Hotel VIP International

The only reason I stayed was that the visa embassy was right next to the place. Otherwise, I would have left immediately. My room was full of cockroaches, and the dirty bed and bedsheets clearly hadn’t been cleaned properly. The fans were in poor condition and barely worked. The staff were rude, careless, and completely uninterested in helping with any problems, the worst I’ve ever experienced. There was no basic cleanliness or hospitality here. I strongly advise travelers to avoid it unless they want a stressful, unhygienic stay.

The place felt unsafe for a family trip, and the service made it worse. There was no blanket in my room. I asked as soon as we checked in and several times afterward, but we only got one after making a fuss at 11 pm. The room itself was in awful shape. It seemed like the hallways and rooms hadn't been cleaned in ages. The curtain was broken, the bathroom door had no lock, and the fan was either blasting or off. There was no sunlight, and the lighting was even worse. It was a nightmare.

The tax officers were kind enough to apologize for what happened to us on our first visit to Kolkata. The hotel staff, though, didn't tell guests what was going on or arrange another place to stay, and they refused compensation. Around 12:10 PM, police and tax authorities came to our door and told us to leave within an hour because the hotel was being shut down over tax issues. Staff claimed it would be resolved soon, but we were left in chaos and the hotel was eventually shut down. Before that, our stay had already been awful. The hotel smelled foul, the lift was broken, walls were peeling, floors were torn, and the bed and sheets were stained. The lamps were dusty and the curtains filthy. It was unbearable, so we ate outside. We were first told to wait at the bar, which felt disturbing and uncomfortable. Girls were dancing vulgarly and men were asking for money, so we left quickly. Then we were moved to Room 316, but that was worse: a broken window, stained chair, filthy washroom, broken shower, unusable jet spray, and dirty toilet seat. I couldn't sleep because of constant itching. They didn't provide drinking water, even after we asked repeatedly. My first trip to Kolkata was ruined by VIP International Hotel.

The mattress and pillow were clean, and the service was somewhat prompt. Everything else was poor. The room was dirty, the bathroom flush didn't work, and there were no bed blankets. I also had a roommate, a cockroach, and the AC barely worked.