South Embessy Inn by OYO Rooms

The one real plus is the location. It’s within 2 km of an Embassy, easy to reach by Ola or Uber, and near PGS Hostels, local markets and fast-food places serving the nearby PG residents. But the room, bathroom and general cleanliness are only a step up from an Indian railway station platform. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to families or anyone concerned about cleanliness. Bring your own toiletries, pillow covers and bedsheets. The location is a jackpot for the owners, who’ll make money regardless of the service.

Even by local standards, this was awful. The room was old, run down and much smaller than the photos suggested. The AC barely worked, the toilet leaked onto the floor after flushing, and the pillows had black mould. There were no windows or main light, so it was very dark. The door had no lock or padlock, and I had to ask for one from downstairs so I could leave the room safely. After six weeks in India, this was easily my worst hotel experience. The app showed a location a few streets away from the real one. It took an hour to reach someone for the correct address, then another 20 minutes for them to give it to me. During that time, they raised my booking price by 200 on the app. When I arrived at 10pm, they added another 200, claiming it was a government “foreigner tax.” You can check online, it doesn’t exist. I wasn’t ready to argue at that hour.

The room was basic, clean and comfortable, with air conditioning. It was a little noisy, though not too bad. The management at the top of the stairs seemed attentive and observant, and I felt safe with a secure room. A block along a local street beside the main road gets you to lots of restaurants and shops, from fast food to sit-down places, as well as clubs or bars, laundry and coffee. The subway is also a block away, with plenty of street food vendors nearby. You can get a full meal for US 70 cents, and the food is very good. There are stalls selling bottled water for US .25/liter. It’s a useful subway stop for shopping areas or Neru Place, with its nice multi-floor mall dining, bars and large IT area where all the PC brands have shops.

As a visitor from abroad, I found the stay disappointing. The sheets and pillow covers were unclean, which made me uncomfortable. Breakfast was listed as included, but I had to buy it elsewhere, and there were no free water bottles in the room, so I had to pay for those separately.