Ever found yourself in a situation where you just know that the trip is not going to be a good one? Even before it started? It happened to me a couple of years ago, but my friend and I did it anyway because we were already on our way, and both of us wanted to see how bad it could get. Oh, did we underestimate or what! Gandhi Jayanti long weekend was coming up, and my neighbour, a college lecturer, and I were in a desperate need for a quick break from our respective office work. So like any other burnt-out Delhi residents, we booked a short trip to nearby hills. We chose Nainital, mainly because we wanted to go boating, shop for souvenirs, and buy dried apricots – in that order. So I got on a reputed online travel platform and booked us a room at a ‘nice’, budget stay in Nainital. The listing said “lake-view” so we thought why not? Before we proceed, I just want to clarify that this story is not a hotel review (well, it depends on how you see it), it is not even a review of that online travel platform, but more of how travellers get duped (if I may say so) by hotel chains, and how these travel platforms should be held responsible to giving them a space to do so. What’s advertised vs what you actually get – it was that kind of situation. It’s our very raw experience as travellers, and female travellers to be specific.

Hotel booking online platform – Representative image

So coming back to my story, we were on the overnight bus to Nainital and somewhere in the middle of the journey, I got this call from the hotel we booked. The person on the other end told me that due to some “technical issues” we are no longer booked in that particular hotel, but they are “giving” us a room at one of their sister hotels nearby. Angry, disappointed and tired, we reached Nainital early in the morning, and we called the same person and asked him to ping me the location of the hotel that he moved our reservation to. We followed the Google Map directions and it showed us Tallital, but towards the taxi stand and beyond, not the market side. Both of our maps were showing the same direction, but there was no such hotel in sight. So we called up the fellow again and told him we couldn’t find the hotel. When we explained our current location, he rudely interrupted saying “aap galat jagah pe ho.” Fuse was short that day when I accused him of sending us the wrong location. He tried one more time to give us direction, and I don’t know what happened, his direction took us towards the market side this time. There was an uphill climb, a narrow road that took us through not streets but a mildly forested route. But since other people were also walking that route, it didn’t seem alarming to us. Us ladies just got more stubborn by the minute and now we really wanted to see what was on the other side. To those thinking maybe these two ladies misread the location, no, we didn’t. We followed to a T. Huffing and puffing we reached the hotel, not with the help of the map, but asking people on the road. Some were confused as to why we were coming from the forest side, and not from the main road. Long story short, we reached the hotel, and guess what? It was a shoddy, barely-there hotel that looked like a hub for some unlawful activities. And we waited at the reception for more than an hour because the rooms were not ready. After a wait of an hour and a half, we were finally given our room key. Why were the doors and everything in that hotel so sticky, I’ll never know, and I don’t think I want to know. Was it too late to look for another hotel? Yes, weekend, remember? I called up the person again and asked him if this was the best they could find? This was what they arranged as compensation for canceling our original booking? He mumbled an apology and pretended that the phone connection was bad.

Moldy hotel room – Representative image

The moldy hotel room, the sticky pillows, and slippery bathroom floor…things I never thought I would experience in Nainital. Our eyes scanned the room for hidden cameras, we didn’t see any, but we somehow felt that it was there. So we both gave the room a finger, flipped the room basically, laughed maniacally. At the reception, we simply said, sorry we changed our mind, and left. After we left, maybe a breeze came in and somehow knocked a jug full of water on the floor. Maybe. That day, boating was done, souvenirs and dried apricots were bought. And we headed to Pangot.