Castle Venue Inn Beach Guest House

We spent three days at this guest house during a December visit to Vizag last year. The location is okay and fairly near Beach Road, but I wouldn't recommend staying unless you can't find a better option. The rooms were an okay size, but the beds looked old and filthy and seemed likely to have germs and bad smells. We saw rats in both the room and corridor. The toilets were somewhat dirty, and bathroom fixtures were broken; repeated requests didn't get them repaired. Most rooms, except the highest priced ones, had no windows, so they felt stuffy and went completely dark during load shedding. The generator was poor and didn't run all day. There was also water scarcity, with no running water in the bathrooms through the day. Food choices inside were very limited. Management had no manner when speaking with guests and didn't seem interested in hearing or fixing problems, instead changing the subject or giving illogical explanations. Most ground staff were good, though not all. They tried to help, but often struggled because they only knew Telegu and understood very little Hindi or English. Sometimes they couldn't fix things because management didn't cooperate or they feared losing their jobs. They come from very poor families and are bound to follow management's directions.

The room itself was decent and the AC worked. Everything else was rubbish. The geyser needed to be on for ten minutes before hot water came, and despite repeated requests we never got the Wi-Fi password. The TV was sitting on the floor, dimounted, and only had free channels. There's a kitchen, not a restaurant, open just a few hours around breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The menu is tiny and items aren't always available. Tea is only available in the morning and outside lunch and dinner hours. Our room phone extension didn't work, and nobody bothered to fix it, so each time we needed something we had to go into the hall or downstairs to reception. The manager was rude. It's within walking distance of the beach, but you can't see even a glimpse of it from the hotel. Staff may be polite during your stay because the problems are their fault, but the arrogance comes out at checkout. Who calls this a 3 star hotel? It's a 3rd Grade Hotel. Choose it only if you can't find anywhere else.

The beach is close enough to walk to, which was the one good thing. The rest was a mess. Don't trust the pictures, this isn't a 3 star place, not even 2 star. We booked online and reached around 9, got our keys, then found the AC and bathroom light weren't working. It took them an hour to repair those, and then the charging socket didn't work. They moved us to another room, which was okay, but our time was wasted. We didn't get food there, and they didn't take care of guests. The next day we booked Mantri hotel for less than Castle Venue. Mantri was much better, with very cooperative staff and awesome food.

The bed was dirty, and bugs kept me awake all night. The ACs weren't working properly either. On top of that, staff wouldn't let me sit in the room after check-in until I paid the bill in cash. The service was the worst, and it felt like I had to pay for every drop of water.