Home » India, Trivandrum

YMCA, Trivandrum

18 April 2010 9 Comments

It was my first visit to Trivandrum or even Kerala.

I was apprehensive about the place I was going to stay. I needed a budgeted, clean and safe place. On Googling I found, hotels near Trivandrum station were all of similar nature and class.
As soon as you put your foot on the ground, the touts swam you with offers to take you to a nice hotel. They get commission, hotel gets a customer and you pay the bill. To tell you the truth, I am susceptible to these pressure tactics, especially if I am traveling alone.
So, I wanted a place I could directly head for, shooing away these touts.

@lemonicks.com/Travel

Entrance to International block.

Forums could not help me much. Then fortunately I got to know existence of YMCA in that city.
First, it took us days to contact them. Phone nos. were either wrong or busy. There was no other way to contact them. Links on their website were not working. On top of that, I needed to make a DD (demand draft) @ Rs 495/- per day and send them to confirm my booking.
But it suited my requirements. So I went ahead with my plan and I don’t regret doing that.

Once there, I found staff to be very courteous and co-operative. I could also take a short interview of general secretary, who said they were working towards making it a better customer friendly place. Do read this if you want to know the details. I also collected all correct phone nos & information from them.

@lemonicks.com/Travel

The spacious room where I stayed.

Without much ado, I give you the details that you require in case you decide to stay there.

Contact persons – Mr Shaiju and Mr Selvin
Contact nos. -
Shaiju Alfi Ph. 9847508304
Ninan Ninan Ph. 9446353648
Office – 0471-2330059
The full list is here.

Distance from station – Around 1.2 Kms. An autorickshaw won’t take more than Rs 20/- For me it was Rs 16.00. Go directly to pre-paid auto stand.
Website – http://ymcatrivandrum.org/intrivandrum.html
Disadvantage - No good restaurants nearby.
Demand draft of Rs 495/- per day is a must though they say from 2nd time onwards phone calls suffice.
YMCA, Trivandrum is a part of Le Monde-A Poetic Travail
—-
For regular personal updates, subscribe to this website by e-mail or on your reader. For those small stories and tit-bits that don’t always make it to this place check out my Twitter or Facebook page accounts.

Posts related to this entry which might interest you :-

 


9 Comments »

  • Interview with general secretary,YMCA, Trivandrum said:

    [...] Trivandrum I stayed in YMCA for 2 days and it was fairly a good experience. Here is my short interview with Mr Thomas Abraham, general secretary of YMCA, [...]

    # 18 April 2010 at 11:12 PM
  • anjuli said:

    I’m glad you pursued it and didn’t give up because of lack of correct phone numbers- it is also great that you followed up to post the right contact info!!
    anjuli´s last [post] ..Rocky Mountain High- March 15th 2010 My ComLuv Profile

    # 19 April 2010 at 12:33 PM
  • Tweets that mention YMCA, Trivandrum -- Topsy.com said:

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Le Monde. Le Monde said: YMCA Trivandrum all correct & latest info http://bit.ly/aGXOxy #YMCA #trivandrum [...]

    # 19 April 2010 at 11:25 PM
  • Zhu said:

    I looks very nice!

    Touts can be very useful when looking for a place actually. Sometimes it pays to follow them… but I like it better when it’s the owner, not a middleman, who advertise.
    Zhu´s last [post] ..Kensington Market In The Spring My ComLuv Profile

    # 20 April 2010 at 5:52 AM
  • sudhir kumar said:

    Having lived in trivandrum for 15 years, did not know a decent accomadation is avaliable for this rates. I have to try this place next time I visit Kerala. Thanks
    sudhir kumar´s last [post] ..Morning hues at Hessarghatta Lake My ComLuv Profile

    # 20 April 2010 at 4:56 PM
  • PN Subramanian said:

    Although I do not need it, the postal address of YMCA at TVM could have been provided as the draft, a pre-requisite, needs to be sent to them. Thanks for dropping in. So you have succeeded Cuckoo. With all good wishes.
    PN Subramanian´s last [post] ..Kanheri Caves (Mumbai) My ComLuv Profile

    # 20 April 2010 at 8:20 PM
  • sebastin said:

    I know it is the place where we can stay without any fear and in affordable cost compare with all other hotels in the capital city. Because I am the one who regularly stay there ,really it is a home away from the home.

    # 27 April 2010 at 5:08 PM
  • M M said:

    Hello Nisha,

    Thanks for the blog entry regarding YMCA Trivandrum.
    There really is very little information regarding the place and facilities online.

    Could you please reply ASAP with an answer to my queries?

    I am planning on staying at YMCA in a week.

    Is it possible to book a single room at short notice?
    Which is the quickest way to do this?
    Do you have a direct contact at YMCA? (email/phone) You stayed at the International block?
    Is it possible to book for multiple weeks?

    Thanks a lot!
    M

    # 9 February 2011 at 8:06 AM
  • Nisha (author) said:

    M,
    Yes, I agree about very less information on their site. I have written to them to update the site which for some reasons has not happened.

    Yes, as you can see the 1st photo here I stayed in international block. And it is also possible to book for multiple weeks.
    You need to call them up and inquire about the availability. They’ll guide you what’s the best option.
    I am repeating the contact nos here. The full list is mentioned in the post as well.

    Contact nos. -
    Shaiju Alfi Ph. 9847508304
    Ninan Ninan Ph. 9446353648
    Office – 0471-2330059

    You might have to ask somebody residing in India to make a draft and send to YMCA as per their procedure.

    Let me know if you got thru the booking.
    All the best! :D

    # 9 February 2011 at 8:42 AM

Leave your response!

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.

CommentLuv Enabled

You can use these tags:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

This is a Gravatar-enabled weblog. To get your own globally-recognized-avatar, please register at Gravatar.