Sunday, March 9, 2014

Mumbai’s lodges AT[$3} (RS 170) PER DAY


Mumbai’s lodges cut costs, reach out to younger patrons to survive



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Mornings are busy at the 94-year-old Aryanivas lodge, tucked away inside Kalbadevi's warren of lanes. Guests shuffle in and out of rooms with dormitory-style beds, the barefooted staff bustle around getting the tea ready, and a vendor from Dharavi has just dropped off a stock of piping-hot idlis. Later in the day, the rooms will empty out, with families setting out on excursions about town, and businessmen for their assignments.

The place seems to run like a well-oiled machine, and it is only after a glance around the mostly defunct kitchen area that the signs of wear become apparent. The tea bubbles over on a solitary stove, unlike five years ago, when the kitchen dished out sumptuous meals to its guests.

"We used to serve everything from Gujarati rotlas and meetha dal, to chhaas, masala doodh, khichdi and papad earlier," recalls cashier Jagdish Jani, who has worked here for over three decades. "Masala doodh dal ke jaise behta tha (We used to serve masala doodh as often as you'd serve dal)." With inflation and a large chunk of the staff moving to greener pastures, the lodge shut down its kitchen in 2009.

The situation gets much bleaker at Ramakrishna Guest House in Matunga. A dark, creaky stairway, paan-stained walls and a surly warden welcome you to the establishment. "Yes, yes, look around if you want," says the silver-haired caretaker, ambling off to shake out a mattress. "There's no one here." Out of the available 18 rooms, about 12 are shut and a couple others lie unoccupied.



  • Ramkrishna Guest House







  • Address: Dadlawala Sudan, Telang Rd, Matunga East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400019
    Phone:022 2402 1805
     
  • ReviewsAryanivas and Ramakrishna are among the last remaining low-cost, non-boarding and no-frills lodges still holding out in the city. Scattered across the busier localities of south and central Mumbai, they are characterised by high ceilings, dormitories with iron or wooden beds, spacious balconies and tariffs beginning from Rs 170 for a single bed in a four, six or eight-bed
    With some having been set up decades ago, they are also storehouses of memories. Jani recalls the time during the Independence movement when Subhas Chandra Bose delivered a speech atop a still-preserved table in the lodge and theatre actors from Gujarat stayed the night before performing in Bhangwadi. At New Vasantashram in CST, diamond traders from as far as Burma talked shop in the evenings. "And there were people lining the corridor to watch the one television set we have," says veteran caretaker Keshav, who learnt over eight languages just from listening to the patrons gossip.

    The earliest clientele at these establishments, says city historian Deepak Rao, comprised traders from across the country, looking for clean, affordable lodging close to their place of business. "Bombay has always had a history of people coming here for work," Rao says. "There were a number of lodges catering to them in Kalbadevi, Grant Road, Bombay Central and CST." The less-congested neighbourhoods such as Matunga drew migrants from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, who felt at home among the glut of South Indian eateries and temples.

    But over the years, with rising costs and a dwindling clientele, survival has become increasingly difficult. Some, such as Aryanivas, have cut out meals while others such as Matunga's Manohar Lodge, have owners moving their focus to restaurants as a source of income. "We don't provide TV or AC so the cost is relatively less,"says Manohar Shetty, owner of the latter establishment. "So let's see. We will remain open as long as we can afford it."

    "The solution is to constantly keep reinventing," says Sujata Rao, co-partner at New Vasantashram. The 67-year-old lodge recently decided to reach out to younger patrons, and position itself as a clean, affordable option for foreign tourists as well. "We began advertising in colleges and a lot of our customers are students," explains Rao. "There are also people here on 'staycations', which means they live in Mumbai itself but want to explore another part of the city over the weekend."

    Aryanivas's co-owner Agastya Bhatt explains that the older lodges have the advantage of extremely low costs and prime locations on their side. "Which other hotel will charge you as little as we do?" he says. "So if you remember that, and adapt with the changing times, there is no reason why your clients will desert you."







    Arya Nivas

    270/286 Kalbadevi Road | Sector 2, Kalbadevi, Oppos, Mumbai 400 002, India
    Hotel amenities
    Arya Nivas
    Ranked #283 of 363 hotels in Mumbai
    We can't find prices for this hotel
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    1 person has reviewed this hotel

    Noida
    Senior Reviewer
    7 reviews 7 reviews
    6 hotel reviews
    Reviews in 6 cities Reviews in 6 cities
    20 helpful votes 20 helpful votes
    1 of 5 stars Reviewed 29 June 2012
    I was told that is is a heritage hotel. The internet reviews were equally misleading. Folks, sleep on the pavements of Mumbai but do not stay at Arya Niwas. This is a 95 years old heritage hotel which must have seen better days when there was no AC, TV, or WiFi. Steer clear from this dilapidated joint. There is no... More





    Ramkrishna Hotel

    Dadrawala Society,Telang Road | Matunga, Mumbai 400019, India
    Hotel amenities
    Ramkrishna Hotel
    Ranked #212 of 363 hotels in Mumbai
    We can't find prices for this hotel
    Our online travel partners don't provide prices for this hotel, but we can search other options in Mumbai
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    5 people have reviewed this hotel

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    Rating summary
    • Location
      4 of 5 stars
    • Sleep Quality
      3.5 of 5 stars
    • Rooms
      3 of 5 stars
    • Service
      3.5 of 5 stars
    • Value
      3.5 of 5 stars
    • Cleanliness
      3.5 of 5 stars