Search Best Hotels in Kaswand

”holygram” at kaswand near bhillar is as the name suggests a tranquil place with calm vibes and truly qualifies for the term ”hidden gem. We have stayed at many different hotels and well-known resorts at panchgani and mahabaleshwar some twice the rate of holy-gram and yet i would rate this place number 1 among-st all of them. It's a quaint place with just four cottages and an amazing location. We could do a lot of bird watching here, you won't miss any spa or games or activities because communicating with nature and going inside yourselves itself becomes an activity here. The food is home cooked and the veg food can be aptly described as ”satwik. We especially loved the veg thali, puranpoli thali and ghevdyachi amti. Non-vegetarian too is available. As it is a small operation and food is freshly cooked one needs to order well in advance. The cottages are a lesson in architecture with their walls of chira and stone floors, impeccably built with an old world charm and modern aesthetics and facilities. Most importantly it's clean and well maintained. Two cottages have a queen bed and a single bed and two others have a queen bed and a bunk bed. The bunk bed ones are on a slight more height than the other two but the sarjaa and raja at the lower levels have a cool covered sit-out area which was perfect in the monsoons. The other two have the sit out area covered for the monsoon but have huge french windows for the view. I would recommend ”sarjaa” for the monsoon season. Also would especially recommend this location in monsoons. The clouds descended on us here and it felt like a piece of heaven! the crowd at the tourist places too are less in this season. Staying at holygram though you are tucked in far away from the crowd yet it takes just 20 minutes to reach panchgani. One can also go on long walks in the kaswand village. Last but not the least is the top-notch service at holygram. On entering the cottage the small gestures win you over with the chocolates and fruit basket, the welcome note and quote on a slate, the drawers are filled with knick-knacks like a sewing kit, binoculars, a game of uno, all required toiletries are set. We would especially like to mention mr. Shelar who was available for all our needs and was extremely courteous and we had some nice gappa tappa with him. The owner too is very cordial and right from the booking process answered all our queries patiently and his passion about his venture comes through while chatting with him. Oh i almost forgot to mention the infinity pool with a small waterfall like effect which is cherry on top of this tranquil cake! the waterfall effect continuously adds a melodious music to the background making one feel one is close to a river. We will surely be visiting this place again and again. Do yourselves a favor and book a weekend at holy-gram this monsoon!

We booked their cottage for 2 nights, from 23rd to 25th Dec. It was peak time, because of Christmas. Service was straight forward pathetic to say the least. Rooms don't have heaters, even though temperature can get real low at night. Cottages were good though, definitely not maintained. Wooden stairs were breaking. They don't let order dinner or lunch to the room. We ordered tea and hot milk to room. About half an hour we got tea, for milk had to remind poor old delivery guy. We got it half an hour later. Their restaurant is pathetic at best, deserted mostly. I can imagine people coming to their restaurant only when they are out of options. We ordered chicken Manchurian, we got chicken chilly (I guess they didn't know the difference). It wasn't edible at all, we tried a couple of pieces and left it. Some poor guy must have gotten that refurbished, inedible chilly chicken (I guess the way we did). In short if you are used to Radisson or Fern, you will be seriously disappointed. Location is good though, a bit isolated from crowd. They seemed to be understaffed, and staff in place seemed untrained or underpaid (not sure which one). If you stay, avoid their food, get your own heater if it's winter.