Fantasia Houseboats

Comfortable and convivial, with stunning views of the Zabarwan range on Nigeen lake, this houseboat is a peaceful retreat in bustling Srinagar. I was travelling solo and visited in May when the city is in all its summer glory. Thanks to the reliable and thoughtful owner Manzoor who is always just a phone call away and arranged all my last minute requests - shikara rides, day trips to other valleys, airport transfers - I enjoyed the very best of Kashmir in a seamless manner. The room is clean, the food is tasty and the staff is discreet and attentive. I will be back.

2 years ago

This place is located on the serene Nigeen lake well connected to Dal through narrow steams and lake villages. The quietness and the view of majestic mountains in front is just the start of some of the best things about stay in Fantasia Houseboats. |The maintenance, each furniture piece selected to build an aura of authentic Kashmir experience, the hand work embroidered bed sheets and curtains, 100+ yr old chairs, wood carvings done on the boat and furniture to compliment each other. |The home made food after 3 days of outside food was delicious. Owner Mr. Rahim goes out of his way to make you enjoy every bit of Kashmir. He not only got the best of local merchants to come right at the houseboat for us to buy real stuff like kesar and handicrafts but also let my wife meet the mother daughter chef to learn the Kashmiri way of cooking. |The place has been modernised to suit today’s needs like heaters and electric blankets and yet when enquired about the traditional heater, Mr. Rahim got us a ‘Kangri’ to see. |The local artisans Mr. Aijaz not only came over to welcome us but invited us to his home and showed us his ancestral home and taught us paper mache art. |Every merchant and artist is more than happy to show you the stuff even if you don’t want to buy, their main concern is to show you the Kashmir art and handicrafts.|Before we went to Kashmir people around us were asking about safety. I anyways had no doubts in my mind. And after visiting and talking to people here, one thing is sure it is one of the safest place to visit. The warm ness of people here will win your hearts.

4 years ago

If you want to experience Kashmir this is the perfect place to do so, from the moment we were greeted at the gate by Rahim the owner and his right hand man Majeed until the time we left we had a 1st class experience. Rahim thought of everything to make this a most memorable experience, he had organised for his driver Sam to pick us up from the airport and deliver us to the houseboat, he spent time updating us on our options while in Srinagar and organised our tours for us which we amazing! (Sam our driver was a great source of information. Breakfast was included and we accepted Rahim’s offer of lunch and dinner during our stay. The food was fantastic!! Home cooked traditional Kashmir food - Delicious!, My only regret was we only had 3 nights. Highly recommend!

5 years ago

Wonderful first visit to Kashmir. Houseboat, food and service was perfect. Mushtaq was very attentive and took care of all our needs. A visit to the tulip festival is a must. All staff at the Houseboat wore mask and there was hand sanitizer available for use. Any covid concerns we may have had were put at complete ease.

3 years ago

Being my first visit to Kashmir, it was completely a remarkable journey. Although in such a difficult condition where the whole world is surviving to fight with Covid-19, the world's paradise Kashmir is just beyond all this to provide you comfort and safety from all stress and hardships. The houseboat experience i had was just wonderful and the owner Rahim Sir is an extremely good polite speaking person with all his skills in tourism. The attendant at houseboat Majeed bhai is a very calm, helpful and charming person with his behaviour and serving skills in all aspects to make a guest feel comfortable with. A very beautiful places for sightseeing were arranged by him including Gulmarg, Sonmarg, Dal lake, Srinagar locals, Jamia Masjid, Pehelgam. The nature's beauty is very pleasant all over the world and Kashmir being the toppest i believe. I would recommend to visit and experience in your own way to see how people wins heart. I hope to visit again Insha Allah in the near future.

4 years ago

We stayed here for 2 nights during our July 2021 Motorcycle Ride to Kashmir a d had a wonderful time. The owner Mr. Majeed is a fantastic host and provided the best possible service to us 2 tired motorcyclists. He also arranged a taxi for us to do local sightseeing. I would never forget the welcome Hit Kahwa which was served with the most beautiful background view. The rooms were super comfortable and spacious. We were also served the most delicious and authentic Kashmiri food here. We would love to stay here again whenever we visit Srinagar next. 100% recommended.

2 years ago

The cedar-wood boathouse, the lake and views of the Himalayas are amazing. Rahim and his staff were super helpful and friendly, helped us with everything from getting around and doing day trips, to looking for lost luggage at the airport and shipping forgotten clothes. They really take care of you there. The only thing we'd do differently would be to rent the whole boat instead of two rooms (we were two couples and stayed at a shared 3-room boat, for 4 nights). Also, one of the staff members slept in the living room, to be available if anything is needed and to setup breakfast in the morning. Though this was meant as a hospitality measure, we'd have preferred to have the living room for ourselves. Both can be easily arranged with Rahim beforehand. Recommended, and hope to come back some day.

5 years ago

Before somedays, i visited to the fantasia houseboat. I visit the boat through shikara, after the passing the nigeen lake, i reached at boat, where was staff members who welcomed me, in a good way. Their communication skills was of another level. Then after entry i go to bedroom, were a beautiful designed bed was ready, neat and clean. Furniture was designed with heritage type materials used in washrooms was very expensive. And most important way of serving foods was totally different from others. Which i loved . And most most important for our health, which was totally hygienic and tasty. At the end, i must say i loved to visit, Fantasia houseboat group of houseboats . I recommend you all to visit once and enjoy the difference . Thank you fantasia houseboat the great hospitality.

a year ago