IndianScientist 
 
April 21, 2023
 
 
  
Panthashala: Flavour of homestay in a hotel
The property is a complex of apartments and bungalows, some of which constitute the hotel. There is a restaurant at the centre of the complex which serves the hotel guests, the owners of the apartments which are not parts of the hotel, as well as outsiders. The property is several km away from Bolpur/Santiniketan on the way to Ilambazar. The inside of the complex is well-maintained and in the evening the well-planned lighting adds to the charm. The forest area about a further km down the main road towards Ilambazar is well worth a drive. We opted for a super-deluxe room for a one-night stay. The room was a 1 BHK apartment on the first floor with a tiny balcony. There is no lift and the staircase is not up to the mark. The room itself is reasonably appointed. The toilet was clean. The toiletries were meagre. We were taken aback by the lack of a bedsheet. There was only a bedcover over the mattress. We were impressed by the room service which promptly addressed our needs. There is no intercom in the room so one must call to a designated number from one’s cell phone. The mobile network is not steady. The wifi connection is weak and sometimes unstable. The cable TV connection has many Bengali channels but standard English news channels such as NDTV 24x7 or BBC/CNN are not subscribed to. They provide only a 500 ml bottle of water for free per guest. The food in the restaurant is like home-cooked and service is quick. The hotel would do well to look into the drawbacks, e.g., fresh sheets, hand-shower in the toilet, an intercom, a fan in the balcony, and a stable wifi.
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 Kiran R 
 
January 4, 2021
 
 
  
Very disappointing place. Extremely expensive. Avoid
We stayed there from 28th to 31st Dec 2020. Like the year itself, this place is a big disaster. It is not a hotel, but a residential place. A few "houses/ studio flats" are being let out as hotel. There are 20 room in total among about 200 flats spread across at least 10 building. It is on your luck the kind of room you'd end up with. We booked 2 rooms that were in 2 different blocks and buildings. 1 room was decent, the other was "over done" in terms of interiors and looked quite garish. These buildings do not have lifts, so you have to pick up your luggage and drag it up manually. It was quite cold that time. we asked for extra blanket, they did not have any. The pillows (did not even have covers!), mattresses, blankets are not standardized, and look like bought from road side shops. They were not even cleaned properly and were very unhygienic. They were actually smelling. In times of Covid, this is extremely appalling. They refused to change these when asked to and did not have any replacement. Had we not paid in advance, we wouldn't have stayed there. The food is ok. The place claims to have free room service but the joke is there is no way to contact the front office, as there are no landlines and absolutely no mobile/ internet connectivity. There is least effort put in to ensure guests' comfort. Overall, a very bad experience
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 Sanjay Bhattacharya 
 
December 27, 2020
 
 
  
Feedback on the stay
Good points 1. Polite staff 2. Good food 3. Clean ambience 4. Close to rural India Needs considerable improvement 1. No elevator 2. Frequent power cuts 3. Generator supply does not provide hot water or AC 4. Poor room services 5. Staff not wearing mask on most occasions 6. No social distancing facility 7. Poor phone internet connectivity 8. Card transaction not possible on most times 9. No Wi-Fi 10. Not professional in interactions
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 Biswajit 
 
December 20, 2019
 
 
  
Perfect holiday
It's a perfect place for family holidays, well maintained and good cordial stuff. Very homely food in very reasonable price. Apart from madding crowd. Best place to stay at santinikatan. It is a perfect place for the kids.
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 Debasish r 
 
December 20, 2019
 
 
  
Homely
Panthashala is a fantastic one ! Very warm atmosphere . Very cordial ! Feeling of home away from home ! Thoroughly enchanting! This is value for money to me! Nice experience for family with kids and friends!
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 Noirit 
 
August 8, 2019
 
 
  
Very good stay
Neat and clean room and bathroom. Very well behaved staffs. Nice peaceful area just beside the jungle. Food quality is also good. Book online at dirt cheap rate. Only problem is with mobile connectivity. Only JIO works.
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 RAJ BOSE 
 
October 31, 2018
 
 
  
Peacful Puja Vacation
It is a good stay. The Hotel is far from Santiniketan but peaceful to stay. Rooms are very clean and daily cleaning is there. Hotel Staffs are very good, specially Mr. Biswajit. Lunch is fixed no La Cart for Lunch. You can choose Veg or Three types of Nonveg Fish thali, Chicken Thali and Mutton Thali, but in Dinner and Scnaks you can choose from their Menu list. Food is good. You have to order Breakfast in morning 7.00 AM, Lunch by 11.00 Am and Dinner by 7.00PM. They will serve you from 8.00AM to 2.30PM and from 6.00PM to 10.00PM. Familly can enjoy there. We enjoyed the stay there.
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 K S 
 
October 31, 2017
 
 
  
Great Place, small corrections expected
First of all, I am really great full to the management of Panthashala for being flexible in providing me dates. I have booked through Goibibo, cancellation date gone and my father has gone through a small injury so we need to cancel or postpone the trip. I called the management at Panthashala, they were very polite and guided me to send request through Goibibo, if Goibibo send them the request they will accommodate me for later dates. Which happens and I got to visit Shantiniketan with my parents and family. We have booked TWO rooms with 2 adults and One children each. Panthashala is arround 6 KM away from Shantiniketan. It is newly build residential complex, where many single rooms have been kept for renting. Checkin was very smooth. We have been given Two different rooms in two different blocks. One at ground floor (as requested), as they do not have any lift and another on Third floor. Rooms are very small, (in comparison to the charges) though tidy and clean. As we are pure vegetarians, food was SO SO... No Roti or Chappati is available at lunch. At dinner provided Roti on special request but of no use, as we were unable to eat those half cooked, half burned smelly Rotis. Very less options for vegetarian breakfast. As we were afraid of Roti quality, we found it safe to go for Luchi and Bhaji, which was good. Staff is very polite and helpful. There were no Tissues provided in rooms (To clean table by myself).. it got dirty while having dinner, staff refuse to clean as it was late (9PM) and said that they will clear the room in the morning. That was disheartening to sleep with dirty table and used plates in room. Even the used cups have not been changed at night and informed us that next morning by 7AM it will be changed. They do not provide any free drinking water (in JUG or bottles) in room, even they do not get it filled and send it to your room. If you want water, you need to carry your empty bottle to the reception (which is far away from room), going down from 3rd floor, get the bottle filled, go up to your room in third floor... huhhh... If you order for packaged water bottle, they will serve it to your room. A big draw back is, they do not have any intercom, instead they have given one mobile number for room service. As we have really bad network in our rooms (both), we are unable to call the mobile number, so we need to go walking to reception for small small request. Smallest but the most useful "toilet paper" was not provided in any of the toilet. As the seat gets wet easily (even if you wash your hands in basin), you need to wait for it to get dried or you need to sit on the WET seat. Bathrooms are really small, One need to take shower while sitting on the toilet seat, as no other place to stand or sit. I have given Three star for the polite and flexible behavior of the staff and management. I found them always smiling and polite.
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 Panthaniwas S 
 
March 28, 2017
 
 
  
Sweet place
Out of city but very peaceful location , on NH but no disturbance , full arrangement of fun and luxury , food and staffs are the best point to describe. Rooms are well maintained and clean.lot of parking and open area landscaping added more advantage to my weekend pleasure
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 Chitta Ranjan A 
 
March 19, 2017
 
 
  
An offbit stay
very peacefull lication far from city ariund 8 km , well maintained very well decorated rooms food is very good , staffs are very friendly , overall very nuce experience and always recomanded to all family traveller , security is tight , lot of greenery and open area added more attruction to my weekend relaxation , complex is huge on the main road but privecy ia very much prorected .
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tripadvisor rating score: 4.0 of 5, based on 16 reviews