Sudeep D'Souza

Pictures of the fort Panoramic pictures of Hyderabad city from atop the hill on Golconda Fort.

Back in July, I got to spend a couple of nights in The Claridges, Surajkund. The hotel itself is very nice and spacious and is located about 25 km from the airport. As you enter the hotel the lobby and the reception is very spacious and inviting. The room The room is very spacious and airy. All the amenities that one expects in a 5 star hotel are present. We did not get much time to spend in the room as it was quite a hectic 2 days filled with meetings and discussions. The swimming pool The swimming pool is really nice. We spent a lot of time in the pool - might explain the lack of time spent in the room :). The swimming pool is next to the spa and it is an elevated pool with nice privacy. The water was warm and just lovely to lounge in for hours together. They do not sell swimming gear at the hotel so make sure you carry it and also they are quite strict with the clothing in the pool. Restaurants and Bars Dhaba - is a north Indian restaurant that has a rustic feel to it. T...

A couple of weeks ago I got to spend a night at the Novotel International Airport Hotel. The hotel is located in shamshabad about 3 km from the International Airport. The hotel is 5 star and there are a lot of facilities available at the hotel to keep one engaged for a day. In this article I will review some of the facilities I did get to use in the airport. The room The room is very ordinary. There are a lot of other 5 star hotels that have rooms that are much more spacious and luxurious. There are two views, the swimming pool view and the airport view but there is not much to view either way so it does not make much of a difference. The room has all the standard accessories and fittings one expects in a 5 star hotel.   We did not get any night service where the bed is prepared to sleep in. Newspapers are only given on request. The television has a few foreign language channels other than the usual cable channels that one gets in India. The Square I had all my meals at the...

An aerial view of the property After more than 12 years I went back to Ramoji Film City. It has not changed too much over the last decade or so but it has surely maintained what was there on my last visit. One is not allowed to take their cars into the premises unless you are staying there. There are two hotels inside - Tara and Sitara. I stayed in Tara 12 years ago and it is a pricey basic hotel. Tickets The tickets are one fixed price for entry and for all the shows inside - Rs. 500 for children and Rs. 600 for the adults. The ticket is valid for the full day. The ticket includes entry,  a tour of Ramoji Film City, 3 shows - a variety show at the dome theater, spirit of Ramoji show and the cow boy stunt show, a few rides are complimentary and then the children's park which has things like a play area and rain dance. The shows Set where the action cowboy scene happens The shows are at fixed timings and each show is about 15 minutes long. So plan your day accordingl...

Here are offers of Deccan Trails that you may be interested to avail. As part of the office picnic we went to this outdoor adventure fun place that is about 75 km outside Hyderabad near Vikarabad called Deccan Trails . Its a camp site that is situated on the edge of a forest and it's about 40 acres of fun and activity. We reached there at about 4 in the afternoon after driving through the heaviest rain that I have seen all season so far. The road was good and the drive there very nice. We were welcomed with some mint flavoured lime juice and some hot pakoras that tasted very good. The rest of the evening was spent monkeying around on the rope ladders and the nets and swinging on the numerous swings there until we finally started a game of football in the light drizzle. The evening was spent enjoying the serene calm fresh air until it was time for dinner that consisted of a very homely meal. There was a bon fire started to add to the lovely evening. Music is not allowed as it ...

About a week ago I was going around the old city when I chanced upon the Chowmahalla Palace just next to the Charminar. The entrance to the palace is very unassuming and boring but once inside the world is so different. Lovely gardens, beautiful buildings and well done up interiors when just outside the palace is the hustle and bustle of Charminar. The palace belongs to the Nizam's of Hyderabad and gives you a very upclose and personal view of their lifestyle and their history. There is a lot to see here and you can get all the details of what there is to see on this wikipedia web page . I would advise everyone who is visiting Hyderabad to visit the Chowmahalla Palace. It should be a must visit even before one goes to Charminar, Salarjung Museum, Qutub Shahi Tombs or Golkonda Fort. That is how highly I rate the visit here. The history of Hyderabad through a lot of old photographs is captured on the walls of the palace. There are very few people that visit this palace and that add...

Having visited Ooty the last time in the rainy season with a lot of the activities not operational we decided to go back to Ooty this time in the summer. The weather was great - bright sunshine with a cool breeze blowing. We had a couple of showers in the evenings but that did not dampen any of the fun, in fact it added to the whole experience of being at a hill station. The only downside of this trip was that it was quite crowded as against the last time we went there. But again as long as we spent most of our time in a secluded resort we did not experience much of the crowds except when we went into Ooty town. We wanted to travel by the Nilgiri mountain railway train from Mettupalayum to Ooty but this was all booked up well in advance and we tried almost 2 months before our travel date for tickets on this train. So plan well in advance if you want to experience this train ride. We spent about an evening in Ooty town doing shopping this time and there are quite a few good thin...

It was almost 12 years ago that I visited Ooty as a student from college staying in rustic run down dormitories for a couple of days and doing the regular sights that had to be seen by every tourists visiting this wonderful hill station. It was so different this time - we stayed in 3 different resorts in different parts of Ooty. It all started with taking the flight from Hyderabad to Coimbatore and then the lovely drive up the hills that took about 3 hours to do with 34 hair pin bends that brought nausea to the strongest of stomachs. But at the end of the drive we arrived at Kingscliff to the most wonderful view of Ooty from high up in the hill. We then had lunch in the award winning restaurant at Kings Cliff called Earl's Secret. A beautiful restaurant serving fine dining that makes everyone feel special. After some trekking around the hotel and some shopping at Charring Cross it was time for drinks and dinner which was served in the Bar Room of this resort with a real crack...

The trip from the resort to Konark was along a very scenic tree lined road along the beach. There are quite a few places from which you can see the sea along the route and I wish I was on a motorcycle on this road as the road does not have any traffic and it also very smooth with no potholes. In Konark it is about a kilometer from where you have to get down to where the temple is located. Since it was quite hot we felt every step of this walk. The temple itself is quite well maintained but unless you are really interested in looking at stone carvings there is really not much to see other than the fact that you visited the place. The beach itself is quite small and not very clean. You cannot go for a dip in the waters as it is not safe. So in just about 5 minutes we were bored and ready to head back. On the way back there is a picnic spot that seemed quite nice. You have to cross a river to get to a beach but I am not sure if you could get into the water here as there was no body on the...