Mumbai: The most romantic tour of their life allegedly turned out to be the most awful nightmare for 24 newly-wed couples who went on a honeymoon arranged by Kesari Tours.
The couples most of them from the city paid Rs 40,000 for an eight nights and nine days honeymoon package.
The couples allege the facilities promised to them at the time of booking were not provided by the tour operator.
The couples, who left for the Delhi-Chandigarh-Shimla-Manali tour on May 23, alleged that they were promised accommodation in a three-star hotel.
However, in the scorching heat of Chandigarh, they were put up in ordinary hotels with rundown conveniences.
One of the honeymooners said, "The water coming from the taps was muddy. When we called the hotel manager, he confessed that the water was from the borewell. However, he also claimed that it wasn't contaminated and could be used."
When the group reached Shimla, there was no hot water facility in their rooms. Besides, contrary to what was promised, the couples were allegedly also deprived of good food.
Prachi and Yogesh Sathe, one of the couples, said, "There was no electricity in the hotel at night. Moreover, we found a cockroach in the soup served to us."
Narrating the ordeal that they were allegedly made to go through, Madhvi and Atul Shah said, "We have been facing several problems for about a week now. Not only is the tour badly managed, the tour operators are also behaving irresponsibly."
Another couple, Chandani and Dhanajay Shinde, said they felt cheated by the organisers, and that they had failed to get their money's worth.
Ashwani Lokhande, guest relation manager of Kesari Tours, denied all the allegations made by the couples.
"We had explained all the rules and regulations to them at the time of booking. One has to follow certain norms while travelling in a group. If they aren't comfortable with that, they can opt for individual holiday packages."
Explaining the reason behind there being no electricity in the hotel rooms, he said, "As it was pouring heavily in Shimla for the last two days, there was no electricity in the entire city."
Besides, he lamented, there are always some people who aren't happy and keep complaining.