The Trade Off
by Liz B on
Please note that I have given this a 3 start only on the following basis. Please read on....
The reviews already placed on Trip Advisor are absolutely true.
India has been my base for the last 12 months. I was based in Hubli-Dharwad where we have established our offices, however, we were required to locate to Bangalore for several months and therefore asked a local Bangalore associate if he could recommend or find serviced apartments with a good location for us to stay for a few months. A booking at Homestay located at JP Nagar.
The location I must say is excellent. The apartment was a shock in terms of what was provided and in the general presentation and standard of cleanlinessen undertook to look at other serviced apartments but it seemed after looking at those that we were are better to stay in that location. As we were staying for a few months we spent around INR 26,000. We bought Pillows, Sheets, Blankets, new toaster, frying pan, kettle, coffee mugs, tea towels, cleaning chemicals and general kitchen requirements. Bathroom soaps, toilet paper and bathroom items. Cleaned both bathrooms, kitchen, refrigerator etc. very thoroughly. I'm a bit of a clean freak so always happy to bring what is needed up to speed in order to be comfortable and in fact my colleagues all participated in the cleaning too. We had to remove the shower heads and clean too. After a good day's work, we knew we were in a very good place. Very spacious, we set up 3 work stations and were very comfortable.
Their Wifi should not even be considered; we organised our own.
Location is excellent, walking distance to all conveniences; shopping centres, restaurants, bars, supermarkets etc. The area itself is high of excellent standard. What i also enjoyed are local people pushing their carts yelling or singing as they walk through the street giving you an opportunity to go downstairs and buy fresh fruit, vegetables or coconuts. That's so much fun and such a novalty.
Would I stay there again? Only if I were to stay for 3 months or more. It's worth buying all your needs and amortising the expense, even if only a period of two months, yes definitely worth it. But I would never ever stay for one or a few nights. Far far better to find a hotel.
As they are a Homestay they do not have to conform to any hotel standards or rulings which of course I didn't know prior to staying.
We were all very happy there as we made it meet our standards. Sounds bazaar really.
Once we returned to Hubli-Dharward we left all our essentials for our other colleagues coming up from Australia and they were very happy with the accommodation for a few weeks. Upon them leaving, all the purchased items were freighted to Hubli-Dharwad. So at least for those staying in that room after us, they would have found it clean and in a good state.
Unfortunately I would not give this a three star rating if staying for one or a few nights. i would rate Zero. They provide absolutely nothing. No soap, some toilet paper, no tea towels, no working toaster, kettle was unsafe.
An immediate walk to the nearby shopping centre and supermarkets was undertaken.
For us it was far better than staying in a hotel and far better than the company paying 10 months rent in advance as a bond for leasing an apartment.
So it gets a 3 star only because of the length of stay and the fact that we provided our own essentials including the bed lined, pillows and blankets. Actually we made it our own 4 star. We enjoyed making our continental breakfasts, some occasional meals, buying some drinks from the local bottle shop. It was great.
So I would only recommend on the conditions explained above.
Average
by honeyrosalind on
The place looked good from outside. We checked in and checked out immediately because the rooms were not clean. The drawers were dirty with cough syrup spilled in one, eatable left over in another.. They did even clean the room before we arrived(we booked earlier) or before showing us in. Poorly lit and kitchen was horrible and damp and dirty. The bedroom was kinda ok- but you do not get that good feeling when you enter a clean nice bedroom. Overall - we were forced to check out immediately.
Absolutely pathetic place, run by hooligans!
by thediscerning on
We had booked a stay in this place for 2 nights. The place is bad beyond imagination! It's like a house that hasn't been cleaned in ages. The bathroom is rotten and they expect you to use someone else's leftover soap!!!
The place is full of mosquitoes. The kitchen utensils (the few dingy ones that they provide) are dirty and ancient looking. The blankets are old and scratchy. The bedsheets look like they've hardly ever been washed.
When we told the manager about our bad experience and that they shouldn't be charging us so much for such a bad place, to our utter disgust, without even batting an eyelid, he told us that they will not let us take our luggage back unless we pay the full amount!!
Needless to stay we packed up and went elsewhere after just one night.
Stay away from this place!!
Worst place to stay
by mari2013 on
Rented this place for 2 days for the groom. What a shame to run a place like this. Where can I start.
To begin, If we had not called them that morning the rooms would not have been ready, in spite of booking several months ago. The Kitchen was such a mess, the drawers were all broken and the plates and cups were all nasty and broken. The manager did not know how to put the drawer back in place. The bathroom was not cleaned and the soap were so cheap and probably used by previous renters. The shower head did not work properly and the water was cold. The breakfast next day that another disaster.
They are good at asking for the money. Manager just is a sweet talker. The owners just does not care to see how the place is run. What a shame. I would not recommend this place for anyone. SHAME ON YOU HOMESTAY!!!!!!!