White Rann Camp was my most expensive hotel in my entire Gujarat trip. It was a tented accommodation close to the Great Rann of Kutch, it cost me 6,500 rupees (roughly 100 dollars). I do not usually stay in 100 dollar accommodations. And if I pay 100 dollars I expect a lot. At the first look I was not too impressed with the place mainly because of various stains I could find of the quilts, tent and in the dining area. It was not excessive but I thought places that charge 6500 rupees should be clean.
The tent was big and spacious. I think it is meant to be used on a sharing basis as it had three beds. I was all alone in it. It also had a blower. I seriously underestimated the cold this time when I packed for Kutch. It used to get quite chilly in the evenings, so I really needed that blower. There was a rack to keep the luggage comfortably and they provided two mineral water bottles per tent. If the quilts were minus a few dirty patches I would have liked the it much more. The outdoor green carpet in the common area tried to keep the dust down as best as it could.
The bathroom was clean and functional. I would not expect too much fancyness anyway in such a remote location. But the toiletries for the money charged felt very basic. The hot water was available only at certain hours. Once again in a remote location, I was fine with it.
Their food however was very good. They served Gujarati dishes like Kadhi, Kichdi etc. I had lunch, dinner and morning breakfast there and every meal was good. Meals were included in the price. Once again they would have got much higher marks if the table clothes in the dining hall were clean.
But in the end what tilted my opinion in their favor was there serving staff. They were two young lads from Darjeeling (originally Nepal) and they took such good care of me at every meal that I was quite willing to forgive various stains that I saw in a few places places. After all what are a few stains in the larger scheme of things?
If I had to do this trip again I might stay at Bhuj rather than closer to the Rann. The 80 km distance is quite short for the good roads that they have there. That way with the money I saved, I could have shopped more. I think they had some sort of an arrangement (arrangement in the Indian way) for cultural events. But I was content after spending my time at the Rann seeing the sunset and moon rise!
Great place to visit.
Yes Rajesh, it was beautiful.
Aah, as usual nice and crisp !! Since last two years I have been planning to visit this place BUT owing to never ending love for Himalayas, I always end up in their laps. Hoping soon will make my already planned journey including Mandavi to these places as wife is really looking forward to it 🙂
You will enjoy this as well Dheeraj, plus the roads are good.
Nice place, the more I read about Kutch Rann, the more I wish to visit there.
You should go Deepa.
Am visiting Bhuj & Rann Utsav 16-18th. Spending one night in Rann Utsav.
Rama is there a discount available now or is it still at 15K?
Kutch Rann is a nice place to visit. 6500 Rs is a bit high.
I agree Aditya it is high but all my rooms were less costly.
Interesting camp. Expensive though!
It was expensive Niranjan what to do!
Were there less pricier accommodation that this ? My heart will break in 6500 pieces if I have to pay that much for a one night stay 🙁
Well yo can try to break it into 3500 pieces with the accommodation Urvashi recommends 😀 I too don’t do this, it was just once.
this is one of the reasons I havent yet visited the rann.. the acco is too expensive, esp during the festival, but maybe i will try staying at bhuj when i do go. maybe next year
True Anu even more with Gujarat Tourism, I was told it went for 15K per night. But outside the festival it should not be a problem as there are Gujarat Tourism guest house right at the entrance as well.
You can stay in “Bhoonga” at Hodka Village once. it is reasonably priced at 3500 INR approx. incl of all and quite change if compared to staying in hotel. One can also enjoy folklore music in the evening being played by local artists there…
I bet it will be a lifetime experience for a person visiting there…
The place is a must see and absolutely amazing if one visits during Purnima. However, I wish to see Rannotsav once in life. We had been to Kutch and travelled all over covering the Great Run of Kutch. We had stayed in “Bhoonga” – a thatched roof hut which was simply awesome made with colourful paintings on mud walls inside the hut that costed us around 3500 INR including breakfast, lunch and dinner of local Kathiawadi menu. The place is called Hodka village (will share contact details of person if one wishes to visit there). You can visit this page for more pictures of our Kutch trip here: https://picasaweb.google.com/111296108152318996935/TripToGujarat?noredirect=1#
…and there is one village called Nirona in Taluka: Nakhtrana which is famous for Rogan Art. These three bothers have received National awards for Rogan art work and they are the only family in the whole world who are involved in this work at present. (again would love to share all details of them too, if one wishes to meet/visit them)
Thanks for sharing these useful details Urvashi. Next time I am going to explore more.
Interesting. But how were the other places in comparison?
You could not enter Rann Utsav unless you are staying there. So I only know the price, it was 15K per night.
woah I see what’s going on there.