Noel Homestay

We stayed at this place some time ago, and it was such a forgettable experience that I actually did forget about it, until I was reminded about it yesterday courtesy a stunt that the owner pulled, which I'll come to in a bit. Back to the stay itself: I stayed one night at this place with three other friends; all of us had gone to Ranganathittu to participate in the Kaveri Trail Marathon that's held there every year. I remember we checked in the night before the race, and the dinner was passable. The rooms however were another matter altogether. Rock hard pillows, mosquitoes, a geyser that didn't work at 5am on a November morning... you get the idea. Forward to yesterday... I see that I've been added to a Whatsapp group ***** with 127 other people, and am being bombarded with photos, videos, etc., of what we're told is their renovated homestay. As someone who respects others' and his own privacy, I enquired on the group if the owner had taken our permission to add us to his group, before exposing 128 people's contact details to each other. To this, the owner does the "gentlemanly" thing and promptly removes me from the group, without so much as an apology or any other gesture of contrition. A large hotel chain is a different thing, but if one is staying in a small family run place, the character of the owner assumes significance. This is a business that believes that their location trumps every other shortcoming in their property and service. In my opinion, you're better off staying slightly farther away, in a hotel that has at least it's basics right.