Houseboat Helen of Troy

We spent 5 nights at the Club Mahindra associate, “Helen of Troy” houseboat in Dal Lake, Srinagar. The houseboat is accessible by shikara from Ghat-19A (Houseboats accessible from ghats 17 & 19 provide good view of the lake). We had a leisurely shikara ride upto the houseboat enjoying the scenery around. Different vendors came in their shikara to peddle their wares and services. Once we reached the houseboat, Hakim and Imtiyaz helped with the luggage (both of them were very helpful throughout our stay). Ayush was there to welcome us and brief us about the dos and don’ts and other features of the houseboat. We were allotted the first 2 rooms-Tulip and Lily. Both the rooms are neat and spacious with attached toilets. The ACs in both the rooms also acted as heaters. Hot water is available in the toilet from 7 PM to 10 AM the next morning. The houseboat is nicely decorated and carpeted. The view of the lake and the Shankaracharya hill beyond is magical. Food in the houseboat is provided by the owner. So there are limited choices. Another drawback is you have to tell in advance if you are having any meal. Eg. during breakfast you have to select for lunch, during dinner for breakfast next morning, and so on. For local sightseeing, we booked a taxi for the period through Ayush. The driver, Irfan, was ok. Seemed a bit arrogant. On the last day he hurried us to the airport which was not at all necessary. We realized this after reaching the airport. One of the rooms, Lily, can do with some maintenance. The toilet door handle was not working and the flush was leaking quite frequently although Hakim tried to fix it. Later, I fixed it on many occasions. Overall it was a good experience. Ayush was very helpful. In my opinion, 3 nights in the houseboat is more than enough to savour the experience.

It was a very nice experience,the house boat is well maintained and the staff is very cooperative especially the owner of the house boat is very nice person.food was too good ..served by very cordial staff,always attentive and the rooms are very cool and the house boat is very luxury,with all room aminities

What an awesome place for a memorable holiday .loved every minute,wish we had more time.the staff is very service oriented , fresh cooked delicious meals weee served and the staff is very service oriented are always available.thank you all for a pleasant stay.