As Bangalore pens its doors to students and young working professionals, a paying guest accommodation is a thriving business opportunity. But there’s a clear wish list of those signing up for one.
Bangalore is teeming with student population, considering a host of colleges and learning institutions the city currently houses. This in turn gives rise to the thriving business of paying guest (PG) accommodations.
From college students looking for spacious rooms to call home, to working professionals hunting for the comforts of a good living, away from their families, PGs are the most common resort for single souls, who come here to pursue their education or careers.
But though PGs are an easy way to get a roof over one’s head, living in one can mean making many adjustments in terms of food, facilities, personal space and freedom, among other things. While the streets are rife with advertisements and fliers stuck on tree barks, blank walls, shop corners, pitching each PG accommodation’s quality services, more often than not these can turn out to be big duds.
As 20-year-old Swati Banerjee, who studies in one of the leading colleges in the city says, “The owners of PGs should provide what they promise, when one signs up to live in the place. I have shifted my PG accommodation twice, in my two years of college, since I was having a lot of trouble with the food provided.”
She also adds that timings and rules in these accommodations should be flexible, so that it makes matters easier and that people from the opposite sex should be allowed to come in, but within a regulated time frame. Agrees Subin Varrier, 20, who is currently pursing a course in aeronautical engineering in one of the city colleges, “It would be good if PGs allow one to bring in their friends, though within a fixed time.”
The demand for this, say most youngsters is because sometimes people need to work on college or study projects in a group. A no-visitor policy in a PG accommodation, they point out, makes it very difficult to collaborate on combined or group tasks. Food is another important aspect as most PGs falter on, point out students who live in these set ups. “There is a constant clash between South Indian and North Indian food. So a PG should provide both varieties, to make life easy,” says Subin.
Among other resources, internet connections, clean drinking water and spacious rooms are much in demand. “PG owners often make money by turning a single sharing room into a twin one, which makes the space claustrophobic. It is essential that one is given ample living space, considering the cost that is spent on renting a PG accommodation,” adds Subin.
But all’s not lost, as 20-year-old Namrata Goyal, who studies in a design school points out that the PG she lives in allows personalisation of one’s living space. “The place I live in as a paying guest is worth the price I pay. There is minimal to no interference in my individual life, which is the main reason why I shifted to this place, from my previous PG, where the intrusion was more. So while a self-sufficient, good serviced, non-intrusive paying guest accommodation rules the roost, regulars caution to keep the location of a PG in mind for easy accessibility.
Negotiating the terms and conditions well, before signing up for one is another must. It’s important, they caution to make proper enquires from reliable sources, before making a paying guest accommodation, their home away from home.
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