The Cedar Cottages Manali

I usually don't write reviews, but my family and I had such a poor experience at Cedar cottages that I feel I should share it. We booked the three bedroom 'cottage' based on the reviews, and now I wonder whether some of those five stars were for the free tea offered for five-star reviews. We arrived late at night after a long drive. There was still no excuse for the condition of the place, and the housekeeper Manish gave us some of the worst customer service I've experienced. All three bedrooms had stained sheets and pillows. We reported it straight away because the notice said laundry stains could be charged. Manish said the marks were "permanent stains." He replaced some covers, but one pillow had cotton coming out. If you can't keep white linens clean, don't use white sheets. At 12,000, I expected basic cleanliness. The cutlery and wash basin were dirty too. We also had a serious water problem. When we got back from sightseeing at night, two bathroom geysers either didn't work or lasted barely two minutes, and then there was no water. My sister couldn't shower, and I had to move between bathrooms as the water stopped. There wasn't enough to flush or use the bathroom that night. Manish said we'd probably left a tap running and used it all, which made no sense: if that were true, the first two family members to shower wouldn't have had water. There were four adults and two kids. The fridge was another issue. Staff had put their own things in it and came in to take them out. They offered us one shelf, where the housekeeper's things were still stored. On top of that, our room wasn't cleaned the next day. Manish said we hadn't left the keys, but he'd seen us leave for sightseeing and never told us he needed them or didn't have a copy. It was only our first day; how were we supposed to know? The location is quiet, but a fair warning: it's quite far from the main street, and the road there is narrow. We called the owner, vishal, late at night and he answered, saying the problems would be taken care of. Unfortunately, the new housekeeper didn't seem trained in basic duties and argued with us when we pointed things out. Good business sense should come with good customer service. We were asked to pay as soon as we arrived, but staff still need to do their job. At 12k a night, this isn't the cheapest cottage. International customers may want to look elsewhere. One of our family members was American and was appalled, especially after we'd stayed at a similar property in shimla with much better cleanliness and service. We didn't even want to eat the food cooked by the housekeeper.