I stayed in this hotel last August, pre and post my Mentok Kangri climb. All the team stayed there, and by and large it was an OK experience, with just a couple of quibbles.
Location, first of all.
The Hotel Royal Ladakh is a little way out of town – way too far to walk in the heat – which is a negative.
It does, however, enjoy fabulous views and has a pretty garden where you can sit out, which is a huge positive.
On my first stay there – pre climbing Mentok – I had a lovely ground floor room with a great bathroom and super (if rather public) views. There were nice touches, and there was TV, so it was a good place to have tea and rest up before the climb.
On my exhausted return, post successful summit but nursing a broken shoulder, I was put in a room up a couple of flights of stairs. I explained in vain to very bored staff that I was feeling dreadful, was physically exhausted and please could I have a ground floor room.
Nope.
Could someone please carry my luggage, since my right arm was in a sling?
No one free, sorry.
So I lugged it myself (with a broken shoulder) until a kind waiter took pity.
Could I eat in my room, since I was too exhausted to go down?
Nope. No room service.
That kind of indifference, sad to say, negated the first experience.
Would I stay there again?
Not so sure, mainly because of its location, which does preclude wandering into Leh.
The hotel is clean.
The rooms are decent sized and the bathrooms are good.
Food was the usual bland, indifferent buffet food, but that is pretty standard in all Leh hotels, to be honest.
I didn’t tell them I blogged or wrote reviews, and I paid my own bills.
