Coffee, please! Z-z-z-z-z!

DO YOU know there is a coffee shop-cum-restaurant of a UPSTDC hotel that remains closed during lunch hours? Be surprised! It?s Hotel Gomti. The only unit run by the Uttar Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (UPSTDC) in the city.

DO YOU know there is a coffee shop-cum-restaurant of a UPSTDC hotel that remains closed during lunch hours? Be surprised! It’s Hotel Gomti. The only unit run by the Uttar Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (UPSTDC) in the city.

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Around 1 pm on Saturday this correspondent visited the coffee shop. It was completely deserted.

Fans and lights were on but the air- conditioning wasn’t working. She waited for about half-an-hour for someone to come and take order but no one came. Meanwhile, two gentlemen walked in, waited for the waiter for sometime and went off. The correspondent peeped into the adjacent enclosure that looked like a kitchen and found it all deserted too—no stuff on the shelves, no sign of kitchen work.

What’s that? It is a glaring example of mismanagement in government-run hotels? This probably is the reason for the hotel to lose its three-star category. The hotel claims the three-star status, but it has not been renewed for two years.

UPSTC Managing Director Om Prakash, who also holds the charge of the Director General and Principal Secretary of the Tourism Department, expressed his amazement over the issue. He said, “Employees might be off for lunch. But, it’s a serious matter and I will enquire about it”, he added.

One of the hotel employees said the hotel was badly under staffed. A big chunk of the employees has been transferred. But, as of now, no replacements have been made. The corporation is running the hotel, but it is not able to manage the coffee shop and the restaurant. There are other administrative problems too, added the employee. “I have had my coffee,” the correspondent said and went away.