Must-Not Visit: Royale Riviera Hyderabad

I have had so many unpleasant experiences in Hyderabad but what we’ve been through just now is really the icing on the cake. Today is my birthday, and like almost every other couple, Tina and I wanted to spend a day or two at some resort in or around Hyderabad. So on the 15th, we sat down to look for a decent place where we could celebrate my birthday.

After much effort, we were finally able to get a reservation with Royale Riviera a resort located just outside Hyderabad. I spoke to one Sridhar Reddy who claimed to be the manager. He confirmed that getting a room wouldn’t be a problem as they had several available.

Like two excited kids we woke up today morning and went to our respective offices to wind up any important work and come home by lunch so as to make it to the resort by maximum 5 PM today. Fortunately, it occurred to me that I should talk to this Sridhar Reddy, just to let him know that we would be there by 5 PM. Out of the blue, he told me that the resort doesn’t get any power supply from 10AM to 6PM every day, and I should take this into account before coming to the resort.

Obviously, we weren’t ok with this because our idea was to have a good time, so why should be pay to stay without power for a day. We’d rather sit at home in the AC and watch movies. What we can’t figure out is why didn’t Sridhar Reddy tell us about this minor detail on the 16th when I called him up for the first time? At least, we could have tried other resorts. Now at this eleventh hour it is highly unlikely that that we will get a reservation. Being in the service industry isn’t it his duty to tell the customer what to expect.

If we were to rate this resort, I would give it a -1 because if this is the service we are getting before we even go there, God only knows what will happen if we do decide to spend a night there.