Nestled among the Himalayas a couple of kilometers ahead of Shimla, as you drive up and past the sleepy town of Mashobra, just off the road nestled among pine trees on one hand and the picturesque valley is Koti Resorts. When I sit and think I realize my family is both sea and mountain people, so when the Himalayas beckoned off we went.
For the second time I took the chance of booking online, the first time was for Bali and wasn’t a very pleasing experience per my ultra-finicky and choosy husband and child. My searching for a resort in Mashobra led me to the website of Koti Resorts followed up by my calls to the ever-patient and helpful owner of the place Yatin in Delhi. I booked a Deluxe room for the 3 of us that included breakfast, evening snacks and dinner. At the last minute the evening before we set off I realized that since it was an hill station the room will not have a refrigerator that I desperately needed for the safe-keep of my medicines. I called up Yatin and he promised to help putting my upset-self at ease.
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| New Improved Highway |
The highway has had a makeover since we last went to Shimla in 2010 and with the construction of many by-passes we literally zoomed and reached the resort in under 8 hours from Delhi.
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| Koti Resort |
The winding secluded road that reached the resort was charming and quaint in its own sense, but when we reached the resort my heart sank a little. The resort at that hour looked deserted and trust me I am scared of deserted resorts or restaurants however much they have been advertised and talked about. Doesn’t mean I like standing in the queue for food, but you know what I mean! We approached the reception with a doubtful me and open-minded husband. We were greeted by the gentle and helpful Mr. Arya the GM of Koti Resort and he was aware of my request for a fridge and informed me that we have been upgraded to a Premium room that is equipped with one. I was happy to hear that and as if to dispel my doubts he added that they had a huge group check-out in the morning and are preparing for another huger check-in tomorrow. Post the formal pleasurable chit-chat we moved on to check into the room.
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| Room with a View |
we were led to room 701, and the moment the room was opened it was like “WOW”, yes in caps, within quotes and bold. Gosh the room with the view had an almost 180 deg view with two corner walls almost all of glass and with a majestic view of the mountains. At that moment all the doubts went off those glass windows, never to return all of the stay. My husband fell in love with the room (not me *rolling eyes*) and my child, used to rate everything on a scale of 10, gave it a big 10. He squealed, “Mama even the bathroom has a view, and look jacuzzi”. Well well and thank the lord I kind of puffed up for the right choice that I had finally made. 
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| Fit for a King |
Next came in the niggling doubt (I am a doubter!! trust the Scorpion personality), oh and by the way what if the evening cocktail snacks are just Haldiram bhujiya or some stuff like that? Ouch and more Ouch). However on checking with the room service we were told it will be tanduri chicken, chilli chicken, paneer tikka etc…..whoops I was transported to snack heaven already.
We stayed at Koti Resorts for 4 days and each day was more beautiful than the last. Service at the resort was prompt and very friendly. We used to have our breakfasts (of puri bhaji, omelets and more) in the sun-lit lawn and dinner in front of the warm glow of the heater in the room while watching a movie, it was too cold to step out and the effort of dressing up was saved as well. We pigged out really while at the resort, what with that heavy a breakfast a relatively lighter lunch soon followed by chilled beers and cocktail snack platter of kebabs and then dinner including daal, butter chicken, paneer and dessert. Gosh! I feel ravenous all over just talking about it.
And yes, though the resort got bustling with a huger check-in of the students from AIESEC, over 200 students, the service to us was impeccable and worth mentioning.
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| Sunrise from the room |
The moonlight filtering in my room at 3am was divine and in the morning I used to wake up at 5.30am to see a glimpse of the rising sun through my huge picture windows from the comfort of my quilt, the sky used to take on an artistic vermillion hue with all shades of red and orange from beyond the mountains, the feeling just can not be put in words. It was like the canvas of sky dripping in brilliant colours by God the artist. Divinity surrounded us in the form of nature, pine forests, pristine blue skies, beautiful walking trails that we hiked on each day to explore and gawk on something new each time. We collected some pine cones and a whole lot of lifetime of memories.
Will we go back? You bet we will….and this time Room No 701 will be booked by choice 
For some more pics https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.386561798086141.95338.223467761062213&type=3
