OYO 19940 Roma Holiday Inn

The best part was the mesmerizing Kanchanjanga peak view from the first floor. Staff behaviour was good, but the room wasn’t up to the mark and didn’t have enough lighting. The hotel was hard to find, with no outside signboard, no nearby landmark, and an incomplete address on the website. It’s on a one way road too. The room heater cost 400 rs per night.

We checked in to Roma Holidays Inn yesterday, and it was a bitter experience. The property was wrongly tagged on Google, and the staff hadn’t given our driver directions, so finding it was difficult. Our car was on a one way road and hard to turn, so we asked a staff member to come with us. He flatly refused to carry even our single bag, and made fun of us in his local dialect the whole way, which we understood, about having to drag our luggage. We had three to four hours before our flight and wanted to explore the city the next day, so we asked about a cloak room. The manager on duty said we could leave our luggage in the room because rooms were available the next day. But during our city tour, the new manager on duty said he needed to prepare the room and needed the keys. When we got back, the room had been cleaned using another key, and nobody explained anything. We wasted money because we had to rush back to the hotel. The managers don’t communicate, and none of the staff seemed willing to work. This was my worst experience with OYO.

You can see the whole town and the mountains through the window, since the hotel is about a hundred metres above road level. It’s a nice place to stay at an affordable room rate, and it was neat and clean. Every staff member was very decent, especially the manager, Ramen Babu. They generally serve very good food.

For sightseeing, bargain with the taxi driver and get the points written down, as they can cause confusion between stops. You can ask the driver to come up to the hotel gate, and if you’re coming from Siliguri, Mirik, or somewhere else, make sure to say clearly that you need to be dropped at the gate. The location is uphill, so elderly or less healthy people will find it difficult to walk up from the market. The taxi stand is just 300 meters away, downhill. It’s a budget family hotel, with rates around 1200-2000+ depending on season and tourist rush. The best thing was the homely food at economical prices, 5/5 for food. I still miss it. The staff were nice and didn’t disturb us unnecessarily, and the Bengali manager was a very caring person.