Indie Stays, the new smart luxury segment targeting the young and energetic traveller has debuted near BKC, the new Central Business District of India’s commercial city of Mumbai. The medium sized accommodation option has 30 rooms and 30 beds in dormitories that is an urban sanctuary with a sophisticated design. A spacious common area serves as a reception, library as well as a trendy and comfortable meal cum social area.
Rohit Shetty, Director, Indie Stays, told Global Travel Media: “We offer five star facilities in the room and let the guest enjoy his or her freedom within the complex, just as at home. We don’t charge for anything other than the room. They carry their own bags, make their own coffee and eat from the breakfast bags at their convenient time.”
The corner double room that we stayed during our hotel check had a plum bed covered with crystal clean white sheets concealing the fluffy blanket. The metal triangle art, part of the hotel theme, on the bed panel was chic. The wood panel extended from bedside table to writing table that had a revolving office chair. Smart TV on the neatly laid wood panel on the other wall continued on to include a coffee maker, a hanger space with half a dozen wooden hangers, a safe deposit underneath, followed by mini refrigerator. Big glass windows had the busy street view that extended beyond to skyscrapers and tall trees with patches of green lawns in between. Bathroom had luxury fittings with an artistically placed huge round mirror.
The breakfast hung outside the room in a brown paper bag had a mango yoghurt and muesli, a strawberry yoghurt drink, a piece of cake, a cheese and vegetable roll and a banana for each.
Indie Stays is a combination of hotel and a hostel. Absence of an in-house restaurant is compensated by providing microwave, cutlery and crockery to guests wanting to enjoy ordered meals in the spacious public utility area. Machine coffee and dip tea are available 24 hours. A kiosk with small choice of food packs, yoghurt, juices and fruits is available for purchase at label price from the cold rack next to the reception. There are a few restaurants in the vicinity for guests wanting serviced meals.
Shetty said: “Guests are free to order their meal from growing number of food service apps online and utilise our sitting facility. They can even invite outside guests to join them. I have seen different members of a big family enjoying together food ordered from different restaurants”.
The two month old trendy hotel has caught guests’ attention. Shetty said : “We had 60 percent occupancy in first month and are currently running at 70 percent. Fifty percent of our business is coming from online and the rest is corporate traffic from nearby multinational offices.”
Shetty, the second generation hotelier and a graduate from Swiss Hotel Management school, believes in creating a community feeling amongst his guests amidst homely atmosphere. He says: “Guests can have a meeting, a party or just sit in a corner of the informal lobby and read a book or work with his laptop. There won’t be any staff coming and asking if he or she needs to place any order.” His aim is to maintain optimum quality of the stay rather than discounting on price.
A long staying Israeli filmmaker said that she had shifted here from a not so comfortable hotel and was very happy with this place. A model from UK too expressed satisfaction over cleanliness and the independence of moving around the place. It was a comfortable and homely stay for us too, a true home away from home.
Written by Anand & Madhura Katti
.jpg){kind=tracking}