Smart Stay by Isthara

When I came back after being away from October 12 to October 21, my room door was unlocked. Renovation work had happened while I was gone, without any notice, and I had raised a ticket about the door. The security manager apologized, then closed it with little response. On my last day, while packing, I noticed my earbuds were missing. I'm sure they were in the room when I left. Management checked CCTV after I raised another ticket and said nobody had entered from outside. But internal staff have access, and it seems nobody is accountable if something goes missing. This leaves serious questions about communication and responsibility in shared living. I’m considering what to do next, including possibly making a police complaint. People booking a hotel or coliving here should know about this.

We ended up with just one booking honored, paid an extra 500 INR per room at check-in, and got no breakfast. The whole process was frustrating from the start. I first called to ask about rooms, custom check-in, and the price. The hotel quoted about 1600 INR a night if booked directly. When I asked if they could match the online rate, they said online prices were low because those sites burn cash or credits. They said we could book online for less, but early check-in wouldn't be possible. We booked seven rooms through Expedia, and got confirmation emails saying the host had confirmed each one, with the hotel's phone number. I called to reconfirm. The management contact brought a sales team member onto a conference call, explained we booked through Expedia, and they confirmed it was fine. Then the front desk called and said they wouldn't honor breakfast on online bookings because the rate was too low. They asked us to pay extra if we wanted it, and said payment could be made by Expedia or the guests before checkout. On check-in day, the guests arrived and were told the Expedia booking wouldn't be honored. Management brought another woman onto the call, though I'm not sure who she was, and she repeated that they weren't honoring Expedia bookings. After negotiating, they agreed to take the first booking for two rooms, but demanded another 500 INR per room at the counter. For the remaining bookings for the second day, which had already been confirmed, they then said they were sold out and told us to cancel. The front desk also said they would have honored bookings from Makemytrip or Agoda. Nobody was willing to listen or cooperate, and they were difficult to reach and talk to. We said we'd pay more if needed and sort it out with Expedia, since this last minute change was a shock. The main problems were unfriendly staff and management, a booking they wouldn't honor even after we checked with them, poor availability when needed, and not following through on what they said. I've raised it with Expedia, who are considering compensation for the inconvenience. It was a bitter experience, and I'm planning to take it to consumer court as well, to establish standards and guidelines for hosts and booking agents.

We paid 830 ₹ online, but at the hotel they claimed that wasn't the price they'd listed and blamed the booking site, then asked for 1600₹. It took an hour to get the booking canceled. I wouldn't mind paying the money, but these tricks to get customers are the problem. The front desk blames the revenue manager. They accepted a reservation from Agoda, yet apparently don't know who put the price there. I wouldn't book through an app. The prices are inconsistent, and the rest of the reviews must all be fake.

At checkout, they demanded an extra 2500 for damage over a period stain that would come out in a normal wash. The manager bargained over how much we should pay for an ordinary stain. After a long discussion, we had to wash the sheets ourselves and show them before they let us leave. It was a terrible and uncomfortable experience for a woman, having to deal with this in front of male staff. The stay had already been rough. We waited an hour for a room despite having booked ahead, then there was a power outage that lasted through the day and left one of us stuck in the lift for nearly 20 minutes. On the second day, we asked for the room to be cleaned, but it hadn't been done when we got back in the afternoon. There was another outage in the middle of the night. We didn't complain about any of it, but I wouldn't recommend istaara to anyone. These felt like cheap tactics to make people pay extra.