Rustling Pines Cottage Manali

***THIS IS ONLY ONE OF THE REAL REVIEWS FOR THIS PLACE**** DO NOT BOOK THIS PLACE. We booked this from Australia and the swapna the marketing girl told us that this is the best experience we will have. We were all excited to visit so we booked the whole cottage for 3 families with 3 kids. She told us this was kids friendly. Come december when we visited we couldnt locate this on gooflr maps for some reason the guy told us that its a little off road by which he means 20 minutes of absolute hell driving on a. 6 foot road with a huge ditch on one side so much so that you will think 100 times before taking up this journey with a 3 year old, a five year old and a 13 year old. Well we thought that the worst is bhind us when we reached the place but alas we found that this place is absolute shambles. First thing first the lady who does the marketing for this place Swapna yelluru has no idea of what she is talking about. She gave me th impression that this is a child friendly property and comfortable. It has dangeous almost 800 stairs on all level definitely not for kids She promised us cooks who didnt know how to cook. They were 15-16 year old 2 boys posing as cooks. When we reached there were no towels in any of the bathrooms so we enquired and he said we will go get some they were in the wash and when he got them they were yellow with mould on it. There was no hot water on the ground floor. The electricity went and the the hot water stopped after 2 hours of it the whole house was in darkness as the inverter gave up. The blankets has mould on it and the guy admitted that he got them from the town daramshala this morning. These guys are scammers and didnt return any money as well. I am in the process of talking to Himachal tourism for making sure these scamsters do not scam more people.

The journey to the cottage was scary. The staff was friendly and helpful, however I had problems with the staff. They were smoking in the kitchen while we were there, and there was a bad smell coming from the kitchen. There was no hygiene, and the cleanliness was poor in both the rustling pines and the roadside huts. Furthermore, they do not prepare wheat rotis, only refined flour rotis, which are unhealthy. The view from the top was breath-taking, but the journey was unsafe especially if you were travelling with children or elderly people. You can also look at the other properties. My recommendation is to avoid because our entire trip was ruined. We planned for three days but only stayed for one day because of the road and unsafe circumstances.

Very Nice cottage, recently started. View from the rooms are very beautiful Only problem is that this is a little too much secluded and isolated from rest of the village, on top of a hill. And it takes around half hour to climb down if you want to take a stroll. There are no shops or eating joints anywhere close to this place, and since it is a jungle area, you can't go to out to walk late in the evening. So, if you stay here, you are stuck with having meals in the cottage only all the time, which is a disappointment. Overall a good average experience, but could have been better if the owners had told us about the distance and location issue. We could have got more stuff to eat with us Food was very tasty, and at very reasonable prices, rooms are also quite spacious and very beautiful Since this is a very newly opened cottage, so I could understand these problems. Hope things become better in a couple years You could surely try the resort out once, you will definitely get a peaceful atmosphere

Such a quaint and beautiful place to stay. The offroading experience to get to the location was a joyride in itself. Also, the host was super duper polite and helped us organise our next day rides like a boss. We were eleven people who could comfortably stay in the location and am sure it can accomodate more people. There is a common area to smoke whatever you want to smoke. Also, the didi in the kitchen was super awesome in shopping for us and making whatever we asked. Highly recommended.

The receiver was humble to receive us at 1 am and had to drive us through the pines for about 2 kms to the stay place. Stay place was quite warm and was arranged nicely for the visitors with the requested order for food. Overall a good experience staying there.

We are scammed as even the basic were not available in this property. They drove us 2km up in a extremely dangerous Humpty Dumpty road. Once you go there, you are stuck there. Property was not cleaned, towels were not provided, no soaps in bathrooms, blankets are also not cleaned, no wardrobe or shelves, hot water not working in one bathroom, water leaking from roof our bedroom, toilet flash stopped working next morning, Curtains were not there in living rooms, so it was too cold. Even a OYO hotel has basic facility to live there. Kitchen is also dirty, they don't have proper cups, only steel cups were there. We had too drink tea in glass. They don't know how to make paratha, we made it for ourselves. We booked the property for 3 nights, but we left after first night as it was not in a living condition. It was a nightmare for our family. Even for student groups, you will need basic animities, which were missing there. The marketing lady scammed us. The guys there seems to be simple and don't have much idea about how a homestay works. Please don't go there. Check the pics I shared for evidence.

Its a place made and surrounded with absolute love. From the views, to the food and people I met here made all the difference to the trip. Hearty thanks to Swapna, Ranjeet and Meena didi for putting the "home" in home-stay Good internet connectivity for workations The hosts organize various activities from hikes and treks to adventure sports The kitchen is open to use for a very nominal charge. Definitely staying here again!

The place is beautiful, nice accommodations, staff was polite and supportive. The view from the room is also pretty. Loved my stay at Rustling pines cottage!