24 Apr 2012

For the Vegans in Mysore

1.      Green Leaf, K D road

2.      Jwala, opposite to hotel Empire, KD road

3.      Rasoi Magic, KD road

4.      Jalpaan, near Ramaswamy circle

5.      Guru Residency, near Metropole circle

6.      Nalpak hotels (one near Vontikoppal temple, one in DD Urs road & one in Kuvenpunagar)

7.      Ramanis (one near SidharthaNagar, one in 100ft road, one on Bangalore-Mysore highway)

8.      Veg court (next to Opera theatre)

 

 

 

23 Apr 2012

8 reasons why ClubMahindra membership is a waste

I am writing this with utmost disappointment. Myself & my husband have been longing to take membership with ClubMahindra for sometime now.

But before that we wanted to check out how things work, hence decided to visit one of your clubs through a member as guest.

 

We visited Club Mahindra, Coorg & we were really shocked at the level of hospitality there.

 

1.      We were welcomed by a welcome drink, while my husband was busy filling up the form, I saw that the glass I used was taken, re-filled without washing & served to someone else. They say first impression is the best impression; I almost had a heart attack at that sight.

 

2.      Club people knew that we are guests & not MEMBERS, still did not let us know the way things work there. Be it any resort, the package comes with food. Of course clubMahindra works in different way, agreed, but no one from your staff told us this. It was only during our meal while signing the bill we realized this.

 

3.      Soon we realized everything works the same way, even the light bite & coffee/tea. This is very vital for the resort staff to appraise guests about everything.

 

4.      We visited the spa & were in for a surprise again. Agreed that every resort the spas are on cost basis. But according to what we were told every room comes with a complimentary offer (not sure if it holds good for member guests). We were enquiring the same & the person in the reception refused to oblige. His answer was “Don’t know”, I mean what kind of staff would not know this basic information & be at the reception. I also saw that few ladies were querying about the same on complimentary treatments at spa who were Members & again the answer was very doubtful, may be or may not be complimentary. If there are too many people & reception is too busy then such answers (considered humanly) makes sense, but the spa was free, the reception guy was all free, but still not responding to the members was shocking

 

5.      We had booked a BR room, which came with a sofa that could be changed to bed. But because it was just two of us in the room we did not need any change of that sort, also we never made any request to the room service guys. While we both had gone out, someone from the staff came inside & changed the sofa, without permission. In any hotels, this entering without permission happens only for cleaning/laundry that too at stipulated hours. How can someone from the resort just enter the room without permission? Nothing was lost but yet that is certainly not the way things should function.

 

6.      We were to check out at 6am & hence went to reception a day before & asked them the formalities. As we were guests & non members, & there were lot of confusions as we booked an extra room, we told them to sort it out by morning as we had to head to work. Still nothing was done in the morning, people responsible were not lifting the phone because it was too early & the billing took 35mins. We also observed that there was wrong billing of food, we never ordered any food to our room, but the same was done by someone who stayed it the same room prior to us but it was billed to us. As the billing was delayed we were just going through the various items on the bill & found this.

 

7.      This is just a suggestion, we have been to various resorts, from Orange County to Windflower, but the buffet spread at Fern hall is horrible. There is no proper starter as such but just gravies, the breads are in another hall, making it difficult for the people dining to get them. What is the point of having so many gravies but no rotis/nans? Instead of having so many restaurants why not serve people well in one of them (by payment only of course) Every small hotel that serves buffet makes sure that breads are available either at the spread or made to order to table, here nothing of that sort happens.

 

8.      Also Planters club has no fans? I mean Coorg doesn’t require AC makes sense, but considering how humid it gets during summers no ceiling fans? How terrifying of sweating while having my drink!!!

 

I am quoting what we experienced. I am sure if one visits them during the time than “members only” period the hospitality would be changed. You, as a member would be treated differently than a person who is yet to be a member.

 

With the same money that I pay for membership & its interest amount, if I can afford a luxury resort with fantabulous facilities & most importantly go whenever I want to holiday then why would I buy this non-friendly membership at ClubMahindra?

 

Not sure about visiting again, but I am now sure why we are not opting for a membership there.

20 Apr 2012

Bond Bond. She is the Baby Bond.

Not so long ago (Yes I am still young) there lived a girl who was studying in UKG, who was fond of questions (mostly inappropriate). She would go around holding pallu of her mom’s saree, asking questions, like, “Mom, does dad love me”, Yes “Is that why he kisses me?” Yes, “Does he love you”, Yes, “Then why doesn’t he kiss you” or “Mom why do you wear saree & not nighty like pakadhmane aunty”.

Secret behind my talkative mom going silent lies with me. Summer holidays were on, me and cousin were playing outside our thotti mane in our native. Our native is a small village on the Bangalore-Mysore highway from Mandya to Mysore. It has got hens & buffaloes, cows & sheep & greenery & oh ok you get the point.

It also has a well; common water well just behind our home. We both were advised warned not to venture nearby. Warnings to me are like invitations; I made sure I roamed around the well, always. One unfortunate day (err not for me) I had the idea of throwing stones into the well. This water well was pretty old, had water but no one from the village used it, not sure what the reason was. We threw around 20-30 stones & each hit the bottom of the well with a splash. We both were so excited to hear splash all the way up. Suddenly, a doubt popped up to me, about the depth of the well.

We discussed, me & my cousin, that after we throw a stone, one should start counting 1 2 & that way we could decide the depth. Tried few times but every time the number varied, mostly because our throwing had different strengths or stupid cousin stopped counting as he forgot numbers. The idea crapped out.

My destructive mind had started working & bang - another idea. I decided to send a person down the well, who could check on the depth & tell us back. My first option was my cousin, but he played safe. He said we are partners in crime sorts of dialogue & denied. Nearby was this child who was 2yrs old, playing with mud, we both got our “catch”? Both spoke to the kid (yes it was unfortunate day for him), told him that we will send err throw down the well, he has to make note of depth, then shout, we would put a “suthli daara” (gunny bag tying thread) & then we would pull the baby back. The kid smiled. I am sure it did not understand a word we said; even otherwise I had made my mind, that the kid would go, happily or crying, any which way.

The well had huge walls around & it was pretty taller than us. Me & cousin lifted the kid with much difficulty, the plan was to make him sit on the edge & then push him off. Please note that the kid was hefty. In this process I think the kid was bruised & he started wailing. We started speeding up our job too. The kid’s mother came running I donno from where & you really don’t want to hear what happened later.

We were grounded for entire summer vacations that year. They never got us ice cream even. Cousin still fears to go near that well. Stupid boy he is. However there is still an urge in me, to know what the depth is, game anyone?
 
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