugly outside the main Kalimpong town and boasts of a dynamic view - from the snowy mountains afar to the meandering Teesa in the valley. The property has its own nursery which is a fitting accoutrement to the expansive view. The rooms and room service is beyond excellent. The kitchen was excellent with food in ample quantities. The hosts live in a cottage on campus and pampered us constantly and endlessly. This was a very memorable and enjoyable experience, I look forward to going back.

A hotel? A resort? Or a homestay? Well, like me, you'll also be confused when you stay a night in the Windsongs. It has the luxury like a star graded hotel. It's spacious and decorated like a resort. And the ambience is like a home. The owners, who themselves are very generous, cordial and friendly, love to call it a luxury homestay but to us it's all three in one. Situated a couple of kms before you reach Kalimpong town and just off to the main road called the Rishi Road, this property offers you pure bliss of nature. Previously a nursery for the orchids and one of the famous in Kalimpong, now boasts 4 cottages and 2 deluxe rooms for at least 6 families of different sizes. All have wonderful views of mount Kanchanjungha and river Teesta in a single frame and of course the entire hills of Kalimpong and a few of Sikkim are visible in a sunny day. They don't allow outside food but I bet, you hardly need any as they cook at their home so well. The choices are varied but we could savour only a few of their Chinese delicacies. Believe me, all tasted equally good. Our breakfast, though, was complementary and we chose the continental option which included choices of eggs ***** with bread, jam, butter and sausages with baked onions and tomatoes. You can also have our own desi puri-sabji as well. Tea or coffee of your choice in the end. As you stay, you will find the owners visiting you and sharing stories of their properties mostly of their cherished nursery. You'll know more about Kalimpong and its rich history. This was the best part of this property.

We did the same mistake. Fell for the reviews and opted for windsongs rather than Mayfair. No doubt the view is amazing but you get the same view from mayfair too. Booked it 2 months in advance for 2 nights but checked out just after 16 hours - Cottage number 2 - 1. Cobwebs everywhere- behind the bed, beside the cupboard. Even after being informed they said it must have formed today after cleaning. Imagine such a reply with no mention of redoing the cleaning. 2. The blanket cover had holes in it ***** with lipstick mark!! 3. The bathroom is the worst here - no water comes out in flush atleast till 5 mins after the previous flush. No napkin given. The basin’s taps seem to be coming out and ofcourse water comes out in drips. 4. Worst comes now - as soon as you wake up in the morning you find out there is no water in the bathroom! Tried to call the reception, but the phone remains dead. We are helpless stuck without water. My 5 year old holding it in for more than 1.5 hours now. After calling them on mobile, they say there might a leakage or something due to which our water got drained last night. As to why the phone was dead - they say we keep it off from 10 PM - 7 AM. How can you leave your guests hanging if there is any emergency?? The lady or the son instead of apologising even once, they say it happens, even we were without water. You can manage for sometime and all sorts of rubbish n defensive reasons galore. The lady was extremely unapologetic for inconveniencing the guests and hung up on me after saying if you have problems talk to my son. The son again never bothered to pick up the call until after 2.5 hours and again unapologetically said what do you want to do and we asked for an immediate checkout to which he agreed after paying up for the meals. Here also no courtesy to offer guests the complementary meals in spite of causing such horrid inconvenience. Instead says that we have had guests who had no issues. Who in hospitality industry says you can manage without water and not even say sorry about it? 5. Anyway the ordeal is not yet over. The meal timings are so specific and militarised that even after getting late due to no water, they arranged the breakfast out in the open when we asked them to wait. We were tired of arguing so just let that go. Also an add on - they will charge you every single slice of bread/puri. Although they didn’t charge us as we had a discussion that if we are vegetarian, we wont even get eggs/sausage, so give us a slice of bread and 2 puri s extra! Ya - this is the level we have to get down to talk to them. Even the milk for a kid in the morning which is complimentary in all reputed hotels is charged. Even after all this, still no sign of a five letter word for causing this ordeal!