Chicago Group of Houseboats - Houseboat rental service in Srinagar - Srinagar, India

If you want to feel like home away from home, this is your place. The entire Chicago team welcomed us in the most loving, warm, and comforting way possible. It's been wonderful to be here and it's been hard to leave. We felt like family, a special thanks to Khan for taking care of us like a relative we didn't know we had. <3 Apart from the comforting treat, the place is absolutely charming, with traditional Kashmiri decor, the heating system works well in winter and the food is excellent. They will be willing to help you with anything you need and always with a smile on their face. I only have kind words for these helpful and kind-hearted people. I recommend staying here 100%!

The houseboats are very clean and they make sure to take care of small details as we requested kids non spicy food. They specially make those extra dishes for us. Especially Khan chacha take extra care to serve us in best possible way. Food was wow, delicious and homely. Houseboat location was very good and one have to come by shikara to reach the houseboat. Overall wonderful experience.

Best place to stay in that place. I stayed there with my friends . Seriously, the overall experience is good. The behaviour of the staff is very nice. The place is decent, eye pleasant surrounding and quiet. I would consider everyone to stay at this beautiful mansion

The location is incredible and due to that, probably the views are the most stunning part of staying in such a place. Re the rooms, they are quite basic, they are OK for a few nights but the maintance has room for improvement (for instance the shower was broken). The electricity may suffer cuts and during the day you may even not be able to charge your phone, but at night it always worked properly. The staff and the food was incredible. The right place for a few nights enjoying the views.

I had just visited Kashmir with family (wife, my 14 years old daughter and a friend) last week and to be honest i have no word express my gratitude to Mr Ajaz who is the owner of the houseboat. In this trip i have actually understood that there are few good men like Ajaz bhai in this world who makes us believe there is no bigger deed than humanity. I reached Srinagar on 11th Nov very early (around 730 in morning) and as scheduled i was supposed to check in to Chicago Houseboat (for 3 night stay in his best houseboat which also hosted Mrs Indra Gandhi in 1975). Ajaz bhai only arranged cab for the entire trip. However, the moment we boarded the cab, our driver ( Tariq Bhai, another humble and true gentleman) informed us that that there was some problem that has happened in the houseboat last night and we had to wait couple of hours before we could check in. As we all were very tired due to very early morning flight we were completely taken a back with such a unfolding of the situation. But to my surprize Ajaz bhai had already made an arrangement in an another hotel (Apple Orchard Resort). Later we got to know that there was a huge fire that broke last night which completely razed at least 5 houseboat which also included Ajaz bhai's entire house, Houseboat's kitchen and everything (at least loss of 1 cr to Ajaz bhai himself and 50Cr of loss all put together). Despite this huge catastrophe Ajaz bhai never let this affect our trip. We were put in Apple Orchard resort for two night with food and everything till all the facilities were restored in houseboat and then for the last night we were transferred to his HB. Even on that day he made us dine in Stream (one of the best restaurant in Srinagar- around Boulevard road). The houseboat was just amazing but the hospitality and care we were given no word is enough to thank him despite his own losses. A very very special mention to Tariq Bhai (our driver to entire trip) who took care of us like his own family, guided us till we checked in to Airport We as Chatterjee family can blindly recommend to everyone to Ajaz Bhai of Chicago Houseboat. The Houseboat is impeccable, Gulzar bhai was such a humble man who took care of us on the last night (despite November cold Houseboat was better than even any 5 star comfort and that too when his all resources were razed to ground in fire) but above all Ajaz bhai's hospitality is something I had never ever felt in my life where as I had travelled across India and World. Ajaz Bahi,, May Almighty give you back everything that you had lost. My whole hearted thanks and gratitude to you

Location is amazing, the houseboat is beautiful and well maintained. Manager is good. There are rooms available in the boat with common areas like kitchen dining hall, etc. Everyone should experience it atleast once.

I honestly don't know where to begin with. The people of Kashmir in general are so very hospitable and gracious, however Ajaz as a host was so much more. He made me feel like family. In all my travels, I've not met a host as kind and generous as Ajaz. He allowed me to check in early, arranged for my pickup at a price that was much lesser than standard airport rates and later even safely stored my laptop at his place. After returning from my trek I was having a headache due to altitude sickness, and Ajaz being an exceptional host offered to take me to a doctor. Now about the property, the pictures don't do justice to how pretty this houseboat actually is. The view from the deck is just exceptional. I spent hours just gazing at the scenery from the deck. The shikara ride is also breathtaking. The interiors of the boat are intricate and opulent. Truly feels like royalty. The rooms are spacious and impeccably clean. Once you step onto the houseboat, you won't want to leave. Gulzar the caretaker of the houseboat was also very kind and took exceptional care of me during my stay. If you're planning to stay at Dal Lake, I highly recommend choosing the Chicago group of houseboats. Ajaz will make you feel like family! A heartfelt thank you to Ajaz for everything

You can definitely consider this if planning to stay in a houseboat during your Kashmir visit. The owner Mr. Ajaz and the staff are very helpful. Rooms are spacious and you will get a great view of dal lake from this houseboat. Great value for money.