Dear Uma and Anita,

Many thanks for the excellent arrangements that were made during our stay at your resort. 

It was simply perfect. The entire staff (reception, house keeping and room service staff) was very professional and efficient. They provided very good service and food quality was excellent. The activities organized even during off season were perfect and it was a very good experience to us. The hotel has been maintained articulately.

Million thanks for the cooperation and support that made our vacation a memorable one.  

I have taken some snaps of the hotel and would forward a Picasa link to you in due course of time. 

Warm regards,
Sachin Joshi

Hi Pramod

First, let me congratulate you on your marriage, and wish you a very happy married life and a great honeymoon at Manali. Here are my experiences - all of which was great - a few photographs of the view around from the room where we stayed are attached for your viewing pleasure.

Primarily, we are nature lovers - that includes both my kids, so I need to admit that our focus was on having a great view from the resort, seeing and enjoying nature locations. To us, activities were just incidental and we never considered them as predominant criteria.

Feedback on Package, Resort and Service
» Resort was definitely good - very well positioned - you can hand-pick the number of resorts there which have these views
» River view and snow-capped mountain views on one side, a glacier part view behind - all from the comfort of our balcony
» Package included 3 nights in Solang Valley Manali and a vehicle for the entire trip
» We had an extended package that
     a) included 1 night in Chandigarh
     b) We had a booking for 3 nights in a different resort @ Shimla not part of this package
     c) included vehicle throughout for the entire trip including at Shimla
» At Solang Valley, the occupancy was low during the period we stayed, so we were upgraded to a Kings Suite from a Deluxe need to highlight that you should not go there expecting the same - it was complementary due to availability
» Ms Anita was very customer focussed, and I have all praise for the way she has managed our travel experience
» She was extremely responsive to all clarifications end-to-end and kept in close touch with me throughout
» The driver she had engaged for us was an extremely polite person, very careful in driving and I give full marks to him
» Every one of her staff are extremely professional and courteous - so again, I give full marks to their service
» Breakfast and Dinner were included in the package - complementary snacks at 4 pm if you are in the resort at that time
» They pack your breakfast on request (you definitely need this when travelling to Rotang Pass
» First day was buffet meals - other days were ala-carte due to lack of guests - however no compromise to quality, quantity, taste
» Free activities include the following - however, the 5 km drive to this place should be in your own vehicle (your cost)
    a) quad-biking (a motor-cycle ride up the hills) - 1 bike free for 3 km ride (max 3 people) - 2nd bike at a charge of Rs. 300. We extended our drive further on for a total of 7 km drive - we took 2 bikes since we were 4 - our total price was Rs. 2,000
    b) 1 person free for a 5 minute zorbing ride (rolling down the hill in a ball strapped to the interior - open for adults as well. Both our kids did this since we didn't quite fashion being upside down
    c) 1 person free for a 5 minute horse ride. Both our kids did this, me and my wife weren't too keen - we had a much better ride at Shimla
    d) 1 person free for river crossing. Kids were a little wary about this, both of us adults have back problems - so we avoided this consciously
    e) 1 person free for rappling (climbing down a hillock suspended by safety cabling. Same reason as above

Our itinerary in Manali
Day 1 - Drive to Solang Valley from Shimla - around 8 hours from Shimla - checked-in at around 8 pm
Day 2 - 10 am to 1 pm - Activities mentioned above (guide provided)
               2 pm to 5 pm   - trip to a couple of local temples and Monastries and a nature park in and around Manali
Day 3 - 6 am to 4 pm - drive to and back from Rotang Pass
Day 4 - 10 am Checkout - drive to Naggar - to see an old heritage palace - converted now to a hotel - great views from there

Best experience
1) Our drive to Rothang Pass - about 50 km one way - a must see place - start no later than 6 am in the morning. You'll be stuck in traffic jams both ways - be prepared to sit in the car for 1.5 hours each way just waiting for traffic to move.  Alternately, you can spend your time doing snow activities (ski-ing, snow-tubing, sliding along the snow) while waiting for traffic  to move (especially at the top). You need to request staff on the previous day to pack your breakfast for the Rotang trip.
2) Stay at the resort - great views
3) Activities - Zorbing - both kids enjoyed this

Value for money
In a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is good, I'll place this between 8 and 9. True, you may find more economical resorts at Manali, but then if you love being close to nature, prefer to be far away from the madding crowds, want to wake up to great views right next-door, and get some personalized service, this is probably the place you would want to go. A big plus - you save 30 minutes straight driving to Rothang Pass as compared to any other resort out here today.

Other activities you can do at your own cost if you are interested - we didn't have enough time for all of this
1) Para-gliding - we had planned for this, but on the day of activities, due to weather conditions, it was shut down
2) River rafting - this is available closer towards Kulu (enroute to Manali)
3) Hot-balloon ride - this is available about 5 km down from the resort
4) Overnight Camping - enroute to Rothang Pass

Will we stay here again / recommend to others
Definitely. I've no doubt that you'll have a wonderful time at the resort

Better late than never.
I visited this place some 1.5 years back. October 2008. And the memories are still fresh in my mind. The only reason is the SPLENDID resort SOLANG VALLEY. I made 50% of payment in advance at their Delhi office and rest 50 % at the time of checkout.

Why you should choose this resort.
1. Just out of city, yet in the heart of city. Some 11 kms away from manali on way to Rohtang
2. Covered on 3 sides by Mountains, Vally and River.
3. You wake up in morning and look out from your room and you would realize,"This is the best morning of my life". Awesome view from the hotel.
4. Large playground for children.
5. Very helpful staff.
6. Excellent food (i tried Veg).
7. They arranged for 2 Candle light dinners by the river side with a bottle of champegne. And believe me the flute played by their staff while we were having dinner added to the romantic atmosphere. And at the time of second Candle night dinner, it was dammn cold outside so they arranged the candli light dinner in the balcony of the
room itself. That was very sweet on their part.
8. If they say these things are included in package, THEY MEAN IT. FREE
SIGHT SEEING MEANS FREE SIGHT SEEING.
9. Taxis arranged from their resort for sight seeing, rohtang, local market etc.

I recommended 3 of my friends to go to that place and they all had same experience.

Great job guys, and just maintain the same kind of hospitality.

Regards
Dhiraj Madan

Hi Neha,