HOTEL SAMRAT SS & Brews & Books Cafe

Quality and Service are the guiding principles that help us serve our customers and provide them with every comfort available, hence making your stay a pleasant experience. With a history of over four decades our premises has a reputation of serving guests to the best of our abilities.  

Samrat SS has DELUXE ROOMS on the Second Floor of the Samrat Building. AC Rooms with central heating provide the guest with an experience that is pleasure-seeking as well wonderful, with efficient service staff and all the latest facilities.

Located in the heart of the City, right opposite Himachal Tourism Lift on the Mall Road, its proximity to the local market, eateries, local sights are an added advantage. Take your pick from handicrafts, shawls and tweeds, fruit juice and jams, honey, quality woolens, silver jewellery, rare books and etchings, contemporary Pahari miniature paintings, metalware, rugs and carpets, handmade footwear, as well as the Shimla famous wooden items such as walking sticks and children's toys.

The large open space in the heart of town, THE RIDGE, presents excellent view of the mountain ranges and Shimla's landmarks - the Neo-Gothic structure of Christ Church and the new-Tudor State Library building are worth seeing. 

However, you should be aware the within the City you have the luxury of walking only as no vehicular traffic is allowed on The Mall Road. Those who have difficulty in walking or ones with little children can hire wheelchairs or baby prams from opposite the Tourism Lift at a nominal cost.

 

Accommodation & Facilities

We have Five Rooms on the Second Floor with different tariff rates and facilities.

• Attached bathrooms
• Running Hot & Cold water
• Multi channel cable T.V. on LCDs
• AC / Central Heating in rooms
• 24 x 7 Room Service
• Special in-Room Menu for Kids
• Doctor on Call
• Purified Drinking Water
• Dry cleaning/laundry
• All major credit/debit cards accepted
• A Book Cafe with a Menu Service covering a variety of dishes
• Car Rental Service

Tariff

Room Type	EP	CP	MAP
Super Deluxe Ac Room	3500	3800	4500
Deluxe Ac Room	3000	3400	4200
Semi Deluxe Room	2500	2900	3700

                      

:: One bottle of Mineral Water
:: Breakfast and dinner with fixed Veg menu as per Meal Plan
:: All Taxes included

:: Rates are valid on twin sharing basis.
:: Rates are valid for two adults and one child below 10 years.

:: Extra Bed for Super Deluxe & Deluxe Rooms only. Extra Person Charge Rs 500 per room. Extra Charges for Meal Plan.
:: Heater Charges Extra Rs 300 per night.

Note : Rates are Subject to change without prior notice.

HOTEL POLICY

• Ø Check out time is before 11 am and Check in time is after 12 noon.

• Ø  Guests are advised in their own interest to lock their valuables, cash and luggage before leaving the Room.

• Ø  Please ensure that the doors and windows are properly bolted from inside before going to sleep.

• Ø  The Management is not  responsible for any loss, theft, pilferage, damage to goods, cash.

• Ø  Any damage to the hotel property will be the responsibility of the customer.

• Ø  Guests are advised to ask the steward to provide drinking water separately. Please do not drink tap water.

• Ø  Washing of clothes in the hotel is strictly prohibited, we have an efficient laundry service, contact the reception for the same.

• Ø  Guests are requested to deposit the room keys at the reception before going out. The keys may be required by hotel housekeeping staff for cleaning of the room and in case of any emergency like short circuit, etc.

Brews & Books Cafe

A Perfect Blend of Literature & Coffee in Shimla

Are you a book lover in search of a cozy café to unwind with your favorite read and indulge in some delectable treats? Look no further than Brews & Books Cafe, now officially opened its doors on April 30th, 2023. 

The Café is a perfect spot for book lovers, book filled shelves for the young and the old, with a variety of delicious goodies and a place to chat while you enjoy the ambience. We’ll also be hosting writer’s sessions, book signings, creative writing workshops, author interviews, and much more. At Brews & Books Café, we’re passionate about bringing people together through the power of words and the magic of a good cup of coffee. Join us for an unforgettable experience in Shimla’s literary hub. The Cafe, a unit of Hotel Samrat SS, is located near Tourism Lift, Mall Road, Shimla.      

Contact Us

Manager,

Hotel Samrat SS

Samrat Building

The Mall,

Shimla

Phone: 92180 41115 / +91 98822 01239 / 92186 21796 / 0177 2653620

E-mail: hotelsamratss@gmail.com /

Managing Director

Vandana Bhagra

Ph: 8091021796

E-mail: vandanab_500@yahoo.com

Photo Gallery 

Super Deluxe Room

Deluxe Rooms

Semi Deluxe Rooms

Brews & Books Cafe

 

Hotel Samrat SS

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam's Speech: A Must Read

I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others. That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.

My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT.
For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?

I have a THIRD vision.
India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr. Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life.

I see four milestones in my career: ONE: Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the project director for India's first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. The one that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life of Scientist.

TWO: After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India's missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission requirements in 1994.

THREE: The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss. The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests and proving to the world that India can make it, that we are no longer a developing nation but one of them. It made me feel very proud as an Indian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entry structure, for which we have developed this new material. A Very light material called carbon-carbon.

FOUR: One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences visited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so light that he took me to his hospital and showed me his patients. There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic calipers weighing over three kg. each, dragging their feet around. He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients. In three weeks, we made these Floor reaction Orthosis 300 gram calipers and took them to the orthopedic centre. The children didn't believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. load on their legs, they could now move around! Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss!

Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.

I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance?

I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is: She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.

Allow me to come back with vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country?

YOU say that our government is inefficient. YOU say that our laws are too old. YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage. YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke, the airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination. YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits. YOU say, say and say.

What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM.

YOU comeback to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs. 650) a month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else." YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 kph) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai sala main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost." YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country why cannot you be the same here in India.

Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay Mr.Tinaikar had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? "It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So who's going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand. Or we leave the country and run away. Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too....I am echoing J.F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....

"ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY"

Lets do what India needs from us.

A Tryst with Destiny: Jawaharlal Nehru

A CONSTANT REMINDER FOR US TO 

START CHANGING...!!!

Speech in the Constituent Assembly of India, on the eve of India's Independence: Delivered August 14th, 1947.

 

Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment, we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.

At the dawn of history, India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and grandeur of her success and failures. Through good and ill fortune alike, she has never lost sight of that quest, forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of misfortunes and India discovers herself again. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?

Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility rests upon this Assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India. Before the birth of freedom, we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrrow. Some of those pains continue even now. Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons us now.

That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we may fulfill the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means, the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and poverty and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest men of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.

And so we have to labour and to work, and to work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace is said to be indivisible, so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.

To the people of India, whose representatives we are, we make an appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill-will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell.

The appointed day has come -the day appointed by destiny- and India stands forth again, after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. Yet the turning-point is past, and history begins anew for us, the history which we shall live and act and others will write about.

It is a fateful moment for us in India, for all Asia and for the world. A new star rises, the star of freedom in the East, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materializes. May the star never set and that hope never be betrayed!

We rejoice in that freedom, even though clouds surround us, and many of our people are sorrow-stricken and difficult problems encompass us. But freedom brings responsibilities and burdens and we have to face them in the spirit of a free and disciplined people.

On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the Father of our Nation, who, embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us. We have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed from his message, but not only we but succeeding generations will remember this message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this great son of India, magnificent in his faith and strength and courage and humility. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest.

Our next thoughts must be of the unknown volunteers and soldiers of freedom who, without praise or reward, have served India even unto death.

We think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries and who unhappily cannot share at present in the freedom that has come. They are of us and will remain of us whatever may happen, and we shall be sharers in their good [or] ill fortune alike.

The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.

We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be. We are citizens of a great country on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action.

To the nations and peoples of the world we send greetings and pledge ourselves to cooperate with them in furthering peace, freedom and democracy.

And to India, our much-loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new, we pay our reverent homage and we bind ourselves afresh to her service.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME 

YOU DID ANYTHING 

FOR THE 

FIRST TIME???

Jaipur, The Pink City

Jaipur: From the old to the new

Pink City, notice how the buildings are all in pink colour with uniformly written shop names in black

Shimla Under Hail Storm

Well on a beautiful Monday morning when all was calm and serene suddenly around three am the weather decided to play havoc. The winds changed and suddenly the sky turned black with streaks of blue in between and of course the sun shining amidst them. And behold! What do we have? A sudden spurt of hail falling fast and furiously. As if the Gods were angry with someone or with something. And hey Shimla was all white in a matter of minutes with small marbles of hail. 

 

More than enough for my kid to enjoy it like any other winter snowfall ready to hit outdoors to collect those white marbles. Hard to miss the excitement of your kids and of course you love to join in.

Here are few glimpses of that day. 

Well this also means that this is the beginning of the winters. Those the days are sunny but don't miss the chilly morning and cold evenings. Sweaters are already out and soon jackets too will see the day of light from your packed closets.

So enjoy and all those looking for some snow, well we still have two more months to go but till then have fun!!!