An anecdote from a frequent Brevistay-er
It was a Saturday night, and the Covid-19 restrictions had just about eased up further still. Venues and pubs were now allowed to remain open till 12, and I’d been hellbent on taking full advantage of it. I have no qualms about admitting that I’m a proper social animal; I love parties, dancing and going out. And if you’re a Gen Z or Millennial living in Mumbai, chances are you do too. But all that came to a halt due to Covid.
So there I was, waiting below my friend’s building for her to get ready. She was taking forever, and it was already 10.30. ‘I’ve still got an hour and a half’, I thought. Not ideal, but better than nothing. By the time she came down and we drove to the club, met the rest of the group, and got past the mean-looking bouncers at the entrance, it was 11. And the short hour we had left flashed by in a jiffy.
I wasn’t content, and my friends weren’t either. We might have owed this to our brief history of going out almost every weekend for a whole three years pre-Covid. Dinners, dancing, movies, game nights – we’d done it all. It might sound repetitive to an outsider, but between the eleven of us, there was enough drama and buffoonery to make every outing a fresh one. And all of us were of the opinion that there hadn’t been enough of it that night. When the largely-alcohol-influenced debate for what’s to be done of the rest of the night commenced on the street lining the club at half past 12, most of us were out of ideas. But one friend recommended a name I hadn’t heard before – Brevistay.
In hindsight, I should’ve given him a tight 10-minute hug right there for finding this service. Perhaps even a kiss on the forehead. But I didn’t know then the kind of impact this soon-to-be revelation would have on my social life. Turns out, it was a service that allowed us to book a hotel room in 3, 6 or 12 hour slots, as opposed to the conventional 24 hours. Crazy! Upon finding a nearby hotel that was available and affordable, our night had been saved. We were able to play charades, drink some more and have our own mini dance party in the room. I returned home at 6 am, just as I should after a full night of intense partying – exhausted, semi-hungover, and extremely fulfilled. I needed that.
From then on, there was no looking back. Brevistay became the answer to every social event that followed in my life. If I needed to keep a date going late into the night *wink*, Brevistay had a few romantic and snug-looking options. If it was a friend’s birthday and we needed a place to celebrate, I knew just where to find the most spacious rooms at a moment’s notice. One time, the boys from my group just wanted to get together and battle out their FIFA skills to see who gets crowned champion, and – you guessed it – Brevistay hotels had us covered.
This once, after long weeks of the lockdown that ensued amidst the second Covid-19 wave, my family was sick of staying at home (no pun intended). We were still wary of being around people, so a vacation was out of the question. But we needed a change of space, just for each of us to work out of a different, more spacious abode, with maybe a touch of pampering. I booked two rooms through Brevistay – one for my parents and one for me and my sister – and all of us spent a full day working with the utmost peace, followed by some family UNO and Monopoly at night. (Yes, our family has learnt to remain intact through Monopoly. It’s been difficult, but we’ve managed.)
All of this really got me thinking, why don’t more people our age know about this service? It always seemed wild to me that hotels offered bookings only in 24-hour slots, and not lesser. To think of all the people who wanted a room for fewer hours, but had nowhere to go. But they do now! Part of me wants to parade around telling everyone I meet about this seemingly-obvious-but-nevertheless-rare solution only I seem to have found. But a larger part of me hopes it stays this way, and Brevistay remains niched.
It makes me feel like I have access to a treasure most people don’t know exists. And that feels gooood.
