MTDC Harihareshwar - Good place to relax. Review on MTDC Holiday Resort Harihareshwar, Raigad

We had been to Harihareshwar over the long weekend : 17-19 Dec'2010 and stayed at MTDC. Here is my review for future travelers.....

Location:

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MTDC resort is situated on a hillock overlooking the Arabian sea, hence the location is excellent. Once you enter harihareshwar, there are enough signboards to guide you to the resort. Situated within the ghats, the property is surrounded by lots of trees. We even got to see a monkey !!

The reception is a small 2 storey building where you need to first make an entry in the register. Please note, this MTDC property charges luxury tax and Rs200 refundable deposit.

There is enough space for parking your vehicle, either you can do it just in front of the Konkani House or in the common area next to the reception.

The later is a good place as it is full of trees and only for MTDC guests.

The parking area in front of the Konkani House is common to MTDC guests and outsiders who come for boating or sightseeing.

There is also a small children's play area. Plus there are lot of benches around to just sit and relax.

Room :

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MTDC Harihareshwar provides 2 types of accomodation: AC Konkani House and AC Tent House

Konkani House: We had booked a Konkani house and found it pretty good. Although it looks like a bamboo house, it is actually cemented. It has been recently renovated with tiles and wardrobes. There is a TV with all the common cable channnels available. The best part of the Konkani house is a small balcony which gives a very good view.I found it amazing to sit there early morning and listen to the sea waves and birds chirping.

The bathrooms were not in sync with the rest of the room. This is one part which is perhaps not renovated.

Ahead in the area, towards the beach are the tent houses. These are actually not tents but made of tin. Although they might give a better view of the sea, I would not suggest it to anyone. I found it to be old and not that well maintained.

Beach:

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The MTDC part of the beach is rocky and private.Its quite shallow too. The beack has black sand and hence the water appears to be dirty. The place is not that commercialised, so I would say it is cleaner than the other beaches that I have seen.

You can avail speed boat or motor boat services for Rs100 per person. The speed boat is for only 1 person at a time since the instructor would also

accompany.The other boat can accomodate about 8 people and it goes for a longer route covering the temple pradikshina marg.

If you are lucky, you can spot some dolphins too.

Towards the left, if you walk for about 300mtrs, there is a long stretch of the beach which is perfect for a dip. Its not at all rocky.When we reached there at 11, there was no one around. Hence it was almost like a private beach. You can also take a walk along the coast line and the view is superb.

Even though it was quite sunny by 11, the water was cold. But we had a relaxing 1hour dip with the waves gently hitting us and the sun giving us warmth.

Food :

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While at MTDC, you would have to depend on the restaurant (Grasshopper Inn). As it is a govt venture, dont expect anything great here. The seating arrangement is done outside on the top of the hillock overlooking the sea. Hence the restaurant is nothing but a kitchen. It quite dirty to look at, perhaps due to the open restaurant they have not made any efforts to maintain it.

The menu is decent, although whatever you order comes with lots of chillies and spices. So make sure that you specify from the beginning, if you want something less spicy. The cost is at par with any standard restaurant in Pune ...

Prawns Koliwada - Rs 150

Veg Thali - Rs 90

Pompret Thali - Rs 150

Chicken Manchurian dry - Rs 110

You will have to wait for about 20-30 mins to have your food served.Till then you can enjoy the lovely view from the open restaurant.

Room service is available at Rs25 perday.

Please note, you need to survive on Mineral water as the water given in the room and restaurant is bad.

Service:

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Like any other govt tourist property, Service at MTDC is just average. We were not given any towels on Day1. The pillow covers were quite old and in shades of brown. But on Day2, the room service person promptly came (although after a phone call) and provided us with towels and changed all the bedsheets and pilow covers.

The service at the restaurant is slow, and the waiters seems to get irritated by the sudden influx of tourists on weekends. There are not many people to serve, hence you need to wait.

Temple:

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Apart from the beach, there is a Lord shiva temple in Harihareshwar. It is about 2kms from the MTDC resort. There is some hindu mythology tale associated with this temple, which I could not comprehend. Seems pandavas had come here sometime during their exile.

However, the pradikshina is quite interesting and gives an amazing view of the sea. If you take the steps behind the temple, you reach a point where you can see lots of caves naturally carved out due to the sea waves. Also the sunset view from this point is excellent. One should definitely spend some time here.

Overall, the MTDC experience was quite good and relaxing. It is a perfect place to relax and be away from crowd.