PUDUCHERRY: Anticipating the huge crowds that descend on Puducherry for the New Year, hotel and resort owners have steeply hiked their rates in the past couple of days. They are also refusing to let out rooms that are empty, to keep their options open when the New Year revelers actually start pouring in on Saturday. “This is the only time of the year we can make good money. We have to make good use of the opportunity,” said Rajesh (name changed), the manager a hotel close to the French quarter. “Over the past decade, Puducherry has become a favourite for revelers for New Year. We don’t get this big a crowd in any other period of the year. Further, it is also the season when a large number of foreigners land here. Every tourist destination sees higher prices during season, and so do we,” he added, defending the hike.“Visitors don’t mind paying the steep price as long as they get be in Puducherry for the New Year,” he said.While this phenomenon extends to hotels of all classes in Puducherry, a number of hotels flatly turned guests away on Thursday, saying all of their rooms were occupied. Checking with the staff at a resort north of town revealed that most rooms were in fact unoccupied.“We can let out a room now. But we can’t charge guests the increased rate halfway through their stay. So we turn them away. Most of our New Year guests come in without reserving rooms. They are usually willing to pay even more than our hiked prices just to get a room. So, we hold the rooms for guests of that kind, who come in on December 31,” said Bala, the caretaker of a resort.
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