Review of StayUncle website and services

I have been following StayUncle since the word about it’s unique concept spread on social media. Honestly speaking, I had the same idea the previous year, but never focused on it. But cheers to the team of StayUncle – they did execute the idea and started up the business. I recently used this website to book a hotel for myself.

Date             – 4 Dec 2016
Occupancy   – 2 (1 Unmarried couple)
Hotel            – T24 Residency, Andheri East, Mumbai

In the 21st century, India still finds its ways to do moral policing. On one hand, we say that we are advancing and on the other hand, a bunch of couples are dragged out of their rooms and charged for public indecency. I’m still wondering if staying in a room is public or private business, thanks to the Indian Police (Maharashtra to be specific). India has a lot of young population and hence a lot of young couples (unmarried). Now what do you do when you are an unmarried couple and want to spend some time with your partner? Your parent’s won’t agree to give you private space because you are not married yet and it is socially unacceptable. The hotels won’t let you stay together because you are not married yet and it is socially unacceptable. Where do you go then? It is not illegal for an unmarried couple of legal age to rent a room (as per my knowledge, kindly correct me if I’m wrong). How do you escape this moral policing then? All hotels except 5 star properties, deny rooms to unmarried couples. Not all couples can afford a 5 star hotel booking every time they want to spend private time with their partners. So, in this confused era that we Indians live in, StayUncle has put an idea on the table, which has caught attention of many, especially unmarried couples.

So with this problem strangling young couples, StayUncle has come in like Superman (or shall I say Krrish, since its India?) Their concept of renting rooms by 10 hour slots to unmarried couples caught my eye early on. I’m too a part of the young generation who needs some private time. Before this, I had booked 5 star hotels for overnight stay with my fiancé. And I paid shit loads for it. So, this time I tried StayUncle.

Good points:
You can rent a room for 10 hours and pay for just 10 hours
You don’t have to stay overnight (it is not possible for all to do a night cap so this works out well)
You can rent a room even of you are an unmarried couple

Negatives:
The only negative point is that there are a limited number of hotels. Very less 5 star options and for people who prefer 5 star hotels, it can be a limited stock for searching.
The hotel list will eventually increase as they will tie up with more hotels, hopefully.

So to give a brief about my experience, I would say it was an amazing one. I booked Hotel Orchid Mumbai (since I was a bit skeptical about booking cheaper hotels due to safety concerns). Unfortunately, the hotel was sold out and Praveen Uncle (they call everybody uncle in this startup) arranged for alternate accommodation for me at T24 Residency. Once I got a confirmation mail, I phoned the hotel and reconfirmed my reservation. I was still a bit unsure because it was my first time with StayUncle. My fiancé and I reached the hotel at 9.55 am and we had our room at 10 am sharp. The check in process was smooth. I didn’t feel any judgmental vibes from the reception staff. And the whole check in procedure was normal and quick.

The room was very well kept as per the hotel standards. There was no invasion of privacy whatsoever. And it was perfectly safe and quiet. Out time there was wonderful and private.
We checked out around 4.30pm as we had some evening commitments and the checkout procedure took less than 5 minutes. The whole experience at the hotel was normal, just as you would expect anywhere. No peeping eyes, no judging staff, no questions asked about marital status or relationship.

I had a good stay at the hotel and I paid almost half of what I’d pay if I stayed at a 5 star hotel. So, the purpose was served and the money was saved. What else can a young couple ask for?

All in all, the service from StayUncle was excellent. The staff is super friendly. Their Chief Marketing Uncle (Officer) Blaze emailed me to know the status. Hilarious email by the way. Loved it.

I would recommend StayUncle for all the people that are looking at staying at a hotel with their partners and don’t want to pay for the whole 24 hours. Not only unmarried couples, this can be used by anyone who wants a room just for a few hours. Booking with StayUncle is completely safe, money saving and comes with excellent customer service. They genuinely care about you having a hassle free time.


They have an amazing idea going on and I’m sure this will see success quickly.

First AC Class (1AC) Review of Indian Railways

I recently traveled in First AC of Indian Railways. I had researched about this before traveling and I thought it would be a good idea to share the review after the experience.

My travel details:

Train – 12152 Samrasta Express

Train Origin – Howrah Junction HWH

Train Destination – LTT Mumbai

My boarding – Akola Junction AK (on 12 Nov 2016 at 21:40 IST)

My Destination – LTT Mumbai

(Though sometimes this train called Samarsata Express with a different pronunciation)

Let me start with the description of the First AC class in this train. There is one full 1AC coach (H1) and one half 1AC+2AC coach (HA1). This means there were 5 cabins and 4 coupes in total for 1AC class.

We were two passengers on a single pnr. We were expecting coupe allotment. But this is not guaranteed. We were given cabin seats, and that too in two different cabins. This was a bit disappointing because we had same pnr. The charting authority should keep two passengers traveling together in same cabin, especially when one of them is a female. We managed to convince a passenger to shift to another cabin, and then traveled together in same cabin.

We boarded from Akola Jn (AK), so maybe the coupe allotment didn’t work in our favor because there were people boarding from HWH (end-to-end travel).

SERVICE

The service was decent. There was an attendant who came when we boarded and offered blankets and bedding. Nothing extraordinary about that.

CLEANLINESS

The cabin was pretty clean, except for one problem. There was a cockroach in my cabin, near my berth. I cannot expect to share my berth with a cockroach when I’m paying for the ticket and the cockroach is not (!!). Cleanliness is a big problem in Indian Railways. Even in 1AC, where I paid INR 2200 per person for a ticket (almost the same as airfare), there was a cockroach in the cabin. Other than the cockroach thing, the cabin was generally clean and everything was well kept.

The washroom indicator glass (near the ceiling, on the door entrance) has a blue light and it keeps glowing in the dark too. It is an issue for someone who needs complete darkness during their sleep.

PRIVACY

Privacy is an important factor when deciding to travel in 1AC. But, 2AC offers better privacy than 1AC. The fact is – if you get a coupe, you get privacy as the door can be bolted from inside. This ensures safety of the baggage as well. But if you get a cabin – it is no better than 2AC, as you would be sharing the cabin with other travelers. There are no curtains in 1AC, which is a negative point, compared to 2AC which has curtains, ensuring privacy.

If you want guaranteed privacy, you are better off with 2AC. It is cheaper, it has curtains and the chances of ticket confirmation are better in 2AC. If you want to take a chance with your privacy, go for 1AC. It is a luck game, and if your gamble works, there’s nothing like it. If you get a coupe for two passengers, it is as good as a private room and a safe journey without having unknown people sleeping nearby. The problem with 1AC is that the seat and berth numbers are released only after the charting is done for the train. So, even though your tickets are confirmed, you cannot know if you will get a cabin or a coupe, until 2 hours before departure. Generally, coupes are reserved for VIPs and ministers, if there are none, then it is given to regular passengers. For privacy, 1AC is a big gamble. It is all or nothing.

I would travel in 2AC if I need guaranteed privacy. Because it allots seat numbers immediately upon booking, so you can know if you have side seats. And 2AC provides privacy through curtains. Curtains work best for side upper and side lower seats. You can decide on your own about yourselves.

SO HOW DO I INCREASE MY CHANCES OF GETTING A COUPE?

Everybody wants a coupe. But there is no guarantee if you will get one. There are a few things you can try.

1. Traveling with a dog. If you are two people traveling with a dog, your chances of getting a coupe increase, because other people can be uncomfortable with a dog in their cabin, and hence railways will try to put you in a coupe. You will have to pay charges for the dog, which aren’t very expensive. You will need to have confirmed tickets and then send a request to the Chief Reservation Officer of the train originating station to intimate them about the dog and ask for a coupe.

2. Two people/married couple/same last name people traveling in same pnr. If you are a couple, two people with same surname, married couple, you have good chance of getting a coupe.

3. Travel from origin to destination. If you are traveling from origin to destination of the train, it is likelier to get a coupe, because railways will prefer to give the coupe to people who travel end-to-end rather than to allot same coupe to two different people on different legs of the journey. This is not guaranteed, it is just my opinion.

4. You are a VIP/minister. These people have priority for coupes.

On all of the above scenarios, you will need to have a confirmed ticket. Also, you will need to send a letter to Chief Reservation Officer requesting a coupe. You can even meet the CRO in person a day or two before your departure.

FINAL REVIEW - 2.5 / 5 (For my journey)

Negatives:

1. Seats allotted in different cabins even on same pnr and one of us was a female.

2. Cockroach in the cabin/on the berth.

3. Not much different than traveling in 2AC. Actually, 2AC offers more better privacy compared to cabins of 1AC, cheaper fare.

Positives:

1. The door could be bolted from inside, so there is safety with luggage and outsiders cannot enter. And no invasion of privacy by outsiders.

2. Wider seats compared to all other classes.

 

Please note, all of the above information is my review and my opinions. These are not Indian Railway’s opinions or thoughts. Let me know if you need any further information/suggestions, I would try to reply at my earliest.

How to see London for free

Yes, you read that right! For someone who is visiting London for the first time, the best option to see the city would be to book a city tour. No doubt the tours are nice and show you all the best places in London. But you've got to pay for it. What if I told you you can see some of the city for free?

London, like many other mega cities in the world, is visited by thousands of people a day. If you're on a holiday, you wouldn't have much time and might be staying in the city for 3-4 days. Obviously, you would want to cover the sightseeing in the available time, and have some free time for shopping (The wife/girlfriend wouldn't be happy if you miss this!)

Instead of booking a city tour, go for the walking tours. Walking tours are available easily and are free of charge! Yes, you don't have to pay a single penny for this. Tipping the guide is appreciated, but it's totally up to you. Walking tours start generally from hostels. There will be a guide, who will start from a hostel at about 10 am. People will join him to move to another hostel, where more people will join. Then they move to the train station. Use your Oyster Card for ticket. (London Oyster Card information given at the bottom of this page.) 2-3 stops later, you arrive at Green Park. Here, the group will split in to two - English and French (or any other language). Choose whichever language is convenient for you. You will then walk towards the Buckingham Palace. Now, there are people standing in line for hours to see the Changing of the Guards ceremony. But only a handful of them get to see the ceremony properly because of the crowd and the security. With this walking tour, the guide will walk you on the road adjacent to the palace and you will then stop near the outer gates. This area is completely empty because most of the people will be standing inside in lines. The horses will walk past from this gate and you can see them from very close. (See the pic below) Changing of the Guards will be done inside obviously, but you've seen the guards marching in. It's the same thing happening inside. And people paid for it.
Next, you move towards Trafalgar Square, walking past palaces and some expensive lanes of London. The guide will keep on telling you stories and amazing facts all the while. Did you know, London is actually just a small block. The main city that we call London is actually City of Westminster!

From Trafalgar Sq, you move to some other palaces and then to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben etc. The tour ends here and you've seen most of the iconic places in London for free. You split here and can go your own way ahead.
Tip: Ask some of the group members and explore the markets and the city  on your own with them. It's fun to travel with people from different countries
Use your Oyster card to go back to your accommodation.

London Oyster Card
You can buy it at any of the Underground stations and also at the arrivals area at Heathrow. You pay a 5 pound deposit and refill it with whatever amount you need. With this card, you can travel on London Underground and buses for almost half the fare. Recharge it whenever you need it. And at the end of your trip, just return it back at any of the stations/airport and get the deposit back. If you have any balance left in the card, you will get that back too!
More info on: https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card

To find these walking tours, just Google walking tours of London.

That's how close you stand to the Queen's guards!