I had recently been to Hyderabad with my family (six adults and three children) during the Diwali vacation. I had done quite some research on the Net regarding the various hotels and restaurants and other travel information. I’ll write a separate review regarding my Hyderabad visit since this one is primarily regarding our hotel.
We stayed at Hotel Jaya International (HJI) at Abids for around five days. This hotel was recommended by my uncle and although I had shortlisted some other hotels in the budget range (my budget, of course, which was less than Rs.700/- per day per room). I finalised HJI since I was informed that the owner is a fellow Goan and I reasoned that this stately brotherhood might be useful in an alien city. It did turn out to be a smart decision in the end.
HJI is located in the heart of the city, the market area of Abids, around 3 kms. from the Hussainsagar lake - the center of reference for all areas in and around Hyderabad. The railway station is close by (though we travelled by bus, and, as expected, were ripped off by the rickshawallahs). Being a market area, there are lot of shopping opportunities and we managed to make frequent trips to G. Pulla Reddy (the deservingly famous sweet shop located across the street from the hotel), Big Bazzar (the mall right next to the hotel), and Chandana Brothers (another superstore famous for textiles, again across the street opposite G. Pulla Reddy).
They have around 70 - 80 rooms and deluxe, non-AC double room costs Rs.595/- inclusive of all taxes. The rooms are pretty decent, with an attached bathroom and toilet. Each room has a TV with standard cable channels (and though I prefer not to have TV on a vacation, this time around it proved to be a boon since we left the kids in the hotel when going shopping). The rooms are carpeted with the front side rooms much better. To be frank, the rooms are no great shakes and don’t expect star quality, but if you are going to spend only 10 hours or so of the entire day and night in the room, they are a pretty good bargain at 600 bucks. To compare, there is the 3-star Taj Mahal Hotel nearby, but the rooms are around Rs.1500/- there.
Other amenities include hot water in the morning (until around 10’o clock), room service for food, and provision for extra bed in each room for around Rs.120/-. They also have a breakfast buffet in the morning for Rs.30/- per head. The fare is usually South-Indian dishes like idli-sambar, masala dosa, medu vadas, batata vadas, and upeet with tea and coffee. You can eat as much as you like and is a good deal since ordering individual dishes in an outside restaurant does cost more, especially in a group.
The owner, Mr. Nagarsekar, is a Goan settled in Hyderabad with a pleasant manner. He gave a lot of valuable tips and some good information regarding shopping and sight-seeing. In fact, we got a very good deal on pearls from a reputed jeweller due to him. I had read horror stories on the Net about being ripped off when buying Hyderabadi pearls and this one experience convinced me that I made a good decision to stay at HJI.
There were a lot of Goan and Maharashtrian families staying and Mr. Nagarsekar said that these make much of the hotel’s clientele. All-in-all good value for money if you have a middle-class mentality and family and don’t expect heaven at earth prices.