A Shade Warmer Than Hotels

Point Blank

By Hugh & Colleen Gantzer

There’s a growing fad to segment hostelries. And, in babu fashion, to classify them. The first fad will be difficult to pander to; the second will be dangerous. We will tackle the first, first.

We appreciate the difference between a hotel and an apartment: one offers meals if you want them, the other doesn’t. Fair enough. But then you also have b&bs. We stayed in a b&b with a warm NZ family in Auckland and that was neither a hotel nor an apartment. We understand how a b&b differs from both a hotel and an apartment: it’s the second ‘b’ breakfast. But then if I choose a Continental Plan in a hotel does that make it a b&b? Obviously not. So the touchstone is that in a b&b you stay with a family, in a hotel you don’t. Yes, but does that make it a Homestay? Well it might and, then again, it might not.

In Goa, some years ago, we stayed in a room attached to an old house in Calangute. We had the option of eating our own breakfast in one of the many restaurants across the road or, for a nominal charge, eating it with the family. And, because we were given this option, we did not regard it as a Homestay. In Goa we did meet our landlady but we did not establish a warm personalised relationship with her. She didn’t become the sort of person we had invite to stay in our cottage as our guest. She was friendly, and helpful, but she always remained our landlady.

So,.. and this is an illustrative aspect of this article... what can you expect when you decide to book into a Hometay? Ideally what we experienced when we stayed in Tranquil with Victor and Jini Dey. It’s in a coffee and spices plantation in Kerala’s northern area of Wayanad.

According to Victor, who recently made a presentation on Homestays to his fellow planters:

When we open our doors to guests, apart from our warm hospitality, we offer them a fascinating insight into our diverse cultural heritage, our ethnic cuisine, our family traditions, all the things that make up our daily life. Guests become an extended branch of the family, as it were, and it is this very feeling of homeliness and personal touch that makes their stay special. Guests arrive as total strangers, and in the short space of a couple of days, leave as friends.

All this involves a great deal of adjustment on the part of the hosts.

The most impacting being a distinct invasion of privacy.. You come back after a tiring day in the field, having sorted out various problems, and you just want to put your feet up. But there is no relaxation. Your home is also workplace and that too a demanding one.. Your guests are with you to de-stress, chill out, and get away from all their hassles - the last thing you want to do is to appear tense and on edge. So, say goodbye to lazy Sundays, long weekends and holidays and say hello to hard work - so that others can relax.

Let’s leave Victor and Jini to run their efficient, and warm, little operation and turn to the business of segmentation. Tranquil is in a plantation. Does that fact make it Plantation Tourism: which is another frequently mouthed phrase? But if Tranquil is Plantation Tourism, then what is Orange County? As you are probably aware, Orange County is an up-market facility for tourists located in a coffee plantation in Karnataka’s Coorg. Guests live in independent cottages in the plantation, can walk around and see everyday activities, drink and dine in a bar, lounge and restaurant served by waiters and chefs. It is, in fact, an upscale plantation resort. Guests do not interact with the family that owns the plantation but they do get a warm sense of being part of the natural rhythm of life.

Now, a plantation has, necessarily, to be in a non urban area. In fact, by its very nature, it’s in a rural area. But does a stay in either Tranquil or Orange Country classify as Rural Tourism? What, in fact, is Rural Tourism?

Rural Tourism is a Homestay with a farming family but it’s a homestay with an important difference. Guests not only stay with a rural family, they also help out in the chores of the family. They will be asked to collect eggs from the chicken coops, milk the cows, clean out the cowsheds, spread manure in the fields. It’s undoubtedly very warm tourism: working on a farm builds up quite a sweat.

But the point is, how can anyone classify warmth? One man’s warmth may be another man’s effusiveness. Let these tourism sectors grow without classification and regulation. That’s what the IT sector did.