As soon as the World Cup schedule was announced, hotel rooms in Ahmedabad were sold out. With days left till the match on October 14, 2023, unusual accommodation options became available in the city - from a thatched hut to old-world havelis and dharamshalas. A hospital was listed on an online travel portal. And 10 Uber luxury campers will be parked near the stadium for the winners of Uber’s social media campaign. From ultra-luxe to matchbox rooms, a look at some strange and wonderful options:
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT OPTIONS
1. Hospital: Ever thought of sleeping in a hospital with no care, no cold and no pills on the table? Well, hospitals in Ahmedabad are, for a change, checking in tourists.
Matis Hospital in Ahmedabad is offering double or twin rooms with one full bed (ever heard of half beds?!) + vegetarian breakfast; it is listed on a travel platform for Rs 16,000 + taxes a night for two adults. The hospital joined the travel platform exactly a week before the India-Pakistan match.
2. Hut: A Bhunga Hut in Ambapur with two beds for Rs 10,329 a night.
3. Camper van: A camper van listed on AirBnB can sleep five guests (2 beds, 1 bathroom) for Rs 45,000 a night.
4. Railway Retiring Rooms: Available for a minimum of 12 hours to a maximum of 48 hours. Permissible combinations in railway retiring room is:
For one passenger: one single bedroom or one double bedroom or one bed in dormitory can be allocated.
For two passengers: One double bedroom or two beds in dormitory can be allocated.
For three passengers: One double bedroom + one single bedroom or three beds in dormitory.
For four passengers: Two double bedrooms or four beds in dormitory.
For five passengers: Two double bedrooms or five beds in dormitory.
For six passengers: Two double bedrooms or six beds in dormitory.
STRETCH OPTIONS
5. Dharamshalas: yatradham.org has several options:
Kutchi Vishram Gruh (Shahibag), Rs 1,500 a night.
ISKCON Guest House 2 bed AC room (Rs 2,500).
Nilmani Tenement (Rs 616, 2 bed non-AC).
YD Stay (hotel Sunrise), Rs 1,624.
Ahmedabad-Jagannath Temple (Adalaj) Double Bed Ac/non-Ac room (Rs 1,120 -1,680).
Swaminarayan Gadi Sansthan Ashram (Rs 600-1,200); dormitory (just a mattress: Rs 150 in non-AC Community Hall for 20 persons).
6. Dorms & backpackers accommodation:
Charyana backpackers, which is 300 metres from the city centre, is for Rs 1,600 a night. Children and pets are not allowed and this is a cash-only and smoke-free dormitory. The minimum age for check-in is 18 years.
A room in CODE Gents hostel was available for Rs 4,500 a night (2 beds, 2 guests, 1.5 bathroom).
7. Hotels in Gandhinagar: For those who didn't mind driving an hour on match day from Gandhinagar to Ahmedabad, there were enough options to suit every pocket-size and requirement.
8. YMCA International Centre: Rs 5,700 - 6,868 for a night. All 43 rooms were booked at the time of publishing.
SILVER LINING
With hotel room tariffs rising in the early days, some premium options started to look more affordable (tariffs have since corrected).
9. Villas:
Expert Villa (3-bedroom villa with 3 bathrooms) in Sanand for Rs 7,800.
Vaibhaya Farm (villa with private pool, 6 bedrooms, 2 living rooms, 7 bathrooms and 19 beds including 13 sofa beds and 6 large double beds) for Rs 1.78 lakh on the match day.
ASMA, a 4-bedroom villa with 4 beds (3 extra large beds, 1 sofa bed) for Rs 72,000. A Swapnil is hosting an entire villa for Rs 21,000 a night on AirBnB.
10. Farmhouses:
Susan Madhu Mansion, a villa with 5 beds for Rs 22,824 a night.
Radhe Farm with four beds for Rs 82,165 on the match day.
Farmhouse in Adalaj with 28 beds, available for Rs 4.19 lakh for the night of October 14.
11. Heritage hotels:
Located in the historical walled city of Ahmedabad, Jagdip Mehta’s Heritage House is ideally situated for visiting monuments, historical sites, traditional markets and old neighbourhoods called pols. Jagdip Mehta has four rooms but despite the demand on the day of India-Pakistan match, he has not hiked the usual rate of Rs 2,500 for a double bed.
The House of MG formerly known as Mangaldas Ni haveli has 37 rooms for Rs 19,000 + taxes.
Deewanji Ni Haveli (8 rooms in 2 properties, 3 rooms available at Rs 37,000) - 8-9 kilometres from the stadium. Sleeps two in a room but can happily accommodate 3.
Mani Mansion that won Best Heritage Award in 2016 and 2017 has 21 rooms available at Rs 31,000+ per night while the premium suite is for Rs 35,205 for room only, add Rs 1,000 for breakfast. The usual rate for Mani Mansion, which used to be a homestay and is now part of ITC WelcomHeritage is Rs 5,000-6,000 a night.
Ten winners of Uber’s limited edition social media campaign/contest, accompanied by their friends and families, are sleeping for free from October 13-15 in 10 luxury campers parked at a ground 15-20-minute drive from the Narendra Modi Stadium. Each camper is furnished with beds, TV, fridge, washroom and basic kitchenette can sleep 4.
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