Hotel Karuna Residency

The choices of guesthouses in Kollam town is very poor, but this place was just shockingly bad! Having travelled all over Kerala for the last for weeks, staying in budget guesthouses we have a good idea of what standard a Rs500 room should be. This was nowhere near that standard. The room was filthy, with dirt smeared all over the walls. There were ants, spiders and worst of all cockroaches crawling out of cracking in the wood that covered the bathroom drainage. We ever found cockroaches hiding in our backpacks when we came back from dinner! The toilet seat was lying broken on the floor of the bathroom, the shower head was non existent, although the piping for it was still there. The walls had holes in them that lead through to the neighboring rooms meaning that could head everything they were saying and their tv at 6am very loudly! ||When we complained about the cockroaches, the manager came up and sprayed the room with air freshener! Telling us that this would make them go away. We later saw the staff 'cleaning' the rooms with nothing more than a brush and a very dirty rag.||Do not stay here.

10 years ago

This is the second time I have reviewed this and TA seems to have deleted my earlier one. If not, forgive me but I will say it again - this place is awful. Do not stay here and if you do beware. It is alive with roaches. The rooms dirty. The beds grimy and hard and the bathroom dirty and grim. The guys at the front are nice enough but its more budget than you want and they will over charge you anyway. That this place is still included inn a well known backpacker guide shows that the guide is not paying attention or is playing a nasty joke.|Windows gave no breeze and were small and risky from a security perspective. we stayed one night only and left as early as we could to get out of this nasty town.

9 years ago

Checked in here on the recommendation of lonely planet however I would advise people to avoid it. The room was filthy, incredibly hot, full of mosquitos, no natural light, no clean sheets, no WiFi, no toilet paper, no bin. Staff were not helpful either when we asked about trains. Literally just a dirty bed in a dirty room.

8 years ago

Avoid this place at all costs. It is unkempt, airless, cramped and really depressing all round. We had one sheet for two beds, which were covered with a weird cracked leatherette material, a suffocating, grimy bathroom and no window. I thought about getting some knock-out drops from the chemist so that I could get some sleep in this dismal place, but in the end lay awake for most of the night and then got the first bus out of Kollam in the morning. I could not bring myself to thank the manager when I said goodbye. The conditions here are completely appalling.

9 years ago

The rooms are small. The bed had oily spots on it. There was a half-full bucket on the bathroom floor. I left my backpack and went searching for other options. Found the Nani hotel, AC and much better room. Karuna residency is basically boxes for housing human bodies. I returned and walked off with my backpack after returning the key. The hotel makes money this way -- somebody checks in, all tired because they just got into town, and comes back for their luggage a few hours later. No need to clean the rooms. Karuna means pity and compassion, which is what you deserve if you stay in this joint.

10 years ago

The management is very friendly, but the place is not. Rooms are extremely baic, small, hot, stuffy, and have only very small windows. There is one bed, no towels, no sheets. There are not many budget places in Kollam, so if you are on a budget, consider spending a little bit more for one night (no reason to stay in Kollam longer, anyway), and find something nicer.

9 years ago

Room service nice

a month ago

Worst experience. Huge rent. This is worse than any hotel in Kerala for the price. Irresponsible staff. Ugly setup. And rooms. Worth for 150 or 200 rs per day.

5 years ago