The trip that easily could have not been - Part 3 of many

An eventful lodging experience

I have never been in a backpacking hotel. Let alone a shared accommodation of more than 3 residents in a room. And never spent a night with 5 strangers and never believed I ever would and come out enjoying the experience.

I met a couple of interesting people – a guy from Spain and a girl from Australia. Both have come with the objective of visiting India but have made no concrete plans and are traveling basis suggestions of friends made on the way. What was even more interesting was how the girl had described her being in India. “I do not know what I’m doing here. I have been here for the past two weeks. One fine morning I just picked up my bags and booked my ticket to Delhi. With only one thing in my mind – I want to spend the next six months in this exotic land.” Enquiries about my travel plans started by then and I could notice myself brimming with enthusiasm as I described my plans for the next few days. She was excited as well to know that Ranthambhore was so close and it was perhaps the best time to spot tigers in the wild.

She had gone pub hopping the previous night, had come back dead drunk and was still recovering from a bad hangover and headache. After deciding to watch a movie with her friend she said “Excuse me while I get dressed”. I got the shock of my life when she brought her hands near her hips. “Shall I wait outside, while you get dressed?” I enquired. She nonchalantly brushed me off remarking “I’ve lived most of my life since 2010 in backpacking hotels. This isn’t new to me” and casually slips her pants off only to change into another one. To hell with modesty. I quickly averted my eyes to look at my laptop and tried to look intelligent and busy. And indeed there was some work to complete that day. There was even a call at 10PM. I must have been a major disturbance that night as I had to keep the light on till 1 in the night. It took a request to turn the light off from the Australian girl for me to realize my mindlessness. The politeness of her enquiry only embarrassed me further. This was followed by repeated calls from my uncle and client folks the next morning. Everyone was asleep and I’m certain that these calls would have woken them up. I had no place to hide my face.

More importantly what interested me was the economics of my stay there. Both from the end of a backpacker and from the end of the hotelier. I was charged a modest 400/ night and the amenities included a single bunk bed in an A/C room, free wifi at more than decent speed and the invaluable experience of meeting interesting people from across the globe. I was comparing this stay with the PG I used to stay in in Delhi. I was charged 10,000 per month. The room was ventilated with a fan and an air cooler during summers. There was no way to regulate the cold during winters. The biggest positive was food all 3 times in the day (Breakfast, lunch and dinner). If I were in Zostel at that point in time I would have shelled out 12,000 per month while I would have needed to manage food on my own. I would probably have spent 5,000 every month on food but it would still have been worth it. Also, I got to understand there were steep discounts for repeat lodgers upto 30% (Bringing the rental expenditure down to 8,400 per month). Of course there would have been days when I would have abhorred the company I was expected to adjust to but overall I believe the experience would have been worth it.

Consider the economics of the hotelier. It was a 3 bhk apartment with a total capacity of 24 beds. Each bed would give them a maximum revenue of Rs.12,000 (400 x 30) every month. Assuming a 50% room occupancy they would be earning Rs. 1,44,000 every month from the apartment. Assuming a rent of Rs. 30,000, an electricity bill of Rs. 5,000 and cleaning services costing Rs. 5000 for the apartment. The minimum that the hotelier stands to gain is Rs. 1,04,000 every month. If there are 2 managers working 12 hour shifts at a salary of Rs. 30,000 per month, they stand to finally make Rs. 44,000 per apartment. All this at 50% occupancy. And every 1% increase in occupancy rate earns then ~Rs. 3,000 more. The venture was on the whole sounded very alluring and intelligent!