Golden Flower Heritage Houseboat

Rating 5/5 would be an under statement, as our experience at Golden Flower Heritage HB was (to be very honest) excellent and memorable. Hamid bhai took very gud care of us, in all aspects - be it accommodation / food / sight seeing / shopping - like his own family. I would visit Kashmir again, and definitely no other choice than Hamid bhai's Golden Flower Heritage HB. If you want a refreshing and cherishing break from the hectic work / busy life, and experience Kashmir in all it's glory and beauty, just call Hamid bhai **, tell how many days you have at hand and let him plan the rest. Detailed review and my experience jotted down below. Behind the scenes : Me and wife had planned to go somewhere - nearby Bangalore - during the Easter Weekend (March 31st) as it had been a long time since we had an outing, but somehow it didn't work out. Desperately spent the long weekend at home itself. Kashmir is always a place I wanted to visit from long time back. So, didn’t think much, just checked flight availability to Srinagar for the next week after Easter (April 5th) and it was available. Took 3 days leave from office and scheduled return flight for April 9th, making it a 5D/4N trip. This happened in mid March. For accommodation, I had initially booked a houseboat in Dal lake and later reading the *** GoIbibo reviews about Golden Flower Heritage House Boat (and Hamid Bhai, the owner), I cancelled the former reservation and booked in latter (via Goibibo app). Two days after tickets were booked, a DGCA directive to ground certain A320 model flights due to faulty engines badly affected IndiGo, and our trip was also put in doubt, since all our flights (Blr-Delhi-Srinagar and back) were booked in IndiGo. Still there was a hope that they would resolve the issue in next couple of weeks. Then on April 2nd, there was a big anti-militancy operation in Shopian which killed 13 militants, 4 civilians and 3 soldiers. This resulted in a massive public outrage and 3 day shutdown followed in Srinagar. TOI reported that tourists were also targeted in and around Srinagar, which later turned out to be a fake news (as usual). I called up Hamid bhai, and he assured that everything is fine, you just come. I didn't accept it fully though. To Kashmir : Finally on April 5th, we flew to Kashmir (Indigo flight issues got resolved by that time). Landed in Srinagar at 2.30pm, and Hamid bhai was waiting there with name board. 45mins drive, and we reached 'Golden Flower Heritage House Boat (HB)' ! There was no shutdown that day, and looked like Srinagar was back to normalcy. The Stay: This HB is located in Nigeen lake, which is adjacent to Dal lake. After reaching there, my decision to cancel the earlier booking (at Dal lake) proved to be absolutely right. Golden Flower is located at a very calm and serene location, you can only hear birds chirping all around, NO other noise. Dal lake is too crowded, with 100s of HBs lined up next to each other, and the busy main road surrounding it. It looked like a massive traffic jam of House Boats. Hamid Dunoo, fondly known as Hamid Bhai, is the owner and he along with his family (wife and 3 sons) takes care of all the hospitality (which include your accommodation, food, sight seeing trips and any other personal needs). Dunoo family is into the House Boat Hospitality sector for the last 101 years. I can doubly assure you that you would feel at your own home in Golden Flower Heritage HB, with Hamid bhai and his family being there always to support you. HB has 3 Deluxe rooms, each with a king size cot - having space for additional single cot, attached bathroom, TV, wifi, hot water, cup boards, a common dining room and sit out, and a small garden in the front. Ours was room #103, which is at the end of house boat and have more privacy compared to the other two. We never used TV and wifi - you would not feel like getting distracted in that wonderful atmosphere. Anyways, for the record, Vodafone 3G coverage is pretty gud in the HB (for the unavoidable Whatsapp chats). The Food: Food is home cooked (Hamid bhai stays behind the house boat), and you can order Veg/Non-veg dishes as per your liking. Initially we thought of having only breakfast from the houseboat (hence took the breakfast inclusive package in Goibibo), but ended up having all 4 days dinner as well as 2 days lunch. My recommendation would be to try Mutton dishes (ball curry / sheek kabab) if you are a non-veg foodie. And lot of Kashmiri Qahwa. We had Poha/Upma/Bread Butter/Omlet/Methi Paratha etc as breakfast options. For dinner it was a veg curry (like Dal fry or Peas Curry)/Egg curry along with chicken curry/mutton ball curry served with rice and tawa chappathi, curd, pickle, salad. Mustard is widely cultivated in Kashmir, so expect mustard oil in almost all forms of food :). Sight Seeing: Hamid bhai arranged everything from planning the daily sight seeing trips to arranging guides wherever needed, best hotels for refreshment/food on the way, covering most of the well known places based on the ground situation for that day and weather etc. We had to reschedule our plan to visit Pahalgam to next day due to a curfew there. He took us all around in his Tavera. This was our schedule : Day 1 - Shikhara Ride in Dal lake (evening) Day 2 - Srinagar local sights (Shalimar/Nishat/Chashmi Shahe, Tulip Garden, Shankaracharya temple) Day 3 - Pahalgam and then Gulmarg Day 4 - Sonamarg (Baltal, ZojiLa Pass, Zero Point) Day 5 - Dachigam National Park (half day) Pricing: Very Very reasonable. 5D/4N accommodation, with breakfast, costed around 9k (through Goibibo). If you look for hotels instead of HB, the rate would be around 50% more. For the 5 days sight seeing trips (as mentioned above), along with airport pickup /drop, Hamid bhai charged us around 10k, which is very reasonable (considering the fact that I paid 1k for Uber from my Bangalore home to airport, which is about 45kms drive). For food, each meal (lunch or dinner) costed an average of Rs.500/- for two. And we forgot to pay for our 4 dinners; only after reaching Delhi airport we realized that and called Hamid bhai. He said to forget it, and not to worry about. But 2k is not a small amount, and we transferred it via PayTm. That itself shows he is not a money only minded personality, and cares his guest like own family. Some tips (rather learnings from our visit): 1. Outside state's prepaid SIMs won't work in JK. Postpaid is fine. 2. Check the weather before visiting Gulmarg. If there is a slight chance of rain, then prefer to visit it later. Gondola ride gets cancelled on weather conditions. Also, visit there in the morning half itself, get the tickets till Phase 2, go there and then only come back to Phase 1. Better to have a guide, since there are lot of local gangs who will loot you by forcing to take their cabs/horses as well as charge a bomb for snow activities. Guide cost was 800/-. He can interact with them and make gud deals. Hamid bhai will arrange a guide. 3. Shikhara ride in Dal is better than Nigeen, as Dal lake has markets, villages. 4. While leaving Srinagar, plan to reach the airport at least 2-2.5hrs before departure. There are 4 levels of security checks/identification and baggage screening (not like other airports, Srinagar is a defense controlled airport). You have to personally identify your checked-in baggage at a dedicated area before boarding, then only they will put it in flight. We reached there just 45mins before departure (due to traffic jams) and had a very tough time. 5. Mutton items are delicious. 6. Mustard oil is used in almost all dishes. 7. If there is rain, then it's a better time to visit Sonamarg / Zero Point :). Chances of snow will be more. 8. Carry warm clothes/jackets/gloves when visiting Zero Point (sub zero temp zones). 9. Lot of fake Kesar and shawls can be found. Check and confirm (with Hamid bhai) before buying. 10. There is another HB, named New Golden Flower HB, which is different from this one. 11. Tulip Garden is an awesome place, but it will be open only for 2-3 weeks in a year, starting from end of March. 12. People are friendly and always helpful. 13. Shawls, Kesar, Qahwa (tea powder), Dry fruits (like blueberry, cranberry), Carpets etc. are the must buy stuff from Kashmir. Cricket bat (Kashmir willow) factories can also be seen enroute Pahalgam. Shops there can parcel (via India Post) you the carpets and shawls if the quantity is more. 14. Finally, don't believe what's showcased in the media about Kashmir - off course there are issues between locals and the military/government - but it's not going to hamper tourists in any way. Just check with some local source using social media groups or twitter pages, or call Hamid bhai, Go and Enjoy this beautiful place.

I stayed in houseboat H B Golden Flower from 9th to 11th January. Because of availability  of  very less time  we use  the transportation  provided by the hotel for Kashmir visit.   Mr Hamid  the owner of the house boat himself went with us to Sonmarg, Gulmarg and local Srinagar visit. The guidance provided by him regarding site visit was very helpful for making our trip a memorable journey in such a short time. The house boat is well equipped with all necessary services like supply of hot water in the morning, availability of sigdi to keep your room warm throughout and electric blanket which keeps your bed warm enough even in extreme winter. The food provided to us was very tasty and the service gave feeling like home. One more positive thing is that nobody among staff ask you for tip/ bakshish. I recommend to stay in H B golden flower houseboat for a hassle free stay in Srinagar and a memorable tour to Kashmir.

We stayed in hb golden flower houseboat in last week of Dec'16 for a night and had a great stay! We were travelling with 3 months old baby and was concerned about the cold during that time. Captain of houseboat Mr. Hamid had a warm welcome when we reached. He and his staff made sure that the room remains heated throughout day and night. House boat is very clean and beautiful on a peaceful Nageen lake (few miles from commercial Dal lake). We had booked dinner and breakfast at the time of booking and found that food was really tasty with ample quantity. Overall must stay for people visiting Srinagar!

January is the clodest month of Kashmir with temperature dipping to minus degrees but inside the room you don't even require your winter clothes.... Delicious Food, Warmer and Cleaner Room, peaceful location.... the house boat owner Hamid Bhai (Mr.Dependable) took us around in his Car and made our trip comfortable and easy. Every time you go to Kashmir he is the person to depending on... Word of caution: Do not go for so called guides in gulmarg as they are completely unnecessary and counter productive...