Overall a good experience. Takes back to the old English cottage.

A basically nostalgic glimpse of priveleged life in the days of the British Raj - but you need a fully-functioning imagination. Large rooms but last painted back in the depths of time. Large bathroom but more like a converted garden shed. Hot water, but only if one asks for it. Dingey ambience of the room added to by two extremely dim light bulbs, most of them were not working. Door secured by an old hasp and staple with a cheap padlock - we used our own.Most of the switches did nothing. The bed was one of those bigger-than-king-sized affairs which we foung comfortabe. As Ooty, at around 7000ft altitude, gets quite cold at night we asked for extra blankets which arrived promptly enough, but they were old army blanket type of things - well in keeping with the place. Everywhere paintwork was filthy, faded or peeling, or any combination of these. Generally the place is sparcely furnished with mostly damaged and worn out items adding to the derelict appearance. A potentially beatiful verandah, but again sadly neglected with a torn and worn out strip of carpet.A table at one end supports a motley collection of very old magazines, non newer than around 5 years old, but mind blowingly boring - things like the 1995 financial report of some club! Incredible!
The entrance lobby is again basically impressive but neglected and in a sad state. The restaurant is run as a separate business and is atmosheric and in better decorative order, but the menue is bewildering. How is it possible to be able to order muesli one part of the menu but be told that it was not available a few lines below under the 'choice of cereals'? Bewildering! We did not have an evening meal in the hotel. The staff did their best and were friendly and helpful, but they simply did not compensate for the structural and decorative dereliction. It was fairly cheap, and maybe in our younger days we would have toughed it out, nowadays though, we really were looking a few more creature comforts. Sadly, a much neglected place, but with vast potential. We moved out after the one night.

We spent only a night in Ooty and chose this hotel based on the description in the Rough Guide. It's one of the last remaining colonial-era buildings in the era, if not THE last, and is one of those places always referred to as having 'faded grandeur'. We had to ask for hot water to be turned on in the morning, but as a frequent traveler to India, I can tell you that's not uncommon. The rooms retain what appears to be their original wood flooring, and some of the furniture may be original also. There's a wonderful verandah overlooking the gardens, and flowers were blooming everywhere. I didn't try the restaurant, as we ate in town. Yes, it's a bit run-down, but it was clean, and the staff was helpful. A good place to stay if you want to get an idea of India's colonial past.

We booked the Nilgiris Woodland at Ooty thinking it was part of the Woodland group of hotels. On the phone the staff kept us in the dark. On reaching there trouble started first of all there was no hot water, I had to wait 45 minutes to get hot water waiting in my towel, as the staff scurried around. Then breakfast was over in the restaurant. The rooms and bathrooms are in a very bad shape. The restaurant has lots of items on the menu but half of them are not prepared. Minimum waiting time for orders is anything between 45 minutes to 1 hr. to infinity. The next morning when I ordered for room service morning tea, it came after an hour. When asked why? The waiter said they hadn't got enough cutelery and the hotel was full! Imagine! The hotel is understaffed and badly managed. Stay at your own risk.

The location is good. Less crowded area. Good landscaping within the premises. Old type of rooms. Reasonably neat. Courteous staff. South indian food is okay , but North Indian food is too spicy. On the whole a good budget hotel.