Worst holidaying experience at Forest Hills
This is an effort to offer an unbiased and objective review of the experience we (my wife, daughters, and I) went through at Forest Hills (Tala) where we stayed from 30th Dec'22 to 1st Jan'23. This review is aimed at helping anyone planning a stay at Forest Hills (Tala). I also understand that everybody's requirements and expectations would vary, so this review should be seen in an objective way summarizing events during the stay which prompted this review. I also hope that the owner of Forest Hills (Tala) does take the time to read this review and set things right because I am sure that he built Forest Hills (Tala) with a lot of expectations and creativity.
The overall experience at Forest Hills (Tala) makes me conclude that there are equally good vacation destinations at a much lower price (more than 50% lower) than the price at Forest Hills (Tala). When we decided to go out for our year-end celebrations, I explored several destinations and since we did not want to travel a lot, we stuck to options which meant a drive of between 5-8 hours. I sent inquiries on availability and prices to several resorts and Forest Hills (Tala) was one of them.
We received the response from Forest Hills (Tala) for their villas and the one that we were interested in - the Glass House was quoted at INR 50,740 per night for 4 adults including all meals for a total of INR 101,480 for 2 nights - 30th Dec'22 check-in and 1st Jan'23 check-out. The quotes we received from other equally excellent resorts and destinations were at least 60-75% less expensive. I am from Ooty and my wife is from Dharamshala (HP), so we know what this place would be like - INR 50,740 per night was outright exorbitant. I immediately responded by saying that this is too expensive and took it off the list. However, the reservation staff Ms. Riya kept following up with an intention to obviously sell and finally offered us a close to 20% discount. So, we finally booked the place for a 2-nights stay at Glass House.
When I was in the process of confirming the booking and before making any payment, I advised Ms. Riya that we are looking to book the destination for the year-end party apart from experiencing a stay. So I asked her to confirm that the package for the Glass House would include access to the year-end party, specifically the DJ / music for dance. The food was anyway part of the package to the Glass House and since we don't consume drinks we were not looking for any drinks as part of the event. I was only looking for a confirmation from the DJ / Music and I was told that as part of the booking at Glass House we would have access to the year-end party to be held on the campground at Forest Hills (Tala). I went ahead and made the reservation by making the payment.
We returned from the stay at Forest Hills (Tala) yesterday 1st Januaray'23 and regret to share that the experience at Forest Hills (Tala) was the worst ever of all our holidaying experiences ever and to think of it we burnt close to INR 1 lac for this disgusting experience. My wife is furious with Forest Hills (Tala) and my daughters don't share a high opinion of Forest Hills (Tala), especially the Manager at Forest Hills (Tala) Ms. Anuradha, who if anything at all is not fit for Guest Relations and Guest Experience. I am sharing the experience here of our stay at Forest Hills (Tala).
1) At the outset and in hindsight the Glass House is not maintained at all, especially the washrooms. The rooms were not made as required, I believe the earlier check-outs were delayed. We did not make any fuss about it. We thought we will have our lunch and then check in.
2) The Glass House package included a 3-hours trek to Kuda caves. This was an event that all 4 of us were looking forward to. We called up the contact at Forest Hills (Tala) to book the trek for the 31st Dec'22 morning. We were told that the trek starts at 7 AM, which we confirmed. On the 30th Dec'22 night around 10 PM, I received a call from the guide/contact that the trek had to be canceled since the staff at Forest Hills (Tala) would be busy setting up tents for the camper's year-end party and our's was the only family that signed up for the trek. It appears that the Manager Ms. Anuradha thought it is better to focus on the additional money-generating year-end party for the campers than the resident guests who were already at the site. My daughters were very surprised and disappointed with this decision.
3) We did our nature trail around on the 31st Dec'22 and in the evening around 8 PM we all went to the camper's ground for the year-end party. As I was parking the car, my wife and daughters went ahead and were met by the Manager Ms. Anuradha at the entrance who informed them that access to the year-end event was restricted to those who had booked the event. When I came to the entrance I informed Ms. Anuradha that we were told we have access to the event. All that we wanted to experience was the DJ / Music, the food anyway was part of the Glass House package and we don't consume alcohol/drinks so were not interested in the drinks. I requested that since we were all dressed up for the year-and event, she let us into the event and I even offered that she can charge for the DJ/Music that we will experience. However, Ms. Anuradha was absolutely unfazed and did not agree to that as well. My wife was furious and my daughters were very upset. The decision by Ms. Anuradha defied logic. On the previous night of 30th Dec'22 evening, the dinner was hosted at this camper's ground and had DJ/Music as well. This made my wife even more furious.
4) We were told that dinner for resident guests was at the restaurant. We did not understand this whole logic of separating guests - residents and campers. The impression that was getting formed was that preference was given to the camping guests over the resident guests for the year-end party. My daughters and wife did not want to be at the Forest Hills (Tala) anymore and we decided that we will leave Forest Hills (Tala) after dinner since it was only 8:30 PM and we could still arrive at a venue in Navi Mumbai and be at a year-end party. We arrived at the restaurant and started our dinner. By this time due to the experience, our mood and appetite both had taken a hit. As we started our dinner we experienced a live music performance by Dr. Aniket which was the only saving grace till then. It was a nice sublime experience of about 3 hours after which we decided to stay back since it was way past 12 AM. During dinner, we came to know that the experience we went through was also faced by other resident guests, as my wife talked to one of them.
5) The final nail in the worst holidaying experience was dealt with on the 1st Jan'23 morning at the restaurant during breakfast. We checked out of Glass House on the 1st Jan'23 around 9:45 AM and came to the restaurant. The restaurant was crowded, chaotic, and with no arrangements to manage it well. It was overflooded with people. This was not the experience we expected paying INR 82K for a 2-night stay. There was no place to sit and have a peaceful breakfast after a bad experience and before the long drive home. We again saw Ms. Anuaradha roaming in the restaurant with a sheet (probably a list of guests from the camping). Her sight was becoming sore for us, especially my wife. While she kept checking with guests around on the experience, not once did she feel it necessary to come and talk to us. Ms. Anuradha is a pathetic manager and is not fit for this position.
In the middle of this worst experience, I must however mention that the staff at the Forest Hills (Tala) are very guest-friendly. They are very warm and hospitable. Some of the names I recall worth mentioning are (i) Nitin at the restaurant and the sunset view point (ii) Naseeb at the restaurant (iii) Damodar and Naresh at Petting Zee. The other staff was also very courteous and far more guest-friendly than their Manager, Ms. Anuradha.
Henry Solomon
+91 9920 75 3391
henry_solomon@yahoo.com
