Calm Amidst the Chaos
Words: Deepali Singh
Indie Stays in Mumbai is a luxury home-style accommodation that offers beautiful single and double rooms as well as dormitories for the new-age traveller.
Outside, the rain is pouring down in sheets and traffic is slowing down to a crawl. But inside Indie Stays, it’s calm, with the pattering raindrops drumming up a musical rhythm. The colourful lounge area on the first floor is where I find myself, to be welcomed by the staff. As they check me in, I take a look around the large colorful lounge area which doubles up as a co-working space. And I can’t wait to check into my room and come back to its warm and positive energy.
Neither a hotel nor a hostel, Indie Stays is a luxury home-style accommodation, bang in the middle of Kalina, Mumbai, the idea for which was set into motion by owner Rohit Shetty. Being a third-generation hotelier, Rohit understood the need for a space like this, where customers can be themselves, away from the confines of a typical hotel setting.
I get a single room to myself, and there’s everything I need for a comfortable stay, including a television, an ironing board, a hairdryer, a safe, a plush bed, and a neat little bathroom. I get a sneak peek of the dormitory too. Instead of a cramped, unhygienic bed-after-bed scenario, I find luxury accommodation, with each bed having its share of privacy.
But it’s the lounge area which has caught my fancy. Nobody gives me disapproving looks as I stroll down in my PJs in the middle of the day to settle down with a cup of coffee my laptop. There’s free Wi-Fi and nobody disturbs me as I finish my work, occasionally looking up to smile at another traveler or just to look out of the large glass windows. For lunch, I grab a box of Chicken Noodles from the kiosk at MRP, which the ever-helpful staff helps me warm up in the microwave. “We want to enable our customers to experience Mumbai, and so, we have done away with the concept of a restaurant. They are free to order food from online apps and nearby restaurants, or they can take grab a roll or a biryani from our kiosk. They can take it up to their rooms or have it here. There’s no rule that says you can’t,” Rohit states.
Work over, I grab a Murakami and a green tea and settle down on a bean bag in the corner. The rains have now slowed down to a pitter-patter and I lose myself in the pages of Kafka on the Shore. By dinner time, I’m in the mood for a pizza and that’s what I order from an app. Much later, I head back to my room and within moments, fall asleep, only to be woken up by the alarm in the morning. Hanging from the handle outside my room, is a complimentary bag of breakfast, including a banana, a smoothie, a croissant, yogurt, granola, and a slice of cake. I take it down to the lounge, to enjoy it while reading the newspaper. Not for a moment do I miss the typical breakfast buffet or waiters hovering around me to ask if I want mineral water or regular.
As I head out in the evening to catch an Uber back home, I know what I would be recommending to my friends from other cities, when they want luxury accommodation in Mumbai and a chance to meet like-minded travelers. All this, without burning a hole in their pocket!
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