A unique place to stay, but...
If the name sounds like its got everything golden, then that's not right. But for sure, it is located at a golden place , right on the Golden Blue Beach in Puri. There is no other hotel, that is so close to the beach, and its like you get out of the hotel and you land at the Golden Blue Beach.
And that advantage of location makes it literally booked most of the time and not available in all the travel sites like Makemytrip, GoIbibo etc, if not booked 2-3 months in advance. We always wanted to stay here earlier, but it was never been possible to get a booking, but this time we were lucky, but with some twists.
Since we did not get the booking in any of the travel sites, we tried to contact the hotel directly, and our boy found a number from google business reviews and called them. They asked about the booking as usual and asked us to share the guest details and dates on whatsapp, which I did.
But then thinks started turning on the negative side when they asked me to a UPI money transfer, with direct bank details. I did ask the boy, if he found it from an authentic source (like website or travel sites) and he said, he got it from Google business review and that was it. I decided not to pursue further and register a case in the IT cell against them. And we decided we will try some other place. The boy was heartbroken because they were always dreaming to stay at this place, so he tried to find out an authentic contact , without telling me. And finally he figured out that there is indeed an authentic site.
https://hotelgoldenpalacepuri.in/
So he requested me the next day to try a new number and see, if we can book without being asked to pay through UPI or direct bank transfer. Seeing his interest, I tried that and this time, it was genuine. They took all the details, confirmed the booking and asked us to pay when we arrive at the hotel or even check out. When we arrived there, we reported the fraud and since then, they have updated their site listing several numbers that are fake and some even MENTIONED IN A PICTURE IN GOOGLE FAKE BUSINESS PROFILE. They have even complained to the police, but nothing happens, so you can imagine what our cyber crime department is doing.
Now let's get into some update on the service provided by the hotel. They provide complimentary tickets for the beach, but that's not very expensive as it costs only ₹20/- per person. They have a nice swimming pool inside, but unfortunately it's closed after 7 pm, so that was a bit disappointing.
Kids decided to spend some time next morning after coming from the beach.
However, they have a very early check out at 9 am, so we had to hurry a bit there. Unfortunately the key they provided for the room did not work even, and every time we would go to the room, we had to call someone from their service to come with the master key.
The breakfast was complimentary, and in the interest of time ( else they charge you), we checked out our luggage and then went to the restaurant.
Food was tasty, and the restaurant is well maintained. They have a small lobby outside, having few sitting arrangements, and it felt nice to finish the breakfast there with a cup of tea. While paying the bills, we complained about the service and did not feel like they are very serious about the service quality, and professionalism. After saying them goodbye, we did capture some moments before heading to our next destination.
The view of the beach from the hotel itself is beautiful. So overall, its fine for a short stay, if you want to spend most of the time in the beach. This post will be part of my google review of this hotel.
Pinned on https://pinmapple.com/ - //:# (!pinmapple 19.79824 lat 85.83072 long Hotel Golden Palace d3scr)
And I wrote this from the travelfeed site and I think, uploading multiple pictures is a must to have feature, like Peakd, as its a pain to be able to upload only one picture at a time now.
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