Traveling in summer vacations is not always our type of holidays since one can expect traffic jams and rush all around. However, I thought a bit differently this summer and thought of taking my 6-year old daughter to hills for her vacation. Nainital has been my favorite hill station with lots of childhood memories already in my mind.
Now, the place was decided but I wanted to go for something unique this time. A trip which is away from the usual hotel stay and includes roaming around the Mall Road. But what could be unique in such a usual hill station which we have been visiting for years. That’s when this 158-year old property brought life to my thoughts. Let me take you through our stay experience in WelcomHeritage Ashdale, Nainital.
Details Of My Stay At WelcomHeritage Ashdale, Nainital
Duration of Stay: 3 Nights 4 Days
Price: 9,500/- Per Night
Inclusions: Accommodation, In-room facilities, Kids room facility
Exclusions: Breakfast (I wanted to explore some cafes for brunch and that’s why we did not include breakfast in our package)
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How I Came Across This Property
Heritage properties have been fascinating me since long and staying in one of these was long pending. I often used to browse through several heritage properties on every trip, however, always ended up booking a nice luxury property due to some factors.
Well, it is often observed that the heritage properties offer you the most authentic and traditional architecture and facilities. So, even if I liked the property, I would refrain from booking due to the rustic designs given to the washrooms and bedrooms. My daughter yells if the bathrooms are not lavishly decorated and believes that her holiday is incomplete without an opulent hotel stay.
So, here we came across this 19th-century heritage property called WelcomHeritage Ashdale in Nainital for our recent summer vacation spree.
What Makes It So Unique
This is a property built in English era by Capt. George Rowels working for British East India Company. The structure was his summer home in 1860 and is one of the oldest cottages in Mallital. In the year 1871, Rowels went back to England and left this property for sale. This is when the Raja Bahadur of Sahspur Bilari bought this property and made Ashdale as a part of his Sahaspur Bilari Estate. Rani Indira Mohini, the Rani of Sahaspur Bilari gifted this property to her daughter Rajkumari Reena Kumari after almost 100 years in 1980. Since then the property is owned by Rajkumari Reena Kumari who is the wife of Raja of Labhowa. Well, this is too much history, but it certainly fascinates you once you enter into this beautifully restored property.
This 18th century bungalow was restored by Rajkumari Reena Kumari recently and opened its doors for guests for accommodation in November 2018. It has 24 well appointed rooms along with an Old Apple Yard Cottage (Our home for 3 days). The décor well depicts the English elegance along with the modern-day facilities.
Lush green open spaces and stone architecture if something we loved in this heritage property. Outside our cottage was the mantelpiece for bonfire.
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Rooms & Facilities
The property is managed by Welcome Group of Hotels (ITC Hotels) and so you can expect all 5-star facilities here. The rooms are huge and adorned in colonial style.
They have broadly 4 categories of rooms and an Old Apple Yard Cottage. Total 24 rooms in the property offer all facilities including mini-bar, tea-coffee maker, complimentary Wi-fi etc.
- 8 Premier Rooms
- 6 Superior Rooms (No view)
- 6 Regent Rooms
- 4 Ashdale Heritage Rooms
We stayed in Old Apple Yard Cottage and were not sure of the facilities since it was a little away from the main structure of this property. However, on reaching we found that this was indeed quite better than the rooms as we got a private area outside our room with a mantelpiece and ample space for my 6-year old daughter to move around.
Dining At The Resort
As shared earlier, we did not include breakfast in our stay. But the resort has 2 real nice dining options. One is their Green Oak restaurants with fine dining ambience and right next to it is their Verandah Café where the guests can have a relaxing time sipping their favourite coffee while overlooking the lush green gardens and valleys around.
We did not have food in the restaurant, however, we ordered evening snacks in room and they were tasty and flavorsome.
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Restaurants & Cafes Nearby
Not even a half a kilometer from this resort, there is this beautiful place which perfectly went with my idea of Nainital trip with a twist. It is Café Chica offering sumptuous brunch till 4:30 PM. This place was much more beautiful than we had expected. The place has mesmerizing views from its garden seating and serves delightful Continental and Italian breakfast options. The café is rather a part of another 145-year-old structure called Abbotsford in Kumaon Hills. Love the tea served in Bone China, the typical Victorian style.
The next day we had brunch at Pots and Stones, the new café (for me at least) right on Mall Road. They serve delicious food and a huge range of options.
Our daily ritual during the trip was dinner at Manu Maharani Hotel located at a walking distance from the resort. This is because we wanted to have some Tandoori (Barbeque) delicacies and the Tandoor was not operational at our resort. Yes, it was a bit shocking for us, but we came to know later that this is one of the common concerns in Nainital hotels. You do not get Tandoor items in the menu in most of the hotels despite the fact that this was a peak season. Honestly, this was the only turn off at this place we stayed in.
The stay experience at WelcomHeritage Ashdale Nainital was memorable. They have ample parking space and a beautiful backdrop for perfect photography. The entire premise was adorned with colorful flowers and greens spread all over. The service is amazing and the hospitality from the staff deserves all appreciation. Got the chance to have a short interaction with the owner of the property Rajkumari Reena Kumari as well. She welcomes her guests with lovely smiles and shares stories from the historical past of the hills. The hotel is the real epitome of royalty and we could sense it all around while we stayed there for 4 days.
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How To Reach WelcomHeritage Ashdale Nainital
Ideal for those looking for a relaxing stay in Nainital, a little away from the hustle of Mall Road, WelcomHeritage Ashdale Nainital is a perfect option to book your short stay from Delhi. It is located on the High Court Road amidst the beauty of oak laden mountain ranges.
We traveled by road to Nainital and it was an 8-9 hour drive to the property with 2 stopovers of half an hour each. We stopped for ‘Kulhad Chai’ and were enticed by huge hoardings on the way and had brunch at Burger King on the way. The next stopover was for lunch while we were about to reach Nainital.
We traveled in the month of June and a week before we heard a lot about the nasty jams of 15-16 hours. We were afraid of getting stuck, but much to our surprise the drive was smooth and comfortable. We took the Kaladhungi route since GPS was showing it faster than the usual Haldwani route. This was majorly because of the vacation rush on Mall Road entry. The resort is anyways located on the other side of the Mall Road and that’s why Kaldhungi route was better.
Welcomheritage Ashdale to Mall Road Nainital is only 1.9 kms. and it took just 9 minutes for us to reach Mall Road every day. We regularly visited Mall road after dinner since it was fun driving down the road without any barriers late at night and relishing the lakeside while playing great music.
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Our stay experience in WelcomHeritage Ashdale Nainital was truly a memorable one. They have ample parking space and beautiful backdrop for perfect photography. The entire premise was adorned with colorful flowers and greens spread all over. The service is amazing and the hospitality from the staff deserves all appreciation. Got the chance to have a short interaction with the owner of the property Rajkumari Reena Kumari as well. She welcomes her guests with lovely smiles and shares stories from the historical past of the hills. The hotel is the real epitome of royalty and we could sense it all around while we stayed there for 4 days. So, if you are planning to plan a trip to Uttarakhand with TravelTriangle too, make sure you stay at this heritage property for a one of its kind experience.
