No rooms for unwed couples in Mumbai hotels who want privacy

The Strand hotel claims the local police forbids them to give rooms to unmarried couples. Pic/Suresh Karkera

If you have looked at couples canoodling at Bandra Bandstand or Marine Drive and wondered why they don't just get a room, the simple truth is they can't. Young lovebirds in the city who can't afford five-star hotels will find that very few four or three-star hotels are willing to give them a room if they are unmarried. mid-day went undercover and approached 18 hotels across the city, and found that most of them turned away unwed couples, blaming the local cops for moral policing.

Bizarrely, the 'rule' seems to apply only to unwed couples local to this city. Unmarried couples from outside Mumbai can get a hotel room by showing their ID proof. But if even one of the lovebirds is unable to provide ID to prove he or she is not from Mumbai, they will be turned away.

The hotels' claims that the police forbid them to give rooms to unmarried couples is all the more shocking considering the outrage such moral policing had led to in 2015, following an exposé by mid-day. On August 8, 2015, this paper had broken the story about how the Mumbai Police had rounded up more than 40 couples from hotels in Madh Island and Aksa, humiliated them, charged them for 'indecent behaviour', and only released them after they agreed to call their parents. The public furore prompted the then Commissioner of Police, Rakesh Maria, to order the cops to leave the city's lovers alone.

Four years on, though, not much has changed. After receiving a series of complaints from readers who wished to remain anonymous, two of mid-day's reporters went undercover and visited several hotels across the city, posing as a couple, to check the ground reality. Shockingly, even hotels that had claimed to be couple-friendly on their websites, refused rooms to our reporters.

Juhu 5-stars are couple-friendly
Only at Juhu were the reporters able to find rooms without any uncomfortable questions or moral policing. However, this likely is because most hotels in Juhu are five-stars, which puts them out of the common man's budget anyway.

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No. of hotels approached in the area

Bad start near domestic airport
Our team first visited the three-star Hotel Airport International near the domestic airport, right next to the Vile Parle police station. Even though rooms were available, the receptionists took one look at the reporters' ID cards and refused to give them rooms.

Our reporters were refused rooms at all but one hotel - Airlink hotel - in this area. Pics/Rajesh Gupta

They said, "Rooms are available, but we don't allow local unmarried couples as per our hotel policy and instructions from the Vile Parle police. If both of you have an identity card from different cities, we can permit you to stay here." At our next two stops, Hotel Atithi and Transit hotel, all rooms were occupied but the staffers also admitted that they had been instructed by the local police to turn away unwed couples. Only Hotel Airlink proved to be couple-friendly, agreeing to provide a room as long as valid ID proof could be provided.

Local copspeak
The hotels were just a few metres away from the Vile Parle police station, but the cops claimed to be unaware of what was happening. When mid-day's journalists repeated what the hotel staffers had told them about police instructions against unwed lovers, an officer said, "No such instructions were given by us. It is their own policy. If anyone refuses rooms despite guests providing valid IDs and meeting the age criteria, we are ready to help."

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No. of hotels visited in this area

50% chance in Bandra
Lucky hotel's name only holds true for couples that are married; there's no getting lucky for unwed lovers here. The receptionist said, "Unmarried couples are not allowed." However, he confirmed that there were no such instructions from the police. At Rangsharda hotel, the staffers said, "We do not have any problem if valid IDs are produced."

While Lucky hotel refused to room our scribes, Rangsharda proved couple-friendly

Local copspeak
The Bandra Police said they were not aware of any instructions issued to hotels, but added, "If they [hotels] are saying unmarried couples aren't allowed, then we should follow the rule."

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No. of hotels visited in the area

No-go in SOBO
At the Ambassador hotel near Marine Drive, a staffer said, "We don't allow unmarried couples with local IDs, as per our hotel policy, which you can also check online." They refused to say whether this was on instruction from the police. At the Strand, a two-star hotel near the Gateway of India, the receptionist clearly said, "We don't allow unmarried couples as per instructions from the police." At Sea Palace hotel, too, it was the same story. "Local guesthouses might allow unmarried people in," offered a staffer.

Local copspeak
The Marine Drive police and Colaba cops both said that no such instructions had been to any hotels in their jurisdiction.

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No. of hotels visited in the area

No luck near international airport
From Vile Parle, the reporters headed to Andheri East, to check out hotels near the international airport. The first stop was at the well-known three-star Hotel Solitaire, where the staffers once again immediately closed their doors on us, stating: 'As of now, no rooms are available, and we don't allow unmarried couples here, as per instructions from the local cops and our hotel policy." Around 500 metres away, our scribes got the same answer at Suba International and FabHotel Byaris International. Our correspondent Anamika dialled 100 for the police helpline, and a female operator said, "We are sending a team from the local police station." After 15 minutes, a woman officer from Vile Parle called and confirmed that there was no police directive against unwed couples. The cops also promised to help, but by then the reporters had left.

We were turned away by every single hotel we visited near the international airport

Local copspeak
When mid-day called the police station, a cop first told our reporters to follow what the hotel staffers said, but then a senior said, "There are no such instructions from us; it's the hotels' policy. But you can find a lot of couple-friendly hotels online. You don't need to dial the police for this."

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No. of hotels visited in the area

Losing money in Dadar
At the four-star Midtown Pritam hotel, Dadar East, refusing boarding to unwed couples is proving to be bad for business. The receptionist first said rooms were not available, then said, "As per instructions from cops, we don't allow unmarried couples with local IDs here. We are losing business due to this, but we have no choice." A few metres away, another four-star - Ramee Guestline - was also fully occupied, but there too the staffers said the police had issued instructions to allow only married couples to stay.

Local copspeak
Our team called the Matunga Police, who have jurisdiction in this area, and they denied issuing any instructions against lovers staying at the hotels.

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No. of hotels visited in the area

Hotel association says
"The association does not advocate any discriminatory policy with regard to allotment of rooms by hotels. However, individual hotels frame their own policies based on various factors. As such, Hotels would allow accommodation to any person subject to rules/law," said Pradeep Shetty, secretary of the Hotels and R estaurant Association Western India (HRAWI).

Mumbai Police denies any directive to hotels
Mumbai Police spokeserson Manjunath Singe told mid-day, "There are no such instructions or orders given to any hotel by Mumbai Police against allowing unmarried couples with local IDs in hotels."

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