Saturday, January 25, 2025

Challenges with Hotel Stays: Check-In/Check-Out Timings and Booking Experiences

Check-In and Check-Outs 

Long ago, I used to see some hotels offering 24-hour check-in. Now, in the days of Goibibo, Booking.com, Agoda, MakeMyTrip, etc., many hotels list check-in at 12 noon and check-out at 10 in the morning. Some have gone further, with check-in at 2 in the afternoon and check-out at 12 noon. I am not sure how many travelers find these timings convenient, but they certainly don’t work for me. From the hotel’s point of view, they get two hours in a general shift to clean the room for the next guest.  

For me, the problem is that I always reach my destination early in the morning. This way, I can make the most of the day. If I reach the place at noon, more than half the day is wasted. For example, if I am visiting a place over the weekend, it doesn’t make much sense to reach there on Saturday afternoon. Half the day is already gone. Since I need to return home in the morning in time for work, I end up leaving the place by Sunday night. There are so many trains that make these types of journeys very easy.  

Now, let’s say I reach the destination at 7 in the morning, and the check-in is at 12 noon. Sometimes, early check-in is not available. Sometimes, it comes with an extra cost, as I found out on my recent Hyderabad trip. When I check out, I always leave the hotel in the evening. I don’t find it efficient to check out at 10 AM and waste precious daytime traveling. So, what I currently do is check out in the early morning around 9, leave the bags with the hotel, and then return at night to pick up the bags and leave.  

Last September in Udupi, we reached the hotel before 2 PM (their check-in time was 2:00 PM). The rooms were not ready! They later upgraded the room but not before wasting 30-40 minutes of precious daytime. I know this wish may/will not be granted—but if hotels could keep some of their rooms for 24-hour check-in or offer better timings for people like me, who arrive in the morning and leave at night, it would be ideal.  

Reserving Rooms and Payment at Hotels  

I also tried the below-mentioned options while reserving rooms at hotels:  
a. Payment on arrival.  
b. Partial payment a couple of days before the actual check-in and the rest at arrival.  
c. Full payment a couple of days before arrival.  

So far, in all three cases, when booked via third-party sites like Goibibo, MakeMyTrip, Agoda, Booking.com, etc., everything went well. Note, I can’t say the same for all, so check the last suggestion at the end of this article.  

Now, I tried the same on a hotel’s own website. I reserved a famous hotel in Jaipur without paying. You may wonder why I did this—mainly because that option was available. If it wasn’t, I would have paid during the booking itself. The hotel’s website sent me emails after booking and close to the travel dates. So far, so good. This hotel also provided one airport transfer included in the bill.  

To schedule the airport transfer, I called them. Things went south from here. To my surprise, the guy at the other end told me that my reservation was not confirmed because I hadn’t paid. Now, they didn’t have any rooms left due to the festival season, and I couldn’t stay there. The guy insisted on this and didn’t offer any other options. I told him I received an email from their website about my booking and welcome messages, and there were no notifications about payments. If the reservation was not valid or they wanted me to pay in advance, they could have simply added a line in the email. After the call ended, I received one more email from their site—my booking was canceled!  

For the same trip, but on another day in Delhi, I had already booked a hotel via Agoda with a payment-on-arrival option. I was worried they might also cancel it. Fortunately, they honored the contract.  

Another problem faced while booking on a hotel’s own website is cancellations. Many don’t offer an option to cancel without losing most or all of the booking amount. They insist on rescheduling the trip within the next 3–6 months. This happened to us last year. The problem is that you may not find a suitable slot during the given interval. Some hotels are straightforward and immediately cancel and refund the amount after deducting a cancellation fee.  

Some Suggestions to fellow travelers

1. It’s better to apply caution when booking rooms on a hotel’s own website. The price may be lower compared to third-party sites, but always read and confirm the options available for cancellations or rescheduling.  
2. Never reserve a room without paying on a hotel’s own website, even if the option is available (pay on arrival).  
3. If you are arriving early, check whether early check-in is possible and whether it has extra charges.  
4. If your room is below ground floor, think twice before taking it. You may not like it after some time. This happened to us in Satara. We changed the room to the 2nd floor.  
5. Always try to book hotels close to good eateries. A 5-10 minute Google search will easily show you the place. In mid to high-end hotels, restaurants will be very costly. Also, if you don’t like the hotel’s restaurant, you will always have an alternative. Of course, you can order via Swiggy or Zomato as well.  
6. In case your booking is in a well-established market in a big city (e.g., Paharganj in Delhi, KR Market in Bangalore, or Old Hyderabad), always avoid going out or returning to the hotel during peak hours. Many times, you’ll end up spending huge amounts of time in Indian traffic.  
7. Also, take note of the closest hospital and metro station (if there is one) near your stay.  
8. If your train reaches the destination early in the morning, check whether a retiring room is available at the station. These retiring rooms are located on the platform itself. One can book a retiring room either at the source station or the destination station using a PNR number on the IRCTC website. You can book it for a duration of 4–48 hours either immediately before departure or right after arrival. The rates are very economical. If early check-in is unavailable, it’s better to freshen up at the railway station itself.  
9. Never book rooms, flight tickets, etc., using any third party that doesn’t have customer care or a contact number that someone will answer, regardless of how good their offer is. If there is a possibility for something to go wrong, it will go wrong at some point. This happened to us, and we were left without any option to cancel the to-and-fro flight tickets.  

Sajeev

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Midnight hospital visit and fast diagnosis

Babies have their own way of communicating, whether people around them understand that or not is altogether a different problem. Over a period of time, understanding becomes better. Still, it’s not always easy to figure out why they cry sometimes—is it because of stomach pain? Are they hungry? Or do they want to sleep? Is their clothing too tight, or is it too cold or hot? Do they have a gas problem? Or is it just for getting attention? It can be for any number of reasons. So we try one best possible option after another to see which one works.  

On that cold Christmas night, Niha woke up from sleep and started crying in a loud noise non-stop. Everyone tried different tricks to pacify her, but she was not calming down. She kept on crying for the next forty-five minutes. Finally, we decided to see a doctor. The hotel guys suggested either the railway hospital or Apollo. It was close to midnight; we booked Uber and went to Apollo. Unfortunately, that hospital was closed. The cab driver knew another one nearby; it was working, but they suggested JK Lone. So we went to JK Lone. By the time we reached, Niha stopped crying and slept. What to do now? Go or not to go? Since we came all the way there, I decided to go inside.  

This is not the first time this is happening with Niha. Last time it happened when we were in Idukki. Idukki Medical College was nearby, and we went there at that time. There too, she stopped crying the moment we crossed the hospital gate. Doctors checked her and kept her there for the next three hours. They also gave her medicine for gastric issues. She slept there comfortably while we simply sat there.  

There were no patients at that time, and the doctor was a young lady who was reading a book with most lines highlighted. When she saw us, she looked upwards. I mentioned the non-stop crying for close to an hour and that she had just now fallen asleep. She had only one question: Is this your first kid? I told her yes. She suddenly completed the diagnosis: Kids will cry; that is normal, there is no problem. If they are not crying, then there is a problem.  

It was such a revelation for us—kids will cry!!! I looked at Divya; she was confused, as if asking, “Really? Kids will cry?” After passing the diagnosis, she gave a prescription—paracetamol—and went back to her books. Probably for a PG entrance exam? I was kind of wondering, what next? Shall we go or say something? Finally, I repeated to the doctor that crying non-stop for an hour doesn’t seem to be normal. She just repeated what she said earlier, but in a louder voice. It looks like, like many people, she also thinks that making the sound louder makes everything convincing. Convinced or not, we went outside, gave the prescription in the pharmacy, and got the medicine, which still sits in the table drawer with an unbroken seal.  

While going back to the hotel, scenes from Idukki Medical College went through my head—how the same situation played out in different ways. It’s possible that whatever this doctor told us may be right; we were simply worried because Niha is our first child, which in turn indicates that we are inexperienced. But I still don’t trust a prescription from a doctor who doesn’t even check or look at the patient.  

When we crossed the reception at the hotel, they asked how it went. I told them what happened. They mentioned that JK Lone is the best hospital in all of Rajasthan for kids. Maybe because of the nighttime, it wasn’t functioning properly and advised us to go again in the morning. I looked at Niha; she was sleeping. I just wished that she should not have that problem again, and of course, we are not going to JK Lone again...  

Sajeev

Monday, January 20, 2025

Hospitals as profit hubs? Even parking isn't free anymore!!!

After a long travel during the year-end, most of the family got infections and fell ill. We went to nearby major private hospitals for treatment. All hospital visits except one were during the daytime. Note that these are fully for-profit hospitals, and in Bangalore, consulting charges for doctors at private hospitals start at ₹800 per visit (follow-up visits with the same doctor within three days have no charges). If it's a specialist doctor, then the charge will be ₹1,000 or more. Super-specialists are even costlier. Now, even in small clinics in Bangalore, a doctor’s charge starts from ₹600. If you get admitted, it’s a different ballgame. Sometimes, within a week, you may exhaust your yearly health insurance coverage, as one of my ex-colleagues discovered last year.  

Doctor’s charges are just a part of the overall expenditure. Other than restrooms and drinking water, everything is chargeable in these hospitals. The day may not be far when hospitals start charging for drinking water and restroom access as well! One hospital (there may be more; but so far I saw this trend with one hospital) even took a leaf from Uber's playbook and adopted surge pricing. The only difference here is that the surge happens at night. My wife had to undergo an ultrasound scan as her stomach pain wasn’t reducing even after an injection. When I saw the bill at discharge, I was astonished to see how much the ultrasound scan cost. It was exactly double the daytime rate. Note that the hospital has a scanning unit, but since it was nighttime, labor was costly! Fortunately, consultations for emergency doctors at night cost the same as during the daytime!  

However, what was even more interesting is the trend in hospitals to outsource their parking needs, with the outsourcing company collecting money from patients who need to park their vehicles. Some hospitals haven’t started this yet, but many have. Charges start hourly, with the first hour costing ₹50. But should hospitals charge parking fees from patients? Isn’t it a facility they should provide without additional charges to their patients? I can understand parking charges in a shopping mall, but does the same logic apply to hospitals?  

In Bangalore, space is costly, so when the hospital's parking slots are full, they may need to find additional parking space, which costs money. But shouldn’t that expense be part of the service they provide to their patients? Many hospitals has their own parking (which is quite big), shouldn’t that at least be free of cost? 

Sajeev

Friday, December 6, 2024

Chasing the Waves: An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Final day (Malpe Sea walk and more)

Links for all parts


Final day of the trip... that is effectively just half day. This was not the plan I had originally in mind. However, delayed train bookings changed everything; I had to choose slower Murdeshwar-SMVT express compared to faster and better timed Panchganga Express. 


Unless you are planning to explore Udupi in detail, two to three days are enough to explore Udupi-Malpe and nearby areas.

I woke up early in the morning and forced Divya, Niha, and Mom to wake up as well. We rushed outside to the beach to see the sunrise. After seeing the waves, I understood my stupidity — Udupi is on India’s western seaboard. Here, one can see the sunset in full grandeur, not the sunrise. However, all was not in vain. This gave us enough time to explore the beach visit Malpe sea-walk. We walked towards the giant metal box at one end of the beach. From day one, I have seen this unusual structure from a distance. Now it’s time to see from close. As per google maps, Malpe sea-walk is close to this building.

The beach was not that clean as we moved away from the main area frequented by travelers. Dog/animal poop showed up here and there. Occasionally the otherwise energizing nice odor of the sea gave way for a different flavor. We continued to walk, many times stepping on the empty outer shells, which crushed under the weight of my legs with a light but distinctive sound. Several boats were parked at one side as if they were taking sunbath. For a moment I wondered how those boats reached so far away from the sea. Yesterday we saw, that it was hard for for people to push the boat to sea manually against the waves. So it would be difficult for the tired fisherman (after a long day's work) to pull the boat that much away from water. I didn’t have to think much about how; further ahead a tractor was pulling another boat out of water and moving it upward. 

In google maps sea-walk looked closer. However, the beach almost ended short of that. So, we climbed up the stone wall at its narrow area to reach the road which runs parallel to the beach. There was a Hanuman temple facing the sea. We continued to walk, and finally understood what that giant metal box is - 'Udupi Cochin Shipyard Limited (UCSL)'. Cochin shipyard got control of the company via NCLT resolution. Now the company is building and servicing sea going boats. In their website, its mentioned that they also built the boats operated by Kochin Metro. Currently a big vessel is taking form in their workshop. 



At one side of this building is a parking lot, where vehicles coming to sea walk can park. We went inside the parking lot but didn’t see any option to reach the sea walk. So we enquired about it with a teenager who was doing some work there. I don't know what he understood; he pointed us towards the gate and asked us to go right. Did he think we were asking about Malpe fishing harbor? I don't know. Anyway, we started walking, went outside and took right and reached the next junction. Google map is saying that we are walking further away from that. At the other side of the road, there was an elderly person with a white beard seriously talking to another one that morning. He asked us to go back to the parking lot and the way to sea-walk starts at the other end of parking lot. We retraced our way and reached the same place and saw the garden area there. Crossing that we finally arrived at sea walk. We all were happy to reach the destination after the long walk in the morning. Niha was sleeping in my hands. She slept most of the time missing all the views.

Boats in the channel

Crossing the park which has a number of statues we reached the sea walk.  

What we have here is a small shipping channel protected on both sides by breakwaters extending to sea. Sea walk is a tiled walkway on one side of the breakwater; the other side is Padukere breakwater. Channel formed between these two breakwaters is absent of waves and makes it easier for vessels to go in and come out from fishing harbor which is located at the side of USCL. Ships built/serviced by USCL also can reach sea via this channel. While we started walking through the breakwater, one fishing boat was slowly sailing towards the wider ocean. Inside there were a number of people, some looked outside without any expressions while did some chores. I stood still and looked at her as she moved from the calmness of water channel towards the ever-lively sea.

Once the boat was out of sight, I continued to walk toward the other end of the walk. The tiled path ends a little short of the breakwater’s edge. Lot of options are there to sit anywhere along the breakwater and think about all we want. From here one can see the beach and nearby islands. Other than St. Mary’s Island, there are three more small islands. As the mercury level slowly started rising, we began our journey back to the hotel.

While heading to the sea walk, I called Gokul to check if he had woken up. He was getting ready and wanted to visit the Udupi temple in the morning. When they reached the temple, there wasn’t any queue. It seems the day we went was either an auspicious day or going early (he reached the temple an hour earlier than us) made all the difference.

There wasn’t much planned for the day. The train was in the afternoon. We checked out, had lunch, and suddenly Divya had this desire to buy something for Niha. So, we all walked along the beach road and reached the bus stop. A KSRTC bus was standing there. As it had become very hot, we went to a nearby shop and indulged in some ice cream. Mom, Niha, and I sat near a casuarina tree, looking around. Another man was also sitting nearby. He seemed to have come from somewhere else—not to enjoy the beach but without any intention of going anywhere either, as if frozen in time. He watched Niha for some time. She has this habit of putting two of her fingers in her mouth most of the time. We try to discourage her, but she persists. Seeing this, he mentioned that he used to have the same habit until he was ten, and his parents applied chili powder to his fingers to stop him. Well, chili powder does seem like an extreme measure, but breaking these habits is difficult.

Malpe sea-walk

Gokul, Divya, and Deepa disappeared into a shop further down the road. Since we hadn’t seen them for a long time, I got up and walked in that direction. They were on their way back, carrying several items for Niha and Akansha. Now it was time to say goodbye to Malpe. We took two autos and went to Udupi railway station. The mercury had no intention of coming down. Gokul tried to find the paid AC waiting room, but it was already full. Finally, Mom, Deepa, Niha, and Akanksha found some space in the other waiting room. Gokul stayed on the platform. Divya and I walked toward the other end of the platform and met several workers on their way to Mumbai. It seemed they had come to Udupi for work and were now heading back. Their train was running late.

Nothing eventful happened on the train. She spent a long time at Mangalore Central and drenched herself in rain. Unfortunately, by the time train reached Western Ghats there was hardly any light left. I stood close to the door and looked at the darkness outside. Time went on... After a while I noticed something strage a little ahead close to the rails - so many fireflies... but its neither moving nor blinking!!! How were they able to do that? When we got closer, the situation became clear. Those weren’t fireflies but people standing on the platform using the mobile's flash lights as there was no current. many were boarded from that stage and we moved on. 

The train groaned loudly as she navigated the sharp twists and turns. From the unsettling sounds and the way the bogies shifted at their joints, it felt as though they might come apart. After a while, train came to a halt in the middle of nowhere, waiting for something. I looked outside and noticed that we are about to enter a sharp curve. The train's front light illuminated the track ahead and water droplets falling in to it. I wish I had a drone now. This should have been a magnificent view from the top. thinking that, I returned to my berth and lay down. After some time, the train resumed her journey, her cries on the sharp curves stayed on my ears until sleep closed it. 

Sajeev

Saturday, November 30, 2024

Chasing the Waves: An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Day 2 (Udupi temple and St. Mary's island)

Madhav sarovar - you can see the general queue at the other side

Leaving Udupi without visiting the iconic Sreekrishna Temple is unthinkable. For visiting the temple, the early morning of an uneventful day is the best time. There will be less crowd, calmness, one can roam around the temple premises and also take a sneak peek at the excellent temple architecture. Each temple has its own story to tell, and so does the Udupi temple.

Path to sanctum

The temple is linked to the 13th-century saint Madhvacharya, who also founded the Dvaita school of Vedanta. According to mythology, the temple's idol of Lord Krishna was originally worshipped by Rukmini in Dwaraka. After being lost at sea for centuries, it was rediscovered by Madhvacharya in a miraculous event. He calmed a storm to save a ship near the Malpe coast, and as thanks, the ship's captain offered him a lump of sacred clay. Within the clay, Madhvacharya found the idol of a young Krishna holding a churning rod and rope, which he installed in Udupi. The Krishna idol here faces west, which is very rare.

Another famous story involves Kanakadasa, a poet-saint of a lower caste, who was barred from entering the temple. It is believed that his devotion moved Lord Krishna, and the temple wall miraculously cracked, opening a window known as Kanakana Kindi, through which Krishna blessed him. Even today, devotees view the idol through this window.

Udupi Sreekrishna temple

From an administrative viewpoint, the temple follows the Paryaya system, where eight monasteries take turns managing it every two years. Free meals are available here to all devotees.

Morning  

It’s not easy to wake up early in the morning when the previous day was spent traveling. However, it doesn’t make sense to come all the way here and sleep. Contradicting viewpoints indeed! Indecision cost us time, and finally, we decided to go to the temple. Divya and Niha stayed back, as they wanted to sleep for some more time. I called Gokul and Deepa, but they were also embraced by the lord of sleep. Finally, mom and I decided to go and walked towards the auto stand, which was not far. From there, the temple is around 8 km away. Even though it’s a bus route, buses are not frequent.

After a while, the auto driver dropped us near the temple gate, and we went inside. The first structure we came across was the Sreekrishna Math. This structure, I remember from my previous visit almost a decade ago. Next, we saw an endless queue. For a while, mom thought of going back to the hotel as it seemed difficult to get darshan anytime soon, and she hadn’t eaten.


We walked further and finally reached the front entrance. There was a small hope of having a special queue here, which could bypass the long queue for a fee. Nowadays, special queues are available in many famous temples. Some people are against this, as they consider paying an amount to make the darshan faster to be unfair. I don’t disagree that staying in the general queue to view the deity is the right way. However, when one is in a distant city and all you have is a couple of hours, this may be the best option. In some temples, this system is very straight forward; in others, they offer a costly pooja, and paying for it allows 4-5 people (the number varies by temple) a faster darshan. Maybe this is done so that everyone has some kind of feel-good factor. In most temples, whether you are in a special queue or a general queue, you might see the deity from the same distance (as both queues generally merge near the sanctum). However, in some temples, people in the special queue are allowed to go much closer to the deity.

When checked, the special queue seemed to be starting somewhere ahead. We climbed the steps and went to the first floor. Here, we could see the other end of the queue. Three or four people were carrying a pre-teen girl from the queue to outside. It looked like she had dizziness. Our queue slowly moved ahead, and there was a counter where a lady, probably in her late forties, was explaining to a group that doing annadan (I didnt hear the name clearly, but it was associated with 3-4 special darshan tickets) was more economical than paying individually for the special darshan queue. Well, we moved ahead and stopped at the counter for the special darshan and joined the new queue. This was also not short; there were a lot of people in the queue. We passed through a couple of wooden (made fully of wood but not decorated in any way) vestibules. After a long wait, we finally reached the sanctum, stayed there for some time, and then exited. After buying a couple of laddoos, we came out and explored nearby shops to buy some souvenirs. Later we slowly, we walked forward and reached the 'Math' again. Here, we visited two more temples.



Shri Chandramouleeshwara Temple
Dedicated to Lord Shiva, this temple holds great historical and spiritual significance. According to mythology, the temple is associated with Chandra (the moon god), who is believed to have worshipped Lord Shiva here to be relieved of a curse. Pleased with his devotion, Shiva appeared in the form of a linga, which is now enshrined in the temple.

Anantheshwara Temple
Primarily a Shiva temple, it holds unique significance as a place where Lord Vishnu is also revered. It is considered one of the oldest temples in the region, predating the nearby Udupi Sri Krishna Temple. According to mythology, the temple was established by Parashurama, the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu, after reclaiming the land of coastal Karnataka from the sea.



St. Mary’s Island  

Post-lunch, it was time to visit St. Mary’s Island. I had visited the island when I was in Udupi last time. However, it was not from the beach but from Malpe fishing harbor. Divya had also visited the island during her previous role as a college lecturer. For the rest, it was their first time. Gokul bought the tickets, and we stood in a temporary queue around 2-3 in the afternoon. Finally, our boat came, and people boarded.


The challenge was that there is no jetty here, and the sea is very shallow. You might wonder how on earth they would push this boat into the sea with so many passengers and waves. Certainly, Yamaha's renowned engine cannot operate on sand! Well, they used the ancient method: employing several people to manually push the boat into the sea. However, there was a problem—the boat had more than enough people. It seemed to exceed the safe number recommended for a boat of that size. The organizers came inside and asked some visibly overweight passengers to disembark temporarily. Then, the manual laborers resumed pushing the boat. Finally, the boat moved further into the sea, the engines started, and we sailed towards the island, leaving the beautiful Malpe Beach behind.


These are a group of four small islands known for their unique hexagonal basalt rock formations, created by volcanic activity millions of years ago. Legend says Vasco da Gama stopped here in 1498 before reaching Kerala and named the islands after St. Mary. The island is not yet commercialized apart from boat rides, so remember to carry enough water and snacks.

St. Mary's island

We got down at one end and walked towards the other, along a shell-laden path. I spent time photographing the unique rock formations, while my mom hesitated to go further. Divya mostly roamed around with Niha, and Gokul tried to invent new jokes along the way. Many areas I visited during my previous trip were now off-limits to tourists, marked with red flags.

We took the last boat back to Malpe, walked through the crowd, and reached a restaurant for refreshments. After resting briefly at the hotel restaurant, we returned to the beach road. Along the way, we stopped at roadside shacks for snacks like potato twisters and juices. Since it was Diwali, there were dance and music programs organized. After dinner, everyone returned to their rooms, while I walked toward the sea. I watched some performances on stage for about 10-20 minutes before spending an unknown amount of time by the sea.

Hexagonal rock structures


Potato twister

Looking back...

Gokul and Deepa enjoying the sunshine

Sajeev