I am writing this blog, just to warn people about how we were cheated by Mr A S Katti Mandaiah of Brahamagiri Guest house in Srimangala, South Coorg.
We were four couples who had planned a long awaited trip to Kutta in South Coorg, especially to do rafting in the Barapole river. We also were traveling with our spouses for the first time all together, and were expecting a nice and pleasant stay at a home stay in Kutta. So, we looked for homestays on the internet, and zeroed in on the Brahamagiri Guest house at Srimangala in South Coorg. We saw the photos put in the website, and we were quite satisfied with it. The accommodation looked basic, but we have stayed at a lot of guest houses in this area earlier, and knew what to expect. The accommodation shown was a two storeyed building which had 5 rooms in it. We wanted four rooms for the eight of us. And, this looked like a nice place at around 2 kms from the Iruppu falls in South Coorg.
Around 2 weeks before our trip, we called up the owner of the Brahamagiri guest house, Mr A S Katti Mandaiah, who said he would book the four rooms in his homestay, at a cost of Rs.800 per person per day, which includes all three meals. He also asked us to make a deposit of Rs.2000 in his bank account at Union Bank of India, Srimangala. We agreed to it, as we did not want to be left with nowhere to stay once we reach Kutta. So, around 10 days before our trip, we made the deposit in his account and informed him also. We were eagerly looking forward for this trip.
On the day of the trip, we reached Brahamagiri Guest House, and Mr A S Katti Mandaiah was there at the gate. We saw the Guest house exactly as shown in the photos inside the gate. But, to our surprise, Mr A S Katti Mandaiah told us to take another nearby gate instead of going through this gate. We did as he told us to, only to find that it leads to his house. It was around lunch time, and we thought that he is going to serve us lunch at his home. So, all the eight of us disembarked from our vehicle, and went into Mr A S Katti Mandaiah's house.
This is when we had the first shocking news. We had to take small rooms in his house, with shared bath rooms, instead of what we had booked.
And then we had the second shock. The house had only 3 rooms, and the fourth room was around 400 metres from his house in the other gate entry, and we had to only walk to this place.
The third shock, all this was happening because, he had decided to let the 5 bedroomed guest house to a group of 25 bachelors, just because, they would pay him more money than we 8 people. And, he decided this ad hoc on his own, without even informing us, and after taking the advance from us, a good 10 days before our trip. What a greedy person, Mr A S Katti Mandaiah!
The shocks were not over. I have not described the condition of the rooms. One room was his master bedroom, which was the only decent room in his whole house. It had a double bed and toilet. The other rooms were places where goods were stored. Especially, one room on the ground floor, which had place for a small bed, and no other place at all. Despite that, he had put all his clothes, belongings, and other things around the bed. Essentially, it was a store room with a bed, and it had no door - he expected a couple on a holiday to stay there, and did not even bother to inform us about this.
The room on the first floor, was smelling of a dead rat. The room was slightly larger than the store room, and had big windows. The windows did not even have curtains, and the bed was a single bed on which we were expected to adjust.
The owner, Mr A S Katti Mandaiah, disappeared after telling us to go into the rooms there. His wife was not ready to talk to us. She said, whatever we want to talk, just talk to the man. And, he conviniently left his mobile at home, and went away not to return at all. We were all very very hungry, and decided to have lunch there, and leave.
The food was another disaster. He gave us pooris, with coconut chutney which was old and had turned sour (stale). Then, there was sambar with rice. The sambar was so little that even the first person to pour some of it, could not get enough on the ladle from the vessel. The taste was also bad. And, chicken! My god, the chicken was the hardest and the worst I have ever had. It was as though the lady of the house had collected all the bones from the meat her husband bought, and made the chicken dish. There was papad, which my wife could see that it was fried in used oil. We took a peep into the kitchen and could see that it was so unclean and unhygenic. We could make out why the food was so bad at Mr A S Katti Mandaiah's house. I can also say this because, we decided to leave the place immediately, and after a long search found another homestay at the same price, where the food was simply amazing.
Finally, when we finished lunch, we finally saw Mr A S Katti Mandaiah coming in, and told him that we saw the rooms, and they were very bad. We also told him that we looked at this adjoining guest house, which we saw on the internet, but which he had let out to 25 people just for more money! We said, please take the money for the lunch alone and refund the rest of our deposit, so that we can find some other place to stay. This, he flatly refused. He said arrogantly that he had a policy that once he took advance, he would never return the money. We were not even fighting with him, and only requesting him, but the greedy person he was, he just turned and went away again.
We were preparing to leave, when he did another thing. He brought in another group of tourists, and started showing the rooms in the house to them, in order to accommodate them there. This, while we were still standing there thinking what to do. Also, he started calling up brokers, and asking them to find tourists who would stay in the store rooms he had. We did not want to stay there anymore, and left. We felt completely cheated and helpless. What an idiot the guy A S Katti Mandaiah was! We did not want to argue with him, as we saw that it was not going to serve any purpose.
Luckily, we found another home stay, where the owner Mr Belliappa was a kind and hospitable person who agreed to give us rooms, which were a 100 times better that the Brahamagiri Guest house owned by Mr A S Katti Mandaiah. The highlight was the food, which was the best I have ever had in any hotel or a homestay anywhere. It was simply great food. I would go back to that place just for the food. Comparing to Mr A S Katti Mandaiah, and his store rooms, this place was a heaven.
I would just like to point out how some of the homestay owners in Coorg turn out to be greedy and arrogant jerks, and do anything for money. We book stay in advance so that we can have a pleasant stay. But, here, Mr A S Katti Mandaiah had the high handedness of renting out his property in the last minute to some other people, and not inform us, and even not ready to return our advance, and expecting us to stay in his store rooms. I just wrote this so that you are warned of the ground realities when booking homestays or any place for that matter. Please do not be cheated by greedy people like Mr A S Katti Mandaiah who own Brahamagiri Guest House in Srimangala, South Coorg.
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