Feeling the negative temperature with a blissful view

Getting up in the morning and seeing snow all around with a scenic view - that was all that drove us to book a night stay at The Meadows, Gulmarg. As I posted in my last blog my daughter had a dream to wake up seeing snow all around. And I must say we were not disappointed by the nature. The hotel is near the Gondola rides cable car, so its at an elevated place. We were very tired playing the whole day in ice, so once we reached there we felt like taking rest. But we had to climb the steps to reach there.

The ambience was nicely set up in the hotel, and it was snow everywhere. We were thinking that those ice have become hard (some kind of hard rock) and remains there forever, but in reality they were not melting because of the low temperature. On querying we got to understand that they only go away in peak summer which is in June. Soon we realized that we did not had any lunch, almost forgot playing in the ice. So kids ordered something to eat and look what we got.

Getting hot Maggi and some crispy snacks at such a cold place was like have their dream fulfilled - an entirely different experience.

And look at him, he was not even willing to go for dinner and come out of that blanket. They have room heaters, but then they start it only after 7 p.m. and it takes almost more than a hour to feel the effect. The heaters are run by hot water, because the entire building is made up of pine wood. So that is the reason it takes time to feel the effect.

Seeing them not coming out made me take rest as well and literally it was very difficult to go for dinner.

The serving was very limited to only few items - kids felt a pinch but then we had to convince ourselves that probably that is what you get on a snow land. What made me happy was that hot Tawa Roti served on table with some sweets and other items - enough for a perfect sleep.

The night was pretty chilled and we were disappointed that they did not have hot water being served 24/7. You really can't even put your hand under the tap water - freezing cold water coming out of it. I tried to call in for some help but there was nobody around the reception, which was a pretty bad experience - unexpected from a 4+ rating hotel. Getting up pretty early in the morning and seeing all others sleeping like they are not going to get up in next hour made me go out with the camera to grab some cool snaps. And no one was still around the corner to even ask when we would get some hot water. They really need to make their service better.

Testing of the zoom of my camera lens to see this which was a bit far from me - seeing some good results.

Doesn't it look like some white hard rock ?

I could not stay for more than 20 minutes, my hands were shaking , effect of which was on the videos. All the gloves were wet from the previous day, so it would be better if you keep spare ones.I had to come inside and search for someone to help with hot water. They had to start the generator and it took almost more than half an hour to get hot water. This was not the kind of service I was expecting. They should have taken care proactively in the early morning.

Overall the food was good, though items were limited in numbers. Knowing that we did not have the gondola ride tickets, we finished breakfast early and decided to leave early for half a day site seeing in Srinagar, as we had to return our ice shoes on our way back.

As we came in I took the picture of the spot from where the gondola ride was starting - look at the crowd. It was more than 100 fts down but thanks to the camera.

We are definitely coming back in few years with a more better plan. If you ever plan to go to Gulmarg then plan couple of days stay with gondola tickets for both the phases ( Second phase is more adventurous but may be scary for some). And there are much better hotels on the top - if you can afford. On our way back there was a magnificent view point and the driver planned for it. I will keep it for my next post. But before I go I must share something else - our first reel at Gulmarg - with the song Aap Ke Aa Jane Se from Khudgarz movie at our time. I am only a supporting actor though 😀

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqvdvldpUQh/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D

This post will be part of my google review of The Meadows, Gulmarg.

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