Like every other organization 360 Inn also has issues handling dissatisfied customers. However we have always taken it in our stride and tried our best to do whatever is practically possible under the circumstances. Last week we had a group who stayed at the 360 Inn campground . Day 1 was a manavanoor trek and Day 2 was the trek to Kumbakarai falls all the way to the plains.An episode that we will remember not just for the bad experience but the way the campground was after they left.In the case of this group we decided to forego the balance amount and let them arrange for their own food . And that too for an off-season rate of Rs 1900 per person for 2 nights (includes 2 night tent accommodation, sleeping bag/mats, 2 nights campfire, 2 days full trekking and 6 meals)
On 4th May 2012, the expectations were very high. We were eagerly anticipating a large group of 35 .
At around 11am on the morning of 4th May, myself and 2 members of the 360
Inn team got to work pitching 7 tents on our campground in preparation
to receive the trekkers late in the evening. Few of my men went ahead to chop firewood for the campfire.
We finished the job around late afternoon and went back to have
lunch. Once back from lunch we set about placing comforters (something
we never promise) and sleeping mats in each tent.
In order to have more latrines we built 3 new pit toilets for the group with 3 large sacks of sawdust to sprinkle in the toilet to suppress the smell. Pit toilets, unlike regular toilets, are costly to maintain since they dont have a deep leech pit and needs to be reconstructed in different areas in the campground. So a lot of labour is involved in preparing a campground for large groups.
The group of trekkers reached Kodaikanal around 5pm .Things went smooth until the evening after they landed on our campgrounds. Inspite of the steep 300ft terrain on which our campground is located, we managed to offer them Pear cakes and chips as snacks and tea, something that we never promise our customers but provide as a token of our informality.
As night set in and the guests comfortable settled into their tents, we
managed to get dinner ready. The only issue was that since it was dark
we needed a team to get 3 vessels (meant for 40 people) down the
incredibly steep 300 ft terrain. I requested my team to get help and at
around 7pm, 3 men volunteered to do the almost impossible job of carrying these
piping hot and heavy dinner vessels down to the campground.
Though the entire weekend trip was about trekking and camping , the group kept harping on the fact that they had very high level doctors who wouldnt eat at roadside restaurants or oily food. There was also a call from a guest who wanted milk served at 8pm in the evening on such a steep terrain which is cutoff from the outside world . Frankly, we have never discussed so much about food with any of our guests because we run a campsite not a hotel.We kept wondering why such doctors would stay in tents and use pit toilets instead of staying at the Carlton. Infact there are many celebrities and executives who love the experience of eating roadside food.If you are a camper at 360 Inn you need to adjust quite a bit on the food since we operate on very demanding terrains to provide our guests one of the best camping and trekking experiences. There were also complaints about guides not knowing the way. All 360 Inn guides are 100% locals and know entire Kodai in and out.For large groups , we always have 2 guides , an older one with experience and a younger one who is able to understand some english ! On the last day the group left for the 22km long and arduous trek to Kumbakarai with our guides. The trek started at 10am from Dolphin's nose and ended at around 3:30pm at Kumbakarai falls. The only person who thanked our guides after the trip was the car driver ! This inspite of the fact that the 360 Inn team worked round the clock to meet their needs without charging anything extra, even the firewood that we provided the group for 2 days was actually meant to be used for an entire week,which is a 360 Inn principle to give our guests an overwhelming experience!
Below are photos of the campsite after the group left !
We just want to let our customers know that we are a camping / trekking outfit that specialize in nature. Food is just a necessity and we provide it through various hotels on the way .If you are very choosy about food, avoid us !!! What we do guarantee our customers is we always taste the meals provided by every vendor to make sure they are upto our standards.
One feedback we will definitely take from this experience is to thoroughly screen our customers who are interested in camping to make sure they understand their responsibility in terms of campsite awareness, conduct and attitude towards the labourers who serve them on the site.
On 4th May 2012, the expectations were very high. We were eagerly anticipating a large group of 35 .
We finished the job around late afternoon and went back to have
lunch. Once back from lunch we set about placing comforters (something
we never promise) and sleeping mats in each tent. 
We also managed to get
4 sleeping bags (at no cost) if necessary.
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In order to have more latrines we built 3 new pit toilets for the group with 3 large sacks of sawdust to sprinkle in the toilet to suppress the smell. Pit toilets, unlike regular toilets, are costly to maintain since they dont have a deep leech pit and needs to be reconstructed in different areas in the campground. So a lot of labour is involved in preparing a campground for large groups.
The group of trekkers reached Kodaikanal around 5pm .Things went smooth until the evening after they landed on our campgrounds. Inspite of the steep 300ft terrain on which our campground is located, we managed to offer them Pear cakes and chips as snacks and tea, something that we never promise our customers but provide as a token of our informality.
Though the entire weekend trip was about trekking and camping , the group kept harping on the fact that they had very high level doctors who wouldnt eat at roadside restaurants or oily food. There was also a call from a guest who wanted milk served at 8pm in the evening on such a steep terrain which is cutoff from the outside world . Frankly, we have never discussed so much about food with any of our guests because we run a campsite not a hotel.We kept wondering why such doctors would stay in tents and use pit toilets instead of staying at the Carlton. Infact there are many celebrities and executives who love the experience of eating roadside food.If you are a camper at 360 Inn you need to adjust quite a bit on the food since we operate on very demanding terrains to provide our guests one of the best camping and trekking experiences. There were also complaints about guides not knowing the way. All 360 Inn guides are 100% locals and know entire Kodai in and out.For large groups , we always have 2 guides , an older one with experience and a younger one who is able to understand some english ! On the last day the group left for the 22km long and arduous trek to Kumbakarai with our guides. The trek started at 10am from Dolphin's nose and ended at around 3:30pm at Kumbakarai falls. The only person who thanked our guides after the trip was the car driver ! This inspite of the fact that the 360 Inn team worked round the clock to meet their needs without charging anything extra, even the firewood that we provided the group for 2 days was actually meant to be used for an entire week,which is a 360 Inn principle to give our guests an overwhelming experience!
Below are photos of the campsite after the group left !
We just want to let our customers know that we are a camping / trekking outfit that specialize in nature. Food is just a necessity and we provide it through various hotels on the way .If you are very choosy about food, avoid us !!! What we do guarantee our customers is we always taste the meals provided by every vendor to make sure they are upto our standards.
One feedback we will definitely take from this experience is to thoroughly screen our customers who are interested in camping to make sure they understand their responsibility in terms of campsite awareness, conduct and attitude towards the labourers who serve them on the site.
