Summit Bougainvillea Tea Resort

The food was the highlight for me: comforting, delicious, and served by friendly staff. The tea gardens around Summit Bougainvillea Tea Resort & Spa made for a peaceful setting, and the warm, helpful team made us feel welcome. Special thanks to Mr. Shiva, the Manager there Mr.Ranjeet, and Mrs. Amrita Rai, as well as everyone whose names we didn’t catch. Our clean, comfortable room did have a few problems: the shower didn’t work properly, a charger point was loose, and the bedsheets weren’t very clean at first. The first room also didn’t quite match what we’d been promised. The staff handled it well and moved us to another room, which improved the stay a lot. For a quiet getaway in the hills, away from noise and chaos, this place is a yes.

Breakfast was only average, with limited choices, and food prices felt a little high. The location is also fairly average, with just one small shop nearby for snacks. We booked three rooms at Summit Bougainvillea Tea Resort from 21st to 23rd February for nine people: a Premium Room with Balcony, an Attic Room with Mountain View and a Premium Room with Mountain View. The rooms were comfortable, and dinner was very good on both nights, including room service. Staff and management were cordial, humble and always ready to assist. We especially appreciated their help with the stairs for our 75-year-old grandmother. Some things could be improved: the bathrooms need exhaust fans, the geysers had issues, and floor levels for room types should be clearer at booking. It was a pleasant, comfortable stay with outstanding hospitality.

The room we got wasn’t the premium suite we’d been shown, even though we were willing to pay for it. Instead it was tiny, dirty and stuffy, with a balcony that felt like a formality and didn’t justify the price. Meals were a letdown: very limited choices, high prices for the quality and quantity, and many menu items unavailable, according to staff. The Chicken Biriyani we ordered one night had chicken that was clearly stale, and the taste was very average. Breakfast had few options too. Service was poor; we had to call six times just to get dental kits and fresh towels, and the Wi-Fi was weak. We were relieved to stay only one night and wouldn’t recommend a longer visit. I’d stayed two days at Summit Oakden in Darjeeling before; that hotel had its own problems, but was better than this one.

The hotel seemed badly short-staffed. One girl handled all the food and beverage service, and she was great, but even a coffee took at least 40 minutes to arrive. The room they called a suite with balcony was really just one tiny room, with no separate sitting space or wardrobe. The balcony was about as big as the room. The bed was very uncomfortable, and we left with back aches. There were only two chairs and a small dressing table, no luggage rack or much else. The Google and Instagram photos were misleading, and the room was very basic.