Trip Duration – Dec 20th, 2017 thru Dec 28th, 2017
Itinerary – Bangalore > Delhi > Fatehpur Sikri / Buland Darwaza > Jaipur > Jaisalmer > Jodhpur > Udaipur > Agra > Delhi > Bangalore (Delhi to Delhi pick-up and drop via Toyota Innova)
Review/Experience
1. On Dec 20th, as per flight schedule reached Delhi at 8.45 AM. Driver/Cab details were provided the day before travel and it was supposed to pick us from Delhi airport at around 9:30 AM. The driver reached at around 10.30 AM (an hour late).
2. Travel Triangle (TT) seems to have several subsidiary vendors who manage hotel booking and cab service. Received a call from the cab owner that it is much better to visit Fatehpur Sikri on the return journey because otherwise, the route will become too lengthy and hectic. I agreed to the plan. But at the end, they never made us visit Fatehpur Sikri or Buland Darwaza as during our return journey by the time we reached it was too late in the evening.
3. Jaipur (Day 1 and Day 2) – TT booked the hotel Whispering Spring in Jaipur for us. The location of the hotel is moderate (outside city), hospitality/room-service very good, and the food is also moderate. We stayed for a whole day in Jaipur and visited all the places mentioned in our itinerary (Jaipur fort/palace, Amber Fort, Hawa Mahal, Shish Mahal, Jal Mahal etc.).
4. Jaipur to Jaisalmer (Day 3) – It took us about 7 hrs. to reach Jaisalmer and upon reaching the city we checked in to the hotel. TT booked us hotel Hyatt which is pretty close to the Gadisar lake. The location of the hotel is good (very close to prime visiting spots), room service is moderate, and the food is also moderate.
5. Jaisalmer Stay (Day 4) - Visited all the locations promised in the itinerary (Sonar Kella, Gadisar Lake, various Havelis etc.). In the afternoon shifted to Mehar adventure camp located near the Sam Sand Dunes. This was the best part of our travel. The camp is located right in the middle of the Thar desert, surrounded by several sand dunes. The location is awesome, hospitality/room-service is excellent, food is very good (dinner was included in the package). Seeing I am traveling with kids, they shifted me to cottages without any extra charge. Did camel safari, attended the Rajasthani culture program organized inside the camp and a very pleasant stay.
6. Jaisalmer to Jodhpur (Day 5) – From here our overall experience of this trip started degrading. Considering the distance and our half-day site seeing at Jodhpur we were supposed to begin our journey by 8.30 AM in the morning. But our cab driver had different plans. He managed to escape from the location to enjoy with his friends on a safari in the sand dunes. We were stranded for about 2hrs. waiting for our generous driver to return back so we can begin our onwards journey. He returned back around 10.30 AM and it is when we started our journey. When we reached Jodhpur it was already 5.00 PM and the palace was on the verge of closing. Somehow we managed to get a glimpse of the palace but missed all other locations (Umaid Bhawan etc.) promised in our itinerary.
7. Our agony with our stay at Jodhpur (Day 5) – TT booked us the hotel Kothi Heritage in Jodhpur for our night stay. When we reached this hotel, we astonished to come to know that they don’t even have a booking for us. When I have them connected with the TT agents, we came to know the hotel was planned to be in maintenance during that period and it has been informed about a week back that they have to shift our booking to a different hotel. Who was in fault, where was the communication gap, it was not clear to me. But ultimately they put us into an absolutely third-grade hotel called Hotel Image Point. This hotel is currently under construction, and they don’t have enough staff to manage. Point to note that I have been promised by TT to have deluxe/premium (3 star category) throughout my travel. But this hotel is not even eligible for any ratings. Location is in the middle of the market, hospitality/room-service awful, food very bad. They weren’t even able to provide us enough pillows and towels.
8. Jodhpur to Udaipur (Day 6) – We almost managed to escape from hotel Image Point for our onwards journey to Udaipur. We reached around afternoon and checked-in to Hotel Gold Leaf. This hotel location wise is OK (although the middle of the market), hospitality/room-service very good, food is also good. We visited Udaipur lake in the evening to take a boat ride and then went for some shopping. Returned back to hotel late evening to relax.
9. Stay in Udaipur (Day 7) – We visited almost all the places promised in our itinerary in Udaipur. But honestly, I felt a complete day stay in this city is not required. We don’t have much to see or you can cover them in like 1-2 hrs. maximum. Did lots of shopping and returned back to the hotel.
10. Udaipur to Agra (Day 8) – This is the longest road trip on our itinerary. We started around 8.30 AM and when we reached Agra it was already 8.00 PM. TT booked us to one of the worst hotel in the world called Hotel Mumtaz Mahal. If I have to give one honest suggestion to any traveler, then it may be OK for your stay back in a waiting room in the railway platform, but for God sake don’t stay in this hotel. The hotel is about 1 Km away from Taj Mahal which makes no big difference because you have anyways walked that same distance no matter who you are or from where you are coming. No vehicles are allowed within a Km vicinity around Taj. The rooms at Mumtaz Mahal was stinky, smaller than pigeonholes, 4 floors but no lift (they told us a funny story about it though), no toiletry, torn towels, unprepared bed cover/sheet, and awful food. Room service is almost zero. You need to call at least 10 times, and then one gentleman with a mouth full of chewing tobacco will attend only to inform you they cannot help.
11. Agra stays and back to home (Day 9) – We visited the Taj and Agra Fort, and again almost escaped from the place. Our flight was late but reached home safely early in the morning of Dec 29th, 2017.
Overall rating – 3 out 5.
Will I book with them again in future – May be
Ayan Mitra booked a trip to Rajasthan for 7 days in a group of 4 adults on TravelTriangle website from Trip SailerCom and submitted a review on Dec 31, 2017
