Solo woman traveller denied hotel room in Hyderabad

An NRI on a visit to the city shares her plight on Facebook

An image of Nupur Saraswat posted by her on Facebook saying she was offered a complimentary stay in another hotel.

An NRI visiting the city was denied a room at a city hotel because she is a “single lady”. Her plight went viral on social media and has stirred a discussion about hotel policies.

The woman, Nupur Saraswat, had booked accommodation at Hotel Deccan in Erragadda through the travel website goibibo. Ms. Saraswat arrived at the hotel on Saturday but was denied a room by the hotel. She took to Facebook to reveal that she was denied entry as she was a “single lady”.

“So, I am standing outside a hotel in Hyderabad which didn't let me stay because they realised I was a single lady even after confirming the online booking,” she said in her post, which went viral.

The matter reached the travel website and Saraswat was offered a complimentary room in another hotel.

Apology

Ms. Saraswat also stated in another post that she was offered an apology and was told that the website was in the process of weeding out such hotels from its lists.

The website also maintained that it takes such incidents seriously and had de-listed the hotel. It also shared a snapshot of an email received from the hotel, which reads that all hotels in the area have the policy of not letting out rooms to single women and unmarried couples.

‘Police instructions’

The hotel attributed this to instructions from the police as the area where the hotel is located is allegedly not the right place for stay for single women. The website maintained that it did not support such policies and is investigating the matter.