Hotel Bharatpur Ashok

Access: I had travelled from Jaipur to Bharatpur via Agra Road. By car, this had taken us about 5 hours and had cost us INR 4,500 on 28 Dec 2013, Saturday in an Indica car. The road condition was good and the travel was pleasant. We had stopped for a coffee break on the way. The place was steeply priced, as they cater to foreign tourists. The WC was large and clean. There is also a small shop with souvenirs, from where I purchased a silver pendant at 60% of the price from a no-bargain shop Hotel Location: The hotel is 1.8 kms within the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary and the only hotel within the sanctuary. All other hotels are outside the park. Cycle rickshaws are available from the gate and we took an auto for 4 people and luggage at INR 120. Road condition is OK and the path to the park is beautiful with trees on both sides. We saw a jackal on the way. One can also walk from the gate to the park, but might be difficult with heavy luggage. The hotel is also at a 5 min distance from the first check point entry to the park. Rickshaws are also available there It is 4 kms from the hotel to the central point within the park. The rickshaws ply at the rate of INR 100 per hour. Usually it takes about 4 hours to see half the park The Hotel: The hotel stands amidst the jungle surrounded by a non-manicured lawn, which suits the ruggedness of its surrounding. There are many squirrels running about and birds chirping, amidst tall trees. The hotel is not much of a looker, and green in color The Front Desk The staff is very polite and onboarding took about 10 mins. The front area is big with a TV showing Bollywood movie song and dance. Behind the front desk is a very big pantry Room Our room was on the first floor. A flight of stairs lead to a corridor balcony with rooms on the right. From the balcony one gets to see the forest and one can find wild boar and jackal running about at night, after the day tourists and the birds go home. Our room was 111 at the very end of the corridor. It was quite big, had a bed, two sofa chairs, a table, cupboard, mirror and an additional spring bed with ample and extra quilt and pillows. The bathroom was also large - hot water was not running, a bath tub was also there. Addition to usual soap and shampoo they had also given us one Babool toothpaste. Cost of room for one night was INR 4000+ for a family of four, including breakfast Pantry There was a set buffet breakfast and lunch and dinner available. Breakfast was part of our hotel package and the non vegetarian dinner had cost us INR 400 per person. It was not value for money. The food was spicy, oily and the fish batter fry was very very tasty. The breakfast did not have juice Park ticket The park issues daily tickets, and if you stay overnight, one will again have to go to the park entrance to purchase the tickets. The hotel does not provide any service to get those tickets for you Overall Satisfaction: We were extremely satisfied with the hotel primarily because of the location. After the hustle bustle of day tourist leave for the day and the sun sets - it is very quiet and peaceful with animals seen within vicinity from the balcony

The bathroom was pretty bad. The food was not too good either. They just made slightly different gravies and put in boiled meat or vegetables in. I ordered murgh biriyani, which turned out no better than rice heated with a bit of gravy and boiled chicken added. The plumbing was pretty bad. There was a bathtub, but they didn't provide any bath gel. The wifi was only in the lobby and considering prices, it really should have been at least a bit faster. The air conditioner in the room wasn't good, and a few mosquitoes got in even though there was netting in the windows. The hotel wasn't awesome, but on the other hand, the place was great. The bird safari was awesome, and I got to see quite a lot of birds. The rikshaw pullers double up as guides and provide decent binoculars. A place worth visitting, but look at other options before booking here.