– ODO- 9088 – 9254km
– Location- 10km south of Gudar, India
– Weather- 26-38, degrees
Try OYO Hotels when Traveling in India
When I arrived in Mumbai and stayed with my friend Len for a few nights he suggested the app OYO. A hotel agrigator app that seems to have taken over here. As I’ve travelled around the country it’s hard to miss. Every reasonable size town has a range of hotels listed on the app. Unlike something like Kayak or Hotels Tonight, OYO hotels are most often branded entirely with the apps distinctive red colouring and lettering. I can’t imagine it happening in the UK. Small places up and down the cook try completely rebranding themselves with the logo of a tech product.
I’ve used them several times in places like Goa but last night I got caught out. Because I was still fighting the last of my cold I wanted somewhere to stop early and relax. At lunch, I booked a reasonable rate room about 60km down the road. But when I arrived at about 3 pm, the sun reaching it’s full baking 36 degrees for the day, I was turned away. The hotel didn’t accept foreign guests because of the requirement to register all tourists with the police using a form called the C-form. I booked another and 10km down the road I hit the same problem. Luckily this time the owner pointed me down the road to a guest house who had the form. Or more likely, wasn’t as concerned to be compliant as long as I paid foreigners rates for the room.
In the end, I managed to haggle for a “family room” for rupees 800. Saving 400. It didn’t come with aircon though. I slept restlessly in the heat.